Post-Game Show: Rays 5, Rangers 4 (10)

D-tails
•Boxscore, AL West Standings, AL Wild Card Standings

Story of the Game
The Rangers bullpen, perhaps the team’s biggest asset all season, couldn’t stop Tampa Bay in the late innings Saturday. Perhaps most distressing: The relievers couldn’t do it after getting themselves into counts that should have been pitcher friendly.

In the eighth inning of a tie game, LHP C.J. Wilson was brought in to face left-handed hitting 1B Carlos Pena. Wilson quickly got ahead by muscling two fastballs up and in against the AL’s strikeout leader. Then he tried to get Pena to chase his pitch over and over and over. Instead, Pena worked his way to a walk and then scored when DH Pat Burrell doubled off the wall in left field.

In the 10th, RHP Jason Grilli, activated from the DL two hours before the game, just had no command in his first outing back. He got ahead of the leadoff man in the 10th, 3B Evan Longoria, 0-and-2  before hitting him with a fastball that came too far inside. Grilli then walked Ben Zobrist to put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Longogria scored when Pena lined a ball to center field for a single.

The loss was made all the more painful because the Rangers chief playoff rivals won. The Los Angeles Angels beat Toronto to extend their lead int he AL West to 6.5 games. But Boston also won, hammering the New York Yankees 14-1. The Rangers lost chance, in fact, puts them closer to third place (they lead Tampa Bay by one game) in the AL Wild Card hunt than first place (they trail Boston by two).

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Post-Game Show: Rays 5, Rangers 3

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West Standings, AL Wild Card Standings

Story of the Game
It’s all pretty much right here.

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Post-Game Show: Rangers 11, Twins 1

• Box score • A.L. wild-card standings • A.L. West standings

Story of the Game

The Rangers displayed their many talents in the 11-1 clubbing of Minnesota on Thurday night that sent them on the road with a series split. Home runs to all fields. Diving catches in the early innings while the outcome was in doubt. Julio Borbon’s first career homer. Neftali Feliz’s almost mystical ability to record two outs on two pitches. (“When you have a weapon on your shoulder like he has,” manager Ron Washington said, “you can be cool.”)

But another story was told in the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers owning a 10-run lead for only the third time this season. Marlon Byrd could have called it a night, given his third career multi-HR game and his diving catch in the third inning. Instead, he followed a leadoff nubber to the mound by charging down the line like he was near the end zone back at Sprayberry High in Marietta, Ga. And Hank Blalock did likewise despite only his second three-hit night of the year, his first since July 1. With two out, his attempt for a fourth hit ended with him sliding and tumbling over the bag. Both were outs but surely sent a message to the growing collection of fuzzy-cheeked Texas talent.

“Hopefully, they’re watching,” Byrd said. “If you watch the Yankees, you watch all the teams that have won … Jeter … It doesn’t matter what inning it is. It doesn’t matter what the score is. He’s running full speed down the first base line. That’s what type of team we have. I believe the maturation of this team over the past three years since Wash has come in … it’s a different mindset here now.”

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Post-Game Show: Twins 5, Rangers 4

D-tails
•Boxscore, AL West standings, Wild Card standings

Story of the Game
For the second time in three nights, the Rangers lost a significant middle-innings lead and couldn’t rally back against the Twins. On Wednesday, the Rangers took a 4-1 lead to the sixth inning, but rapidly-tiring RHP Kevin Millwood simply couldn’t get the final out of the inning. The Twins strung together three doubles and a single against Millwood, whose pitch count rocketed to 113 in the long inning. No. 9 hitter 2B Nick Punto singled to score the tying run, then after Millwood left, SS Orlando Cabrera singled to score the go-ahead run.

Minnesota pitchers retired the last 10 Rangers in a row, starting with PH Andruw Jones, who bounced into an inning-ending double play with two men on in the sixth.

The loss dropped the Rangers a game behind Boston in the AL Wild Card race and a season-high 6.5 games behind Los Angeles in the AL West.

