Rangers Unable To Come Back After Rough Start - Lose 5-4

Chicago scored four quick runs in the first inning and Xavier Nady (above) put Chicago up for good at 5-3, narrowly avoiding the glove of catcher Matt Treanor (above). (AP Photo/Ralph Lauer)

After a 5-0 start to it's seven-game home stand, Texas has come up just short in the last two games.

C.J. Wilson (L, 3-2) and the Texas Rangers (25-20) were simply unable to claw their way back after putting themselves in a 4-0 hole to start the game against the Chicago Cubs (21-24). Three straight singles to start the game followed by an Alfonso Soriano two-run shot over the left field wall put the Rangers in a tough situation right out of the gate.

"Maybe I was throwing too many strikes, slash getting bad bounces," Wilson said, who threw 13 of his first 14 pitches for strikes, including Soriano's two-run homer. "Soriano's ball, that's the one I want back."

Wilson rebounded, allowing only three hits and one run over the last 4 2-3 innings he pitched, but the Cubs would need only one more run to pull out the victory. His final stat line wasn't horrendous, 5 2-3 innings pitches, seven hits, five earned runs, five strike-outs and three walks, but the Rangers needed a little bit more from the normally reliable Wilson on this day.

"After [the first], he competed," Manager Ron Washington said of Wilson, who received his first loss in the last seven starts. "He just couldn't make up the deficit."

Michael Young paced Texas offensively, driving in three of the four Rangers runs for the game, with a two run home-run in the third inning and a run-scoring double in the seventh that cut the deficit to one run (5-4) and put runners on second and third with only one out. An Ian Kinsler pop-out and Josh Hamilton line-out ended the threat. Texas got only two more runners on base the rest of the game, struck out four times in the last two innings, and had no hits.

While a 5-2 home-stand is still an accomplishment, it's disappointing that Texas couldn't take the series against Chicago. Especially considering the fact that they lost the last two games of the series by a combined two runs, with one game needing extra innings.

Box Score

The Rangers get a day off Monday before embarking on an eight-game road trip.

News and Notes:

• Cubs' starter Carlos Silva (W, 6-0) went 5 1-3 innings, giving up three earned on six hits, and with the win became the first Cubs' pitcher to start the season 6-0 in 43 years.
• The sale of the Rangers to the group led by the Greenberg-Ryan group will likely be finalized by mid-summer.
  

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