The July struggles continue as the Rangers got themselves into a 4-0 hole early and were unable to climb their way back. Matt LaPorta (7) celebrates after hitting a two-run homer in the third inning. (AP Photo/Cody Duty)Another game, another loss for the Texas Rangers (48-34) who have won only one of five games played in July. This time, rather than losing to a team with a legitimate, over .500 record, Texas lost to a Cleveland Indians (33-49) team that is more than 15 games below .500.
"We were playing catch up all night and couldn't do it," manager Ron Washington said. "They just kept pouring in runs."
Omar Beltre (L, 0-1), making only the second start of his Major League career, faltered early, allowing three walks, four hits, and four runs in only three innings. Dustin Nippert came in for relief in the fourth, but provided none, walking two while allowing five hits and three runs in only 2 1-3 innings.
Offensively, they weren't much better, as the Rangers stranded 11 runners and were 3-13 (.230) on the night with runners in scoring position.
These six days of July have certainly been disheartening to Rangers' fans, but the truth is all teams go through rough patches like this in a 162-game season. The key for Texas is to bounce back quickly.
Texas takes on Cleveland Tuesday night with a scheduled 7:05 p.m. start time. C.J. Wilson (6-4, 3.34 ERA) goes against Justin Masterson for the Indians (3-7, 4.85).
News and Notes:
- Nine runs is the most allowed by the Rangers since June 6, a 9-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
- Five Rangers made the American League All-Star Team, tying a franchise-record. Details upcoming.
- Josh Hamilton was named American League Player of the Month for the month of June. Hamilton led the Majors in both batting average (.454) and RBI (31), among other stats.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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