“I’ll take my chances most nights with a three- or four-run lead in the sixth inning,” manager Ron Washington said. “We just couldn’t stop them tonight.”

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Post-Game Show: Rangers 8, Twins 5

• Box score • A.L. West standings • A.L. wild-card standings

Story of the Game

Eight years was worth the wait for Kevin Richardson to taste major league baseball. The Triple-A call-up filling in for Jarrod Saltalamacchia not only gave Taylor Teagarden a day off, but he collected two hits and showed he can score from first base … and not get lapped by the tripling Elvis Andrus behind him.

“That’s as fast as I can go,” Richardson said. “I don’t go too fast, but that’s all I’ve got.”

Of more importance, he settled down struggling starter Tommy Hunter early. The Rangers held a tenuous 3-2 lead in the top of the second with Twins on every base and two out. Richardson came out to talk to Hunter as did Michael Young. Hunter responded by getting Brendan Harris looking to end the rally.

“Mike came out to me and said, ‘You don’t have your stuff today. You can quit, or you can come out fighting right now,’ ” Hunter said. “Little words of encouragement like that get you pumped up. Kind of sets you back in your little mode.”

Richardson said he was fairly pleased with how he handled the pitchers: “Maybe a few things I would have done differently. I had, what, six different guys in there? I thought they all battled and picked each other up and got it done.”

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Post-Game Show: Rangers 7, Red Sox 2

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West standings, Wild Card standings

Story Of The Game
After what could have been the most demoralizing loss of the season, the Rangers responded with an energetic offense that produced a club-record eight stolen bases. Leadoff hitter LF Julio Borbon stole four, SS Elvis Andrus three and 2B Ian Kinsler one. Four of the steals were instrumental in Rangers runs. The win moved the Rangers back within a half-game of Boston in the AL Wild Card race. A win in Sunday’s series finale (1:05 p.m. CDT) would give the Rangers the Wild Card lead.

The shuffling of the lineup – with Borbon at the top and Kinsler in the No. 6 spot – also worked out well. Borbon had four singles in five at-bats, while Kinsler reached base four times in five plate appearances. Kinsler’s homer to lead off the second inning gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Borbon singled home Andrus, who had tripled past a confused Boston outfield.

“You look at the 2008 Tampa Bay Rays and there were a lot of times when people thought they were about to go away,” said CF Marlon Byrd. “But they never did. They just kept coming back and playing with energy. That’s what we are doing. After last night, nobody was up tight. Nobody was acting like it was a big deal. Last year, we had a game against Boston where we came back from a big deficit and lost and afterward it kind of took the wind out of our sails. That didn’t happen this time.”

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Post-Game Show: Red Sox 8, Rangers 4

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West standings, Wild Card standings

Story Of The Game
A strike away from taking the lead in the AL Wild Card race, the Rangers watched as RHP Frank Francisco suffered a meltdown that had been unprecedented in his tenure as the club’s closer. Francisco, who resumed closing only last week, was handed a 4-2 lead going to the ninth. It was the first time he’s been asked to convert saves on consecutive days since April 27-28. Francisco, who has spent three stints on the DL this season with arm and respiratory issues, simply wasn’t up to the task.

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Post-Game Show: Rangers 4, Indians 1

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West Standings, Wild Card Standings

Story Of The Game
After losing the first three games of the longest road trip of the year, the Rangers bounced back to finish with a .500 record on the trip thanks to another solid performance from RHP Scott Feldman and the suddenly-smoking hot RF Josh Hamilton. The win, combined with a Boston loss, puts the Rangers a half-game back of the Red Sox in the Wild Card race. Boston comes to Texas for three games beginning Friday.

On the way to his 12th win, Feldman battled through another long first inning, something that is becoming a trademark for him, then didn’t allow anything else. RHP Neftali Feliz and RHP Frank Francisco finished off the game. The Rangers allowed runs in just two of their final 36 innings on the road trip that began in Oakland, included a big showdown series against the Los Angeles Angels and wound by in Cleveland.

