Rangers Notes: Season Ends in Stunning Fashion

Michael Young walks through the Texas dugout after Friday’s 5-1 Wild Card loss to the Orioles at Rangers Ballpark.

On the heels of back-to-back World Series trips and for a time holding the American League’s best record, the Rangers were unable to maintain their A.L. West division lead when they were swept in Oakland last week, then saw their season come to an abrupt halt by losing the Wild Card play-in game, 5-1, to Baltimore on Friday.

Texas had a four-game lead over the A’s with only six to play, but that lead had been trimmed to just two games by the time Oakland hosted the Rangers at O.co Coliseum in the final regular season series of the year.

On Monday, Rangers left-hander Martin Perez turned in his third consecutive poor start, allowing four earned runs across four-plus innings of work as the Athletics held on for a 4-3 win, pulling to within a game of Texas.

Oakland pulled even in the American League West race on Tuesday when rookie Travis Blackley outdueled Matt Harrison over six frames, leading the A’s to a 3-1 victory and setting up a winner-take-all scenario for the division crown in Wednesday’s finale.

Ryan Dempster allowed three consecutive hits as Oakland manufactured a run in the first inning Wednesday afternoon, but the Rangers scored five times in the top of the third to take a 5-1 lead and chase starter A.J. Griffin from the game.

Dempster was pulled when the Athletics began to rally in the bottom of the fourth, and Derek Holland recorded two quick outs before yielding a two-run, game-tying double to Coco Crisp.

Texas could have escaped the inning having allowed just four runs worth of damage, but Oakland’s Yoenis Cespedes hit a fly ball to center that was lost in the sun and dropped by Josh Hamilton, who was charged with a fielding error as both Crisp and Stephen Drew came around to score and put the A’s in front, 7-5.

The Rangers failed to score again versus a combination of five Oakland relievers while the Athletics tacked on an additional five runs to make for a 12-5 final, completing an improbable comeback and taking the A.L. West title by one game on the last day of the season.

With a record of 93-69, Texas finished tied with Baltimore for the two American League Wild Card spots in this year’s new playoff format, and the Rangers held home field advantage for Friday’s play-in game by taking five of seven regular-season contests from the Orioles.

Facing veteran southpaw Joe Saunders, Texas continued its recent lack of timely hitting as the team scattered nine singles but went a mere 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, stranding eight men on base and grounding into three double plays.

Meanwhile, Baltimore chipped away at Yu Darvish with an unearned run in the first inning – the result of a Michael Young fielding error – and one run apiece in the sixth and seventh. The Orioles then scored twice off Joe Nathan in the top of the ninth to seal a 5-1 win, meaning they will advance to face New York in the A.L. Division Series.

Beltre Named Player of the Month

Although the Rangers had a disappointing start to October, third baseman Adrian Beltre was named American League Player of the Month for September, when he hit .337 in nearly 100 at-bats with 11 home runs, 19 RBIs and an MLB-leading .724 slugging percentage.

It marked the third such honor for Beltre in his career, as he was also named Player of the Month in September 2011 and, while with the Dodgers, in September 2004.

The 33-year-old Gold Glover becomes the seventh different player to win the monthly award multiple times in a Texas uniform, joining teammate Josh Hamilton as well as Juan Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez and Ruben Sierra.

Rangers Notes: Streak Ends, but Wins Keep Coming

Ian Kinsler, who hit .400 with six RBIs on the team’s recent homestand, turns a double play in Saturday’s 7-2 win over the Astros.

Before their loss to Houston on Friday, the Rangers had won 11 games in a row, good for the second-longest winning streak in club history (only a 14-game win streak in 1991 was longer). Texas came back to beat the Astros Saturday and Sunday, and the team carries a 4.5-game division lead into this week’s series against the second-place Angels in Anaheim.

The Rangers have now won eight consecutive series, and they improved their season record to 46-29, trailing only the New York Yankees for the best in all of baseball.

Left fielder Josh Hamilton hit a two-run home run off the Astros’ Roy Oswalt at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington Sunday to extend his hitting streak to 21 games, tied for the longest streak in the majors this year. Hamilton is batting .470 this month with nine home runs, 30 RBIs and an .850 slugging percentage.

Right-hander Alexi Ogando pitched three scoreless innings Wednesday against the Pirates to earn his third win in as many games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Ogando is just the third pitcher since 1900 to get wins in each of the first three relief appearances of his career.

A week after moving into first place on the Rangers’ career hit list, third baseman Michael Young tripled Thursday off Pittsburgh’s Evan Meek to pass Ruben Sierra as the club’s all-time leader in three-baggers (45). In addition, Young is just 17 at-bats shy of eclipsing Rafael Palmeiro (5,830) as the Rangers’ all-time leader in that category, and his 334 career doubles are second only to Ivan Rodriguez’s club record of 352.

It was announced Wednesday that broadcaster Tom Grieve has been selected as the newest member of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame, and he will be inducted in a pre-game ceremony on July 24. Grieve spent much of his playing career with the Washington/Texas franchise before joining the front office in 1980.

With the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline just over a month away, the Rangers are one of four teams to have contacted Seattle about acquiring ace left-hander Cliff Lee, though MLBTradeRumors.com reports that “many project the [Minnesota] Twins as the front runner.” Lee, who missed the first part of this season with an oblique injury, has 76 strikeouts against only four walks with a 2.39 ERA in 11 starts.

Young Poised to Make Gains in Rangers’ Record Books

Michael Young is on pace to finish 2010 as the Rangers' career leader in hits, doubles and at-bats.

Entering his 10th full season as a member of the Rangers infield, third baseman Michael Young is set to become the club’s all-time leader in a handful of offensive categories this year.

Young currently has 1,662 hits in a Texas uniform, good for third behind Rafael Palmeiro (1,692) and Ivan Rodriguez (1,747). He needs 86 more hits to pass Rodriguez for the most in team history.

With 5,501 career at-bats as a Ranger, Young again sits behind the long-standing duo of Rodriguez (5,754) and Palmeiro (5,830), though he needs just 330 to move into first place.

In addition, Young needs two more triples to leapfrog past Ruben Sierra (44) for the club’s all-time lead.

The six-time All-Star has racked up 311 career doubles as a Ranger, and he can move ahead of Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez for second in team history behind Rodriguez (352) with 11 two-baggers this season.

Also, Young needs 178 plate appearances and 60 runs scored to move into second place on the club’s all-time leaderboard behind Palmeiro in both categories (6,767 and 958, respectively).