By the time Sunday's 6-1 dismantling at the hands of an injury-decimated Twins lineup was complete, the Rangers had lost three of four to the team with the worst record in the AL. The Rangers are 1-9 all-time in the stadium. Beyond that, they had had the requisite made-in-Minnesota DL move and took two pitchers out of games after they were hit hard by batted balls.
On top of that, they were nearly no-hit Sunday and were so lethargic that manager Ron Washington felt the need to send a message by pulling Elvis Andrus out of the game for a lazy play.
"The last two games weren't our best," said first baseman Michael Young. "We're definitely capable of more. We need to make sure our energy level and enthusiasm stays high."
The lack of energy - not the dominance of left-hander Francisco Liriano or the poor at-bats of the Rangers - is what riled Washington the most.
Liriano, who already has a no-hitter to his credit this year, took advantage of a Rangers lineup sans lefty killer Mike Napoli, who was placed on the DL on Sunday. Liriano retired the first 19 Rangers before Andrus reached on an error by third baseman Luke Hughes in the seventh. The no-hit bid died in the eighth when Adrian Beltre led off with a solid single.
You don't lose to Lirianio. He beats you. The guy does have some credentials.
"Pitching stops everything," Washington said. "They pitched their butts off this weekend."
The manager could live with that. But with the Rangers trailing, 1-0, in the seventh, they made a mess of things and allowed five runs to score. The inning began with starter Matt Harrison taking a line drive off his left triceps and leaving the game. Despite a bruise, he expects to make his next start. On Saturday, reliever Dave Bush left after getting hit in the hamstring.
The inning was extended by a ball ruled an error on Andrus, even though he had to range far toward the middle to try and field it before it kicked off his glove. It was further extended by a wild-pitch third strike of what would have been the third out. It all culminated in a three-run homer by Michael Cuddyer off Mark Lowe.
That was bad enough, but when Andrus fielded a routine ball in the eighth, dropped his shoulder and flipped a ball wide of first, the manager decided to take action. When the Rangers came up in the ninth and with no chance to win the game, Washington decided there was still some value to be extracted from the afternoon. So, he sent Andres Blanco up to hit for Andrus.
On top of that, they were nearly no-hit Sunday and were so lethargic that manager Ron Washington felt the need to send a message by pulling Elvis Andrus out of the game for a lazy play.
"The last two games weren't our best," said first baseman Michael Young. "We're definitely capable of more. We need to make sure our energy level and enthusiasm stays high."
The lack of energy - not the dominance of left-hander Francisco Liriano or the poor at-bats of the Rangers - is what riled Washington the most.
Liriano, who already has a no-hitter to his credit this year, took advantage of a Rangers lineup sans lefty killer Mike Napoli, who was placed on the DL on Sunday. Liriano retired the first 19 Rangers before Andrus reached on an error by third baseman Luke Hughes in the seventh. The no-hit bid died in the eighth when Adrian Beltre led off with a solid single.
You don't lose to Lirianio. He beats you. The guy does have some credentials.
"Pitching stops everything," Washington said. "They pitched their butts off this weekend."
The manager could live with that. But with the Rangers trailing, 1-0, in the seventh, they made a mess of things and allowed five runs to score. The inning began with starter Matt Harrison taking a line drive off his left triceps and leaving the game. Despite a bruise, he expects to make his next start. On Saturday, reliever Dave Bush left after getting hit in the hamstring.
The inning was extended by a ball ruled an error on Andrus, even though he had to range far toward the middle to try and field it before it kicked off his glove. It was further extended by a wild-pitch third strike of what would have been the third out. It all culminated in a three-run homer by Michael Cuddyer off Mark Lowe.
That was bad enough, but when Andrus fielded a routine ball in the eighth, dropped his shoulder and flipped a ball wide of first, the manager decided to take action. When the Rangers came up in the ninth and with no chance to win the game, Washington decided there was still some value to be extracted from the afternoon. So, he sent Andres Blanco up to hit for Andrus.
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