Texas falls back down to earth, losing two straight after their uplifting opening day victory. (AP Photo/ Jeffery Washington)On Tuesday night, Rangers' pitchers struggled with their command. Starter Rich Harden walked five batters on the evening in 3 2-3 innings, culminating in walking in two runs with the bases loaded before being pulled.
"I felt like I had good stuff, but they made me throw a lot of pitches," Harden said of his first start in a Rangers uniform. "I lost my command that last inning and that's what hurt me."
Reliever Dustin Nippert took over and subsequently walked four more batters in only 2 2-3 innings and gave up a two-run homer to Vernon Wells. Wells had another spectacular game against the Rangers. With two home runs, three RBI and four runs scored, Wells did it all.
"It's just trying not to miss your pitches when you get them, that's the biggest thing," Wells said. "So far so good."
Both teams had five hits, but the Blue Jays had three more runs thanks to Rangers' pitchers inability to throw strikes. Harden finished the game with a 2.45 ERA (because of Michael Young's error on a grounder that loaded the bases) and did have eight strike-outs, but command was definitely an issue. On the offensive side, Vlad Guerrero went 2-4 with a monster solo home run and Nelson Cruz went 1-3 with a line-drive home run to center as the duo went back-to-back for the first time this season.
Final score: Toronto 7 Texas 4
Wednesday afternoon's game was highlighted by C.J. Wilson's spectacular start. The former set-up man/closer pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine Blue Jays' batters. A wild pitch was thrown by Toronto starter Ricky Romero in the bottom of the 7th that scored David Murphy that got Texas on the scoreboard first. Neftali Feliz came in for the eighth inning and struck out the side, leaving the game up to Frankie Francisco in the final inning.
Francisco had some trouble with his command in the ninth, walking a batter and throwing only 14 of his 26 pitches for strikes. Vernon Wells hit another home run to lead off the ninth, Wells has four home runs for the series and now leads the majors in home runs and RBI (7). Francisco then got behind in the count 3-1 to Lyle Overbay who smoked a triple to left field. Edward Encarnacion then knocked him in with a sac fly and the Blue Jays tacked on another run before the inning was over, coming back and taking a 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
Jason Frazor, who allowed the Rangers comeback win on opening day, pitched a solid ninth inning, walking only one batter and allowing no hits. This was the second straight game Frazor had a flawless ninth inning for a save.
An underlying theme for Texas has been their inability to consistently throw strikes, plain and simple. The strike-out numbers have been excellent, with 23 total in their last two games, but overall-command has been a problem. Not only do the walk totals (14 in two games) hurt, but continuously getting behind in the count wears on these guys and leads to big innings for the opposition. Of course, there are 159 games left in the 2010 season, so Texas has plenty of time to figure things out.
Final Score: Toronto 3 Texas 1
Whats Next:
The Seattle Mariners come into Texas for a three-game series starting Friday night at 7:05 at the Ballpark in Arlington. Colby Lewis for Texas and Jason Vargas for Seattle are the scheduled starters.
News and Notes:
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been put on the disabled list due to stiffness in his upper back. Taylor Teagarden, who started in today's game, will take his place in the starting lineup.
- Vladimir Guerrero is first in the American League in batting average at .636.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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