ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers' seven-game winning
streak was snapped Saturday, but "snapped" is too nice a word for
what happened in the 11-7 loss to the Rockies.
This one was an excruciating, three hour and 27-minute game in 95-degree heat
that saw the Rangers given false hope after falling behind 11-1, only to be
punished again by their own failings.
"A bad day at the office," said starter Colby Lewis, who yielded
eight hits and 12 runs in just four innings. "Everybody has them, ours are
a little bit more in the limelight. That's just the way it is."
That's not the way it's been lately for the Rangers, who reeled off seven wins
with solid pitching, sparkling defense and resilient hitting. Not much of
that was on display Saturday as the Rockies scored 10 runs over the third,
fourth and fifth innings.
The Rangers committed an error in the third inning when Colorado took control
with a four-run rally.
"Yeah, we made a couple of mistakes, but those mistakes didn't have much
to do with the game," said Rangers manager Ron Washington, whose team made
it a competitive game by rallying for six runs in the fifth.
"We were down 11-1 at one time," Washington said. "I don't know
how you can say it was a game we should have won. Yeah, we might have had a
chance to win it if we'd had put some more runs on the board, but we would have
had to score 12 to win."
The Rangers missed golden opportunities in the second, sixth and seventh
innings when they had a runner at third with only one out. All three times, the
Rangers failed to hit a ball on the ground to score a run.
"That's scratch runs we could have had," Washington said. "I
think you have to tip your hat to the other pitchers for getting out of it. If
we were in those situations and our pitchers got out of it I would be
thrilled."
Colorado starter Josh Outman allowed just one run, a solo shot by Nelson Cruz,
in the first four innings. But the Rockies left-hander got into trouble in the fifth
and was pulled just before Cruz hit another blast — giving him homers on
back-to-back pitches.
Josh Hamilton, however, was not seeing pitches well. The Rangers' No. 3 hitter
struck out four times in five at-bats, giving him seven strikeouts over the
last two games.
Hamilton, after a torrid start, is hitting .191 in June with one homer and 26
strikeouts in 68 at-bats.
"I think the main thing with Josh is discipline," Washington said.
"He's got to have some patience. He's in a spot in that lineup where he
feels like he has to deliver, but he's got guys in that lineup behind him that
can deliver. It's just a matter of him having some patience, that's all."
Center fielder Craig Gentry was pulled after the third inning when showing
signs of being bothered by a twisted ankle in his only at-bat.
"He started feeling his ankle a little bit and I just wasn't taking any
chances, so I got him out of there," Washington said.
The Rockies pounded Rangers pitching for 17 hits, with all nine starters
getting at least one hit. Reliever Michael Kirkman gave up a double and
consecutive homers to the first three batters he faced.
Colorado was 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position while the Rangers,
despite getting 15 total hits, were just 4-for-15 in scoring
opportunities.
"They put the bat on the ball and made key hits when they needed to,"
said Lewis, who said neither the heat nor a 30-pitch first inning was a problem
for him. "They took advantage of mistakes. That's the way it goes."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
