Back to the drawing tables

It was a beautiful day for baseball in Arlington, Texas. The sun was out, the breeze was blowing, and Derek Holland had himself a solid pitching effort. If only this could be said about Holland's run support. The Texas Rangers fall to the Angels 3-2 and so they're chances to jump Anaheim for the AL West lead fell short too.

Holland, the Dutch Oven, threw 105 pitches over six innings and allowed only two runs over six hits. Holland also had four strikeouts and walked three. Holland previously had been struggling on the mound with his command and mechanics and watched as his shiny ERA jumped from 2.25 to 5.18 over just five starts. But it seemed that anything that had gone wrong Holland ironed out this afternoon.

As for the at bats, it was a slow day for the Rangers lineup. What seemed to have been a working fix for the order, only a few hours/days earlier, stopped short of what most call production. The game went back and fourth and both teams had to rally in order to break the ties. The Angels prevailed when they broke the 2-2 tie in the ninth. Bobby Abreu was walked by Darren Oliver to bring up Izturis, who came through to give the Angels the final lead of the day.

White fluffy clouds, cool breezes and ice cold brews wasn't enough to put a "W" in the books on this sunny May afternoon. There is still one more game though, which means the series is still up for grabs. Lets hope that a strong start by Wilson provides enough boost and power to ignite this lineup for a rock'em, sock'em mid-Sunday afternoon kind of game. Until then, enjoy the leftover peanuts.