Rangers' offensive woes continue against O's, Lopez
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| Regular Season Series |
| Texas leads 6-3 (as of Sun 7/16) |
| Wed 5/3 |
@TEX 2, BAL 1 |
Recap |
| Thu 5/4 |
@TEX 8, BAL 2 |
Recap |
| Thu 7/13 |
TEX 15, @BAL 1 |
Recap |
| Fri 7/14 |
TEX 2, @BAL 1 |
Recap |
| Sat 7/15 |
@BAL 8, TEX 1 |
Recap |
| >Sun 7/16 |
@BAL 4, TEX 0 |
Box Score |
| Tue 8/29 |
@TEX 9, BAL 4 |
Recap |
| Wed 8/30 |
BAL 7, @TEX 4 |
Recap |
| Thu 8/31 |
@TEX 7, BAL 5 |
Recap |
| · Complete Schedule: Orioles | Rangers |
| Scoring Summary |
| TEX | BAL |
 | 1st | M Tejada homered to left, M Mora scored. | 0 | 2 |
 | 5th | N Markakis homered to right. | 0 | 3 |
 | 5th | M Mora singled to left, B Roberts scored. | 0 | 4 |
| · View complete Play-By-Play |
| Game Information |
| Stadium | Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD |
| Attendance | 25,169 (52.2% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:47 |
| Weather | 95 degrees, partly cloudy |
| Wind | 9 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Dan Iassogna, First Base - Lance Barksdale, Second Base - Dale Scott, Third Base - Ron Kulpa |
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Texas Rangers gave Rodrigo Lopez a
justifiable nod for his fine performance, then wondered aloud why
they had so much trouble hitting against a pitcher who started the
game with 10 losses and a 6.77 ERA.
| Elias Says ... |
|
The Rangers dropped a 4-0 decision at Baltimore on Sunday and didn't score an earned run over the final 23 innings of that series. That's four innings shy of the longest such streak for any AL team this year (27 by the Mariners, April 6-9) and it's the second-longest for Texas in the past 14 seasons (25 innings without plating an earned run, Sept. 1-4, 2004).
• For more Elias Says, click here.
|
Miguel Tejada and
Nick Markakis homered,
Melvin Mora had three
hits, and Lopez led a strong pitching performance that carried the
Baltimore Orioles past the suddenly punchless Rangers 4-0 Sunday.
Lopez and three relievers limited the Rangers to five singles.
Texas has gone 23 straight innings without scoring an earned run
and went consecutive games without an extra-base hit for the first
time since August 2000.
"We just didn't swing the bats well today," Rangers manager
Buck Showalter said. "You have to give Lopez credit. We got down
early and really didn't grind him like we need to."
Tejada's two-run homer in the first inning gave the Orioles all
the offense they needed to salvage a split of the four-game series.
The Rangers won 15-1 on Thursday, then beat the Orioles 2-1 on
Friday before losing 8-1 on Saturday.
"You always have to give credit where credit is due. They
pitched well," said Texas All-Star shortstop
Michael Young, who
went 2-for-16 in the series. "We just didn't get it done. We have
to find ways to score runs."
The loss dropped the Rangers into second place in the AL West,
one game behind Oakland, which beat Boston 8-1 Sunday.
Losing to Baltimore ace
Erik Bedard on Saturday was
understandable, since Bedard has won six straight starts. But Lopez
had given up 17 runs in his last three starts and had permitted
fewer than six hits in only two of his previous 19 appearances.
On Sunday, Lopez (6-10) gave up five hits and a walk in 5 2/3
innings, allowing only two runners past first base.
"He's struggled. Today he didn't. That's frustrating,"
Showalter said. "You'd like to give [him] credit. Still, you'd
like to see us build more into the game offensively. ... We tried
to play catch up with one swing."
Lopez hoped his performance would serve as the first step in a
solid second half.
"Whatever happened in the past, I try to leave behind," he
said. "Over the break, I tried relaxing. Forget about everything.
I came back here like any other day and tried to do what I love to
do, pitch and help my team win."
After Lopez left,
Kurt Birkins retired all four batters he faced
and
Todd Williams worked a perfect eighth before
Chris Ray got
three straight outs.
Gary Matthews Jr. had two hits for the Rangers, whose only run
since the fourth inning of Friday night's came courtesy of a
Baltimore error.
"One thing we might have to do is take a step back. Just relax
a little bit more, have a little more fun up there," Young said.
"I think that way we'll develop a little more of a rhythm, be more
consistent."
Tejada's 18th home run, a drive to left off
John Wasdin (2-2),
came after Mora singled with two outs in the first.
The Rangers mounted their initial threat in the fourth, using a
walk and a single by
Hank Blalock to put runners on first and
second with two outs before Lopez retired
Ian Kinsler on a grounder
to short.
Baltimore went up 4-0 in the fifth. Markakis led off with his
third homer, his first since April 14, a drive to right that came
immediately after the rookie pulled Wasdin's first pitch a few feet
outside the foul pole.
The first pitch was a changeup, the second a fastball.
"I was sitting on a fastball, he put one in the middle and I
put a good swing on it," Markakis said.
Brian Roberts followed with a single. He stopped short while
running to second on a botched hit-and-run, but the throw from
catcher
Rod Barajas skipped into center field. That allowed Roberts
to take the base, and Mora hit an RBI single to end Wasdin's
afternoon.
Lopez gave up singles to Matthews and Young in the sixth, then
retired
Mark Teixeira on a deep fly to center before Birkins got
Blalock on a grounder to end the inning.
Game notes
Baltimore's Corey Patterson ended a 4-for-31 skid with a
second-inning single. ... Teixeira is 2-for-14 lifetime against
Lopez; Matthews is 6-for-11 against the right-hander. ... Texas
made three errors, including two by Barajas on poor throws to
second on attempted steals. ... Young snapped an 0-for-11 run with
his single in the sixth.