ARLINGTON, Texas — You can pick the word to describe the opener of the four-game series between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels.
Unfortunately for Texas, the two choices are thump or thud after the Rangers were crushed 15-8 by the Angels.
If thud's your pick, you didn't like how the Rangers came out of the gate in the biggest series of the year to date. If it's thump, then you didn't like the pitching performance authored by Roy Oswalt, who was thumped for eight runs on 11 hits in just 5 1/3 innings.
Whatever your choice, the Rangers continued to show signs of distress as their uneven July continued.
But at least it's just one game as the Rangers still lead the Angels by four games in the American League West.
"You can't get too disappointed," said shortstop Elvis Andrus. "There's still three more games to go (in the series). We'll still be able to win the series. You can't take it too hard, today's game. You have to be ready to turn the page and be ready for tomorrow."
Hopefully by Tuesday the Rangers will have the taste of Monday's loss out of their mouths. It may be a tough task as Oswalt's struggles with the Rangers continue.
Oswalt, who hadn't pitched since July 17 because of lower back stiffness, was never able to find his groove.
Oswalt (3-2) allowed a run in the second and two in the third but was bailed out by the offense, which was able to match the Angels through five innings.
There was no matching what the Angels did to Oswalt and the Rangers in the sixth inning. Los Angeles scored nine times in the sixth, with five of those runs coming off Oswalt as he retired just one batter.
A two-run homer by Kendrys Morales got the scoring started and Oswalt couldn't turn off the faucet. After he retired the next batter, he gave up three consecutive singles before getting pulled for Robbie Ross. Ross didn't fare any better as he allowed four more runs in the sixth, including a grand slam to Morales.
"I just really didn't fall into synch the whole time or the whole night," Oswalt said. "I couldn't really get any downward plane on the ball. It just kept coming up, kept coming up. I fought it as long as I could."
Oswalt said one of the reasons he had a hard time finding his rhythm was because of the long layoff. He was skipped the last time through the rotation because of lower back stiffness and had an injection last Monday.
But in six starts with the Rangers, Oswalt has a 6.49 ERA and has allowed at least 11 hits in three of those starts. He's allowed seven home runs in 34 2/3 innings and Oswalt's also been on the mound to start the two biggest innings allowed this year in the American League. The White Sox scored nine July 3.
"I wish he would have been better, especially after giving up the two-run homer (to Morales)," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "If he could have shut it down right there, we're still in the ball game because the offense woke up a little bit tonight. So that's just the way it went. We just couldn't stop it. I think they put nine runs on the board with four home runs."
The Rangers led 2-1 after two innings after David Murphy's RBI double gave Texas its first hit with a runner in scoring position since Friday. Mike Trout's homer in the third put the Angels back in front but Josh Hamilton's homer tied the game at 3.
It was all downhill after that as the Angels followed up the nine-run sixth with three more in the seventh.
The one positive for the Rangers was they did have 12 hits, with Hamilton collecting his first multi-hit game since July 4 and his first multi extra-base hit game since May. But that was little consolation following the thud and thumping.
