(Photo courtesy of flickr.com user Jay DeSimone.)

It’s 1:30 AM, I’m drinking Red Brick Hop Lanta IPA and listening to My Morning Jacket. I’m thinking I may go on a long walk to try and figure out what has gone on mentally the last two nights with this team. After tonight’s game, according to Evan Grant, there was about a 30 minute closed door team meeting.  It focused on getting back to Rangers baseball and better decisions.

The starter 

Yu Darvish deserved a better fate tonight. The baseball gods were not on his or the Rangers’ side as the defense made three errors behind him. He allowed three runs, but only two were earned in 6.1 innings. He also walked three and struck out seven. In a start that could have been a gem, he was spoiled by, in the words of Rangers broadcaster Eric Nadel, “total lack of support, both offensively and defensively.”

Andrus was the main culprit in the error department. After having just taken a “mental day” two days ago, he had a lackadaisical throw in the first that allowed Mike Trout to reach to start the game. Worse, he made the decision to not attempt to throw out Trout on a routine ground ball in the 7th inning, instead stopping to argue with the umpire that the ground ball hit the base runner going from 2nd to 3rd base.

Also that inning Yorvit was thrown out of the game after arguing Trout was out on a sac fly to Nelson Cruz who threw home and (although super-slow motion replay showed he was out by a hair) the umpire called him safe.  Torrealba lost it, screaming, yelling and dancing around him like a wild man.

The pen

Uehara and Lowe finished up, pitching 1.2 with Lowe allowing a hit. Everything else was zeroes in the box score.

The bats

Not much again tonight. Murphy had a sac fly. The other run was unearned. Young and Cruz had two hits. Beltre was tabbed with the golden sombrero, striking out four times. The team did draw seven walks but struck out ten times. They left ten runners on base, lost three in GIDP’s and one was thrown out stealing. A LOT OF WASTED OPPORTUNITIES. But in the end they had the bases loaded in the ninth with Hamilton up, who was just named player of the month for May, and just couldn’t get it done.

FINAL: Rangers 2, Angels 3

End of the bench notes

- Gentry robbed Aybar of a HR in the third inning

- 6 of the first 11 batters reached for the Rangers but got no runs

- Darvish has issued at least two walks in every start this season

- The Rangers made three errors tonight and at least two more mental errors that negatively impacted the game

- The Rangers have allowed the most unearned runs in baseball since May 1st

- Third game this year that Andrus and Beltre have made an error in the same game

- Andrus is the team leader in walks with 25

- The Rangers are a measly 8-9 against the A.L. West this year, they went 40-17 in 2011. Wow.

On deck

LH Matt Harrison [6-3 4.41 ERA] try’s to salvage the final game v. RH Dan Haren [3-5 3.52 ERA] at 2:35 PM