Rangers' Bullpen Blows It In 10th, 5-4

Business week win-streak comes to an end thanks to some lefty-on-lefty action that didn't fare well for Texas. Tyler Colvin (21) couldn't connect on the high-five (above), but scored the first of two Cubs' 10th inning runs that snapped the Rangers' five-game winning streak. (AP Photo/Ralph Lauer)

In baseball, it pays to have a quality manager in the dugout who is capable of making the right decisions on a consistent basis.

With Darren O'Day on the mound for the Texas Rangers (25-19) and the Chicago Cubs (20-24) batting in a 3-3 dead-locked game in the 10th inning, Cubs' manager Lou Piniella decided to go to his bench. There he found two left-handed hitters (Kosuke Fukudome and Mike Fontenot) to go up against a left-handed pitcher in O'Day, against whom lefties are now hitting .423 for the season.

"We have all those reports. We had Fukudome sitting there and we had Fontenot," Pinella said. "We used them and it worked for us."

Tyler Colvin began the 10th with a lead-off double, followed by consecutive singles from Fukudome and Fontenot that sent O'Day (L, 1-2) packing after giving up three hits and a run without getting a single Cubs' batter out. David Lee tacked on another run later in the inning on a fielder's choice, and Texas went into the bottom of the inning down 5-3.

"They threw three left-handers up there in a row, and they all came through," Manager Ron Washington said.

Ian Kinsler knocked in Elvis Andrus with a single with two-outs in the bottom on the 10, but Vladimir Guerrero followed with a ground-out to end the game.

The bullpen squandered what was a solid start for Derek Holland. The 23 year-old lefty pitched six innings and gave up two earned runs on four hits, striking out five batters. Holland's only issue on the day was that he gave up a couple of homers, as he seemed to leave a couple of pitches up and over the middle of the plate.

"The pitches were up. It's my job to get the ball down," Holland said. "I left a couple of changeups up, and they took care of them."

Speaking of home runs, Nelson Cruz and Guerrero each had solo home runs in the fourth inning and the duo combined to drive in three of the four Rangers' runs on the night.

The rubber-game of the series takes place Sunday afternoon with a 1:05 p.m. start time.

C.J. Wilson (3-1, 2.55 ERA) goes against Carlos Silva (5-0, 3.35) for the Cubs.

News and Notes:

• Texas is tied with the Boston Red Sox for the most extra innings games in the Majors with seven. The Rangers are 4-3 in those games.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)