Rangers Notes: A.L. East Trip Highlights Club’s Weaknesses

Prince Fielder has struggled both at the plate and in the field so far this year, batting a mere .162 while committing two errors at first base.

The Rangers won just two of six games on their first road trip of the season, dropping two of three to the Rays in Tampa Bay last weekend before doing the same against the Red Sox this week at Fenway Park.

Despite the losing record, however, there was only one game in which it felt like Texas had little or no chance to win, that being last Friday’s series opener at Tropicana Field. A pair of first-inning walks set the stage for Tampa Bay to score an early run off Joe Saunders, and the Rays later added on with three-run homers from Sean Rodriguez and Ryan Hanigan.

It was a particularly painful outing for Saunders, who left the game in the top of the fourth inning after taking an Evan Longoria line drive off his left ankle. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday with a bruised ankle, and right-hander Daniel McCutchen was recalled from Double-A Frisco.

Meanwhile, Rays starter Jake Odorizzi scattered three hits over six scoreless innings on Friday as Tampa Bay cruised to an 8-1 win, helped in part by a shaky Texas defense that made four errors.

Saturday’s game marked the major-league debut of righty Nick Martinez, who won a spot in the Rangers’ starting rotation following a slew of injuries to the pitching staff this spring. He was given an early lead with which to work when Alex Rios hit a two-run double off David Price in the top of the first.

Texas went on to score two more runs against Price in support of Martinez, who allowed home runs to Yunel Escobar and Matt Joyce but otherwise pitched well across his six innings of work, handing a 4-3 lead over to the Jason Frasor and the bullpen in the seventh.

Frasor worked around consecutive singles to get through his inning unscathed, but left-hander Neal Cotts issued two walks in the eighth and watched them both come around to score on James Loney’s RBI double, lifting the Rays to a 5-4 victory.

Yu Darvish provided the Rangers with a much-needed boost when he returned from neck stiffness to make his season debut on Sunday, and he struck out two batters in the first inning to become the fastest starter to reach 500 career strikeouts, doing so in just 401 and two-thirds innings pitched.

Darvish was given with no run support while he was on the mound, but Texas broke a scoreless tie in the eighth when Shin-Soo Choo’s infield single was followed by a two-run homer from Elvis Andrus. The Rangers added an insurance run and held on for a 3-0 win to avoid the sweep.

On Monday in Boston, Texas right-hander Tanner Scheppers fared better than he did in his Opening Day debut against the Phillies, although he too was victimized by lack of run support as the Rangers fell to John Lackey and the Red Sox, 5-1.

The Texas bats showed signs of life Tuesday, staking Martin Perez to an early lead by scoring five runs in the top of the third inning and three more in the fourth. Perez also benefitted from five double plays turned behind him in the game, and while closer Joakim Soria allowed three runs in the ninth, the Rangers were able to hang on for a 10-7 win.

Southpaw Robbie Ross issued six walks on Wednesday but limited the damage to one run across five-plus innings, and Texas turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage on a solo homer from Mitch Moreland and an RBI single from Alex Rios.

Given another late lead with which to work, however, Neal Cotts faltered again in what appeared to be a favorable matchup for Texas. David Ortiz had been 0-for-5 with five strikeouts against Cotts heading into the game, but he turned the tables with three-run shot that sailed over the right-field foul pole and gave the Red Sox a 4-2 series-clinching victory.

Kouzmanoff Singles in Rangers Debut

As third baseman Adrian Beltre is sidelined with a strained quad muscle, corner infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff had his contract purchased from Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday, with right-hander Seth Rosin getting designated for assignment in a concurrent roster move.

(UPDATE: Rosin was returned by Texas to his original club, the Philadelphia Phillies, on Friday.)

Kouzmanoff, who last appeared in the big leagues with Colorado in 2011, was in uniform for Wednesday’s game against Boston and pinch-hit for Josh Wilson in the top of the seventh, singling off reliever Junichi Tazawa in his lone at-bat.

