Sloppy play in the infield leads to a four-run eighth for the Devil Rays as the Rangers blow another late-game lead. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)The Texas Rangers (67-50) are having a difficult time putting teams away late in ballgames, which is a disturbing trend for a team with playoff aspirations.
Whether it's a shaky bullpen blowing it late or, most recently, a couple of infield blunders extending a two-out rally in the eight; the Rangers are lacking that killer-instinct the great teams have. The trend continued Monday night against the Tampa Bay Rays (72-46), a likely first-round Rangers opponent if they make the postseason, as aforementioned gaffes by a couple of backup Rangers infielders allowed the Rays to come back from down 4-2 to win the game.
"It was kind of a blur of an inning," said Rangers' starter Cliff Lee of the Rays' four-run eighth inning. "Things kind of fell apart. I don't know why. It was a strange inning."
The bottom of the eighth started innocently enough, as Rays' catcher Kelly Shoppach flied out to right field on the first pitch he saw from Lee. Then, on three straight plays, Joaquin Arias (who was filling in for Elvis Andrus) and Andres Blanco (who is third-string behind both Ian Kinsler and Christian Guzman) blundered the assignment an easy pop-out that turned into a double for B.J. Upton. Then Arias couldn't make the throw on an infield single by Rays' shortstop Josh Bartlett which put runners on the corners with only one out in the inning on two plays that Major League players are supposed to make. Arias followed by failing to get the runner out at second on a would-be fielders choice off the bat of Rays' left fielder Carl Crawford and, three hits later, Lee was pulled and Tampa Bay held the lead at 6-4.
"We didn't catch the popup, we didn't get the out when we should have got it," said manager Ron Washington. "There were too many outs that were supposed to be outs that didn't happen and the was the game right there."
It's good to see Washington demand some accountability from his players here, and I know backup-players have to be able to make plays when called upon but, all things considered, Wash makes the final decision on who to play in that situation. It's up to the manager of the team to put his team in the best position to succeed and I don't think he did that in this situation. I know two infielders are on the shelf and it had been over a month since Andrus had gotten a day off, but this is a game against arguably the best team in baseball. You have to play your best players and I guarantee you Andrus would have made those routine infield plays.
Game two of the three game set is Tuesday night, with a 6:10 p.m. start time. Tommy Hunter (9-1, 3.38 ERA) will take the mound for Texas while Matt Garza (11-7, 3.92) will get the start for Tampa Bay. Hunter's first start of the season came against the Devil Rays and he responded by pitched allowing only one run on five hits in nine innings - his only complete game of the season.
News and Notes:
- With the win, Tampa Bay is now tied for first in the American League East division with the New York Yankees at 72-46.
- Rangers third-baseman Michael Young was pulled after the sixth inning due to neck stiffness. Jorge Cantu moved over from first to third in his place, while Mitch Moreland came into the game at first. Young is considered day-to-day.
- Nelson Cruz was placed on the disabled list for the third time this season due to the same strained left hamstring. Outfielder Brandon Boggs was recalled from triple-A Oklahoma to take his spot on the roster.
- Even in the defeat, Rangers' starter Cliff Lee struck out 10 batters, pushing his total over his last two starts to 21. It's the most K's over a two-game span all season long. Lee won neither game.
(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)
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