The bad news is, the Rangers are 8-10 this year. The good news is, no team in the AL West is over .500 right now and 8-10 is good for just a game back of first place right now and the Rangers did it with two wins in the final games of their series against the A’s.
We have to talk about Friday though and that was simply an ugly game. Brandon McCarthy was hammered and he dropped to 1-3. It made it even worse that two relievers gave up at least four runs a piece and when the dust settled, the Rangers took a 16-4 loss. Michael Young doubled and drove in two runs while Kenny Lofton finished with three hits, a run and an RBI.
Then on Saturday, Kameron Loe made his first start of the season and he got it done. He threw 5 1/3 shutout innings and he gave up just three hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Matt Kata went two for three with a homerun three RBIs. Nelson Cruz went three for three with two runs and an RBI in the 7-0 win.
Yesterday’s game was a mixed affair. On the one hand the Rangers won. The bad news is that Eric Gagne left the game with a hip injury. Robinson Tejada threw a solid game and he gave up three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. Willie Eyre picked up the win and Akinori Otsuka picked up the save once he came in and reliever Gagne. Hank Blalock went three for four with two RBIs and a run while Kenny Lofton went two for three with a run in the 4-3 win.
The Rangers can distance themselves from the last place Mariners in their two game series this week. Kevin Millwood gets the start and he’ll be throwing against Cha Seung Baek, who’s making his season debut.