Little Things Add Up To Big Trouble As Rangers Finish April With 4-2 Loss To Oakland

• D-tails – Boxscore: A’s 4, Rangers 2; Standings; Guardado pops top; The Depot live game blog; Post-Game Show comment thread

ARLINGTON – They are the most clichéd – and in the modern stats-analysis happy era, ridiculed – aspect of the game.

Little things. What are “little things,” anyway?

But the purists tell you little things, or old school baseball fundamentals, if you will, are what separate winners from losers. And now the Rangers should be able to understand that very well because it was the little things, or the lack thereof, that kept them not only from winning a game on Thursday, but also made the difference between them being a winning team in April and a losing one.

In a 4-2 loss to Oakland Thursday afternoon that finished April off with a 10-11 record, the game turned on a whole bunch of little things.

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Rough Day: Struggling Eddie Guardado Walks In Run, Blows Top, Gets Ejected, Offers Apology

ARLINGTON - Here is how the last day of Eddie Guardado’s April unfolded: Called on to face one left-handed hitter, he issued four consecutive balls to walk in a run; he jawed with home plate umpire Angel Campos while being removed from the game, gesturing wildly; got ejected after being removed; flung his cap and glove into the stands.

And if that wasn’t enough, after it was all done, Guardado admitted he was probably in the wrong about the argument in the first place.

“It’s not his fault; it’s mine,” Guardado said after the Rangers 4-2 loss to Oakland. “It was all me. I went back and looked at the video and there is nobody to blame but me. Even if one of the pitches should have been a strike, it was my fault.”

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Post-Game Show: A’s 4, Rangers 2

I’m not sure why Michael Young was going to third base on a one-out double in the ninth inning with the team down by three runs. There is no reason for that. Zero. None. Nothing. I guess I’ll be asking some questions about that because it re-emphasizes this team’s inability to play fundamental baseball at the most key moments. Not sure the play makes a difference in the outcome, but that’s the point, I’m not sure.

Other stuff to discuss:

• April is done with a 10-11 record. Good? Bad? Indifferent?

• Compare and contrast RHP Vicente Padilla’s start today with RHP Kevin Millwood’s eight-inning, 121-pitch outing on Tuesday.

• Chris Davis had 34 strikeouts in April, second only to Brad Wilkerson (37 in 2006) for the month of April. The Rangers are playing in a winnable division this season. How does that impact the handling/care/patience associated with Davis’ development.

The Depot: Live Game Blog, News, Notes And Alex Rodriguez Update

ARLINGTON - The newest round of Alex Rodriguez allegations are out. Get ready for a whole bunch more of these as the May 12 publication date for Selena Roberts tell all book on Rodriguez nears. In short, this round of allegations suggests he used steroids in high school, used them after his trade from the Rangers to the New York Yankees and that while with the Rangers he “tipped” opposing hitters to the pitch that was coming.

What is your preferred date for Inside Corner Night at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington? All are Saturday nights.

June 13 vs. L.A. Dodgers

June 27 vs. San Diego Padres

July 18 vs. Minnesota Twins

August 1 vs. Seattle Mariners

An excerpt from the ESPN story:

A-Rod “pitch tipped” when he played for the Rangers by letting opponents at the plate know which pitch was coming in lopsided games. A-Rod expected players he helped would reciprocate when he was having an off night and needed to get his batting average up.

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Video Tour Of Cowboys New Stadium

In case you were unaware, that new construction in Arlington is apparently going to be the new home of the Dallas Cowboys. Maybe, I’m late to the party on this, but if not, consider this breaking news. Anywhoo, our video vixens, Candy Evans and Kyle Kearbey, recently took a tour of the place and filed this report.  Apparently, this is going to be a nice place.

This Pool Is Not For Laying Around

Had so many contestants last night and then washed out. Oh, weather, why art thou so cruel?

Here we go, again: Rules: Choose first Ranger to homer, inning, men on base. First tie-breaker: Count; second: distance. Debbie Downers who pick no homers must pick a total number of runs. It’s that simple. And if you get it right: Free Stuff!!!!

The Rangers lineup today vs. Oakland LHP Dallas Braden: 2B Ian Kinsler, CF Marlon Byrd, 3B Michael Young; LF Andruw Jones; DH Hank Blalock (2-for-4 with a homer against Braden), RF Nelson Cruz, 1b Chris Davis; C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Vicente Padilla.

Road To Arlington: Rangers Minor League Report (4/30)

The Road to Arlington is paved in broken dreams and the lucky few who navigate every last inch of it successfully are radically outnumbered by those whose journeys end prematurely. There are a lot of kids who begin their journey as the only ones who don’t know that their fate has essentially been predetermined. They’re gamers. They weren’t blessed with the preternatural abilities of Neftali Feliz or Justin Smoak. But they love and respect the game and play it with as much passion and with as much respect as anyone. More, in many cases.

They aren’t necessarily drafted or kept around because people think they are going to help the big club someday. They are brought into the organization and kept around because they are going to help others make it. To continue playing the game they love, they will do anything, and go anywhere, no matter what sacrifices they must make to do so.

I have a hard time thinking of anybody who exemplifies that critical component of the Rangers organization than the guy you are looking at right now and last night, he enjoyed a well-deserved moment in the spotlight.

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NFL Youtube Scouting

I greatly enjoyed Dane Brugler’s breakdown of the 2009 Dallas Cowboys draft class on Monday. If you haven’t read it, it is worth your while. You may not love the Cowboys draft plan, but you need to know more about them then simply calling them “11 dudes I have never heard of and the Aggie QB who wasn’t very good”. You will not impress your friends with that.

With that in mind, I thought it might be good for those of us who are not NFL scouts to turn to one of our great teaching resources so that at least know what everyone is capable of before we all meet in San Antonio in the last week of July.

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About Last Night: Answers To Rainout Questions; InsideCorner Night Date Discussion

Wow, I can’t believe there was as much interest in the a) rain delay; b) my eating habits as there was last night.

Truth: I didn’t even go back for a second helping. Spent much of the delay chatting with various folks in the press room, including ticket sales guru Andy Silverman and the great Chuck Morgan about InsideCorner Night. Looks like we’ve pretty much got our pick of dates. I will say this: June 13 vs. Dodgers is Reckless Kelly Post-Game concert; June 27 vs. Padres is a kid’s player jersey giveaway; and July 18 vs. Minnesota is a Casey Donahew Post-Game Concert. Working on other details, like a Q&A and getting y’all in early to watch BP. I believe some of  my other InsideCorner teammates will be willing to join us. This is an all-comers event. If you’ve got kids and you want to bring ‘em, please do. If you’ve got friends and you want to bring ‘em, please do. If you’ve got single girl friends looking for sportswriters as their ideal of a “catch,” by all means please do. If you know the ghost of John Rheinecker, ‘bring him; sounds like an adorable little fella.

Tickets should be affordadble. Fun should be plentiful. Let’s try and come to a consensus on a date here so I can present it to the Rangers ASAP.

And as far as some of the questions that were submitted during the rain delay last night, answers should follow after the jump.

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Mavericks – Denver Playoff Schedule

Prepare for Battle:

Game 1 – Sun May 3 Dallas at Denver 2:30 ABC
Game 2 – Tue May 5 Dallas at Denver 9:30 TNT
Game 3 – Sat May 9 Denver at Dallas 4:00 ESPN
Game 4 – Mon May 11 Denver at Dallas 8:30 TNT
Game 5 * Wed May 13 Dallas at Denver TBD TNT
Game 6 * Fri May 15 Denver at Dallas TBD ESPN
Game 7 * Sun May 17 Dallas at Denver TBD TBD