A career .256 hitter, Kouzmanoff looked impressive in spring training and was the very last player cut from the roster prior to Opening Day, his status no doubt affected by the late injury to Jurickson Profar and the Rangers’ sudden need for a second baseman.

As for Beltre, the 35-year-old is dealing with just the latest in a series of leg ailments that have caused him to miss time in recent seasons, although the club is hopeful that he can recover from his current injury without a trip to the disabled list.

Rangers Notes: Walk-Offs Pave Way for First Series Win

Shin-Soo Choo (center) is mobbed by teammates Wednesday after he drew a game-winning walk against Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon.

Although they trailed in all three games of their season-opening series, the Rangers bounced back to win the final two contests against the Phillies with a pair of walk-off victories this week at Globe Life Park.

Left-hander Martin Perez put forth a solid effort in his Tuesday start opposite A.J. Burnett, tossing five shutout innings before allowing two runs in the top of the sixth. Cesar Hernandez led off with a double and later scored on a single by Jimmy Rollins, who was driven in himself on a Ryan Howard RBI double.

Texas pulled to within a run in the bottom of the frame when Alex Rios’ leadoff double was followed by an RBI single from Mitch Moreland, and Texas then tied the game in the seventh when Shin-Soo Choo singled, advanced on a sacrifice and a groundout, and scored a double from Adrian Beltre.

Veteran relievers Jason Frasor and Neal Cotts combined for two and one-third shutout innings to keep the score tied at 2-2, with Cotts getting Ryan Howard to strike out swinging to end the eighth.

After Joakim Soria had tossed a perfect top of the ninth for the Rangers, Philadelphia called on rookie Mario Hollands to make his major-league debut. Hollands issued a four-pitch walk to Choo leading off the inning, then walked Prince Fielder after Elvis Andrus laid down a sac bunt.

Righty B.J. Rosenburg took over for Hollands on the mound, but the third pitch he threw was hit by Adrian Beltre into right field to bring Choo home and give Texas a come-from-behind 3-2 victory.

Like Tanner Scheppers on Monday, southpaw Robbie Ross made the first start of his major-league career Wednesday, although he brought with him much more experience as a starter in the minors than Scheppers.

Ross ran into trouble almost immediately, however, as Carlos Ruiz doubled with one out in the first and was driven in by Chase Utley for the first run of the ballgame.

Ryan Howard then clubbed a two-run homer off Ross in the third to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead, and the shutout held until Mitch Moreland tripled and Leonys Martin delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.

With Texas still trailing 3-1 in the ninth, Adrian Beltre singled to lead off against closer Jonathan Papelbon and went to third when Moreland hit an opposite-field double into left. Pinch-hitter Jim Adduci beat out an infield single to score Beltre, and Moreland came home on Martin’s ground-ball single into right to tie the game.

Papelbon then seemed to lose control of his fastball, issuing a four-pitch walk to Donnie Murphy that loaded the bases before walking Choo with a full count to drive in Adduci as the winning run.

Next up for the Rangers is a tough American League East road trip through Tampa Bay and Boston, with three games apiece against the Rays and defending World Series champion Red Sox.

Darvish to Start Sunday

Having been scratched from his Opening Day assignment, right-hander Yu Darvish is now expected to make his first start of the season this Sunday at Tropicana Field.

The 27-year-old Darvish, who led the American League in strikeouts last season and finished second in the A.L. Cy Young award voting, was shut down halfway through spring training due to stiffness in his neck.

Although there was no structural damage in the neck, Darvish opened this season on the 15-day disabled list and missed a chance to face off against former Texas left-hander Cliff Lee last Monday.

He is slated to oppose Rays right-hander Alex Cobb – who lost to Toronto in Tampa Bay’s second game of the season – on Sunday afternoon in Florida.

Lewis Scheduled for Rehab Outing

While Yu Darvish is pitching against the Rays, veteran righty Colby Lewis will be making an important start of his own for Triple-A Round Rock in his effