Debut Gone Awry - Rangers Lose 6-1

Cliff Lee went the distance, but allowed three home runs along the way as just about nothing went right for Texas Saturday night. (AP Photo/Cody Duty)

Saturday night was an evening to forget for the Texas Rangers (50-37) who are now on the verge of being swept at home by the worst team in baseball, the Baltimore Orioles (28-59). Even the newest Ranger, Cliff Lee (L, 8-4), was unable to right the ship for this struggling team.

"It's been hectic," said Lee, who arrived in Dallas at around 1 a.m. early Saturday. "I don't think that was the reason I didn't do as well... The first one is out of the way and hopefully I can do better from here on out."

Lee, who went nine innings for the fourth time in his last five outings, gave up six runs on nine hits - three homers. The lone bright spot about Lee's rough start (and, really, the Rangers' night as a whole) was he needed only 95 pitches for his sixth complete-game of the season. This gave the Rangers' beleaguered bullpen some much-needed rest and was one thing that actually went according to plan for this team.

Orioles' starter Chris Tillman (W, 1-3) held the vaunted Rangers' offense in check all-game long. Tillman actually had a no-hitter through 6 1-3 innings, finished the game having allowed only two hits and no earned runs. Did anyone think coming into this game that Chris Tillman was going to out-pitch Cliff Lee?

In front of over 41,000 fans (a record 14,300 sold on game-day) the Texas Rangers choked, plain and simple. The bats went cold and Lee was unable to live up to the hype of what Texas fans envisioned him to be.

Luckily for Texas, it's only one game. Lee will have plenty of chances to prove his worth to this Rangers' team and I believe he will. This is just a blip on the radar for a guy who will play a pivotal role in the Rangers' playoff chase this season.

Texas will try to avoid the four-game sweep Saturday afternoon with C.J. Wilson (7-4, 3.24 ERA) getting the start for the Rangers against Jake Arrieta (2-2, 4.96) and the Orioles. The scheduled start time is 2:05 p.m.

News and Notes:

• Six earned runs in the second-most Cliff Lee has allowed in a game this season. Lee allowed seven runs on May 21, but has allowed four runs or fewer in every other start this season (14 starts total).
• Josh Hamilton's home-hitting streak was snapped Saturday night at 29 games. Hamilton went 0 for 4 on the night.

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