Texas Rangers Return From Break, And Vicente Padilla Can’t Get One In 5-3 Loss To Twins

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ARLINGTON - Sympathetic figure isn’t a role that Vicente Padilla has played often in his four years as a member of the Rangers’ cast. More often stewing and stalling with an appetite for plunking, he has evoked ill will from opponents and occasionally teammates.

But in the wake of Friday night’s 5-3 Rangers loss to Minnesota, he could have gotten down on one knee and yelled, “Why me, Lord?” Or at least directed that plea to home plate umpire Jim Wolf.

Padilla and the better part of 34,662 Rangers Ballpark onlookers appeared to think he’d worked his way out of a second inning jam and improved his chance of escaping unscathed again in the third. Instead, the Twins went on to score two in the second and three in the third. Of late, that’s enough against the Rangers. Thanks to Oakland’s late-inning surge against the Los Angeles Angels, Texas remains two games out in the A.L. West going into Saturday night’s game behind Scott Feldman (8-2).

In the second, Padilla faced No. 8 hitter Brendan Harris with two out and Joe Crede at first. He just missed with an 0-2 fastball. Harris singled to right on the next pitch. Then young speedster Carlos Gomez tripled deep to left-center on a 1-1 off-speed pitch. That erased the 2-0 first-inning lead that Josh Hamilton gave the Rangers on a home run pulled just inside the right-field foul pole.

(Note for the rest of the series: Gomez has raised his average from .218 to .242 in the last four games by going 7-for-11.)

In the third, the heart of the Minnesota order – Joe Mauer (.373 coming in), Justin Morneau (.311) and Jason Kubel (.311) – struck with one out. Mauer singled to center on an 0-2 pitch. Morneau, who often gets to see those 55-mph floaters from Padilla, sent a first-pitch curve coming in at 70 into left for a double that sent Mauer to third.

Padilla got ahead of Kubel 0-and-2 on sliders. Kubel fouled off a fastball. The next pitch was a slider or cutter that appeared to catch the outside corner. “We all thought that was strike three,” catcher Taylor Teagarden said.

Ball one. ID’s on the next pitch vary; manager Ron Washington called it a change-up, Padilla said it was a cut fastball, Teagarden a slider. Whatever, consensus was it was thrown too high over the plate. Kubel sent it into the second row of seats of the Home Run Porch for a 5-2 Twins lead.

Padilla had every reason to rue his fate but declined afterward to cry foul.

“You can’t blame it on the umpire,” he said through Eleno Ornelas, the Rangers’ Spanish play-by-play announcer. “It’s not his fault.”

Teagarden said of the off-speed offering to Kubel: “”Based on the scouting report, I thought we were going about it the right way.” Of Wolf’s strike zone: “It was a little tight tonight. I think [Twins lefty starter Glen] Perkins got a little taste of that in the fifth inning. It’s tight sometimes; you have to deal with it.”

In said home half of the fifth, Perkins (now 5-5, 4.75 ERA) worked his final inning and gave up his only walk of the night to go with seven hits. The walk to Andruw Jones loaded the bases with two out, but Hank Blalock grounded into a force to end the inning. Four Minnesota relievers, capped by All-Star closer Joe Nathan, limited the Rangers to two singles the rest of the way.

Padilla pitched seven innings, didn’t allow an extra-base hit after the homer and didn’t walk a batter for the first time this season. (Angels pitchers walked eight in their 7-3 loss.) The defeat dropped Padilla’s record to 7-5. The Rangers have scored three runs or less in four of his five losses and in six of his 16 starts. Hamilton’s homer was the club’s only extra-base hit.

Texas’ first inning left reason for all kinds of encouragement for Rangers fans. Ian Kinsler hit a sharp grounder up the middle for a leadoff single. The Hamilton homer was his first since May 24 (and kicked off his first multi-hit game since the series at Anaheim when he returned from the disabled list). Blalock, hitting .206 against lefties, took an outside pitch to left for a single.

But nine hits and one walk resulted in seven Rangers left on.

“I’ll give you the most famous quote by a baseball player,” Hamilton said. “Know what it is? ‘That’s baseball.’ Sometimes you get it done; sometimes you don’t.”