Hamilton was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and has hits in nine of his last 10 at-bats. His two-out, third-inning double scored 3B Michael Young and DH Andruw Jones and erased a 1-0 deficit. Hamilton raised his season batting average 40 points to .260 by going 18-for-37 (.486) on the road trip.

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Post-Game Show: Rangers 5, Indians 0

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West standings, Wild Card standings

Story of the game
What a year it’s been for RHP Tommy Hunter. Nearly, one year to the day since the start that embarrassed him right out of the major leagues, Hunter pitched 7.2 innings of shutout ball to continue one of the best rookie seasons by a Rangers pitcher in recent history. On August 14, 2008, Hunter allowed nine baserunners (all of whom scored) in just 1.2 innings at Fenway Park.  On Wednesday, 364 days later, Hunter got out of some first-inning trouble thanks to a double-play grounder. In the third, he erased another leadoff runner with a double play. When that inning was done, Hunter was in complete control.

Hunter has a 2.26 ERA in nine starts this season, but it is 1.84 since July 1 when he joined the rotation for good. That leads all AL pitchers and ranks fourth in all of baseball. He is holding hitters to a .200 batting average since July 1, which ranks third in the AL and seventh in baseball.

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Post-Game Show: Indians 5, Rangers 0

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West standings, Wild Card standings

Story of the game
In his first outing as more than just an emergency starter, RHP Dustin Nippert became the third Ranger pitcher to reach double-figures in strikeouts this year, but one inning’s worth of location problems did him in. Nippert allowed all five of Cleveland’s runs in the third inning. After back-to-back singles to start the inning, Nippert hit OF Shin-Soo Choo, then walked 3B Jhonny Peralta to force in a run. A single by DH Travis Hafner and a two-run double by SS Luis Valbuena made it a very big inning. A sacrifice fly by Trevor Crowe made it the first inning of five or more runs the Rangers have allowed since New York scored five in the fifth on June 4 in an 8-6 Yankees win.

Nippert, who pitched six innings, allowed only four baserunners (a walk, two hits and an error) in his other five innings. He also had 10 strikeouts, joining RHP Kevin Millwood and RHP Derek Holland as the only Rangers to reach double figures this season. Nippert earned his 10th strikeout on his final pitch of the night, a 96 mph fastball to OF Grady Sizemore.

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Post-Game Show: Rangers 7, Angels 0

Trying out a new format for the Post-Game Show. Please don’t hesitate to pass along your comments and here’s a heads up: There is a poll to vote in after the jump.

D-tails
• Boxscore, AL West standings; Wild Card standings

Story Of The Game
For the second time in three starts, LHP Derek Holland gave the Rangers a glimpse of the kind of pitcher he can be. Using fastballs early in the game and a slider/changeup combo in the middle innings, Holland got ahead of the Angels and put their hitters on the defensive. He took a no-hitter to the sixth, finished with a three-hitter and became the youngest lefty in Rangers history to ever record a shutout. He did it all in just 96 pitches, the third lowest total in a shutout by a Rangers pitcher since pitch counts were first kept as official stats in 1988. Los Angeles’ Maicer Izturis broke up the no-hitter with a solid single in the sixth, but Holland came right back to strike out Erick Aybar.

“I was really curious to see how he would do after he gave up the hit,” C Taylor Teagarden said. “I thought for a second ‘OK, let’s see if he can keep his poise.’ He did. He did everything you would want a guy to do. He just came right back and attacked Aybar.

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Post-Game Show: Angels 3, Rangers 2

D-tails
• Boxscore, standings

Three Up
• Overlooked in the story about OF Josh Hamilton alcohol-fueled embarrassment from January is his improving performance on the field. He was 2-for-4 Saturday and both of his outs were hard hit. Hamilton is 9-for-21 (.421) with a .500 OBP on this road trip. He has a homer and a pair of doubles in six games.
• RHP Kevin Millwood, pitching for the first time in 12 days, held the Angels to a pair of runs despite allowing nine hits. For those concerned about Millwood struggling in the second half, he has a 2.57 ERA in three starts.
• C Taylor Teagarden threw out both runners who tried to steal on him. The Angels, who are second in the AL in stolen base attempts this season, are 0-for-3 against Teagarden this season.

Three Down
• As accountable as OF Josh Hamilton was in admitting an alcohol-abuse relapse in January, the revelation seemed to gut-punch the Rangers shortly before the game.
• The Rangers struck out 13 times and are inching closer to a 1,300-strikeout pace. With 874 in 109 games, they are on pace for 1,299.
• 3B Michael Young saw his 14-game hitting streak end with an 0-for-4 performance that included a strikeout with runners on second and third and one out in the eighth.

Post-Game Show: Rangers 11, Angels 6

Three Up
• RF Josh Hamilton’s three-run homer with two outs in the first inning really seemed to give the offense a shot. It was the first three-run homer Hamilton has hit this season.
• RHP Scott Feldman overcame a kooky strike zone by home plate umpire Bill Hohn and held the Angels to a run heading to the seventh. If only he hadn’t been asked to push his pitch count above 120 for the first time ever. …
• 2B Omar Vizquel had his first four-hit night in more than two years, capped off by his first homer since Sept. 30, 2007. It was the 78th homer of his career, moving him into a tie for 954th place all-time. One more and he’ll move past the likes of Julian Javier.

Three Down
• We’ve mentioned this a time or three, but RHP Jason Jennings, a converted starter, does not yet appear comfortable entering games with runners on base. He allowed all three runners he inherited from Scott Feldman to score and briefly made a game of it after the Rangers had taken a 9-1 lead.
•  I really am running out of superlatives to throw at Michael Young, who hit his 19th homer to extend his hitting streak to 14 games and then added two more hits, as well. He’s hitting .371 since July 1.
• How are we ever going to top this evening’s comment record? This one may be invincible.

Post-Game Show: Rangers 6, A’s 4

D-tails
• Boxscore, standings

Three Up
• RHP Tommy Hunter made his fourth quality start in his last five outings, allowing three runs in seven innings. Hunter has pitched at least five innings in all eight of his starts this season.
• 3B Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a game-tying homer in the third inning. He then had a run-scoring single in the the fifth to give the Rangers the lead for good.
• INF Esteban German, the third different leadoff man the Rangers tried during the series, scored the eventual go-ahead run and also scored the Rangers fifth run, too.

Three Down
• Rangers struck out nine more times and are on pace for 1,294 this season, which would set the franchise record.
• Not sure if it was lack of effort or worn-down knees, but DH Andruw Jones didn’t run hard to second on a run-scoring ball off the wall in the seventh and was thrown out at second.
• Though Los Angeles lost two out of three games at Chicago, the Rangers could not gain on the AL West leaders during their four-game series in Oakland.

Post-Game Show: A’s 7, Rangers 5

D-tails
• Boxscore, standings

Three Up
• OF David Murphy had a pair of homers and drove in three RBIs. It was the second multi-homer game of his career. He had one in June last year against Kansas City.
• 3B Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 12 games and reached base twice. Young is hitting .465 during the hitting streak, which is the longest streak of the year by a Ranger.
• RHP Darren O’Day pitched a perfect inning and extended his streak of consecutive batters retired to 18.

Three Down
• RHP Vicente Padilla slipped back to his old habit of trying to send messages after getting hit. He plunked Kurt Suzuki after a first-inning homer by Scott Hairston. Padilla also couldn’t provide a scoreless inning after the Rangers rallied back to take the lead.
• RHP Neftali Feliz met his first touch of trouble, allowing a homer on a straight 97 mph fastball to Adam Kennedy, the same hitter he struck out to start his major league debut.
• The Rangers lost an opportunity to gain on AL West-leading Los Angeles and Wild Card-leading Boston for a second straight night. Tampa Bay’s win over Boston put the Rays in a virtual tie with Texas for second in the Wild Card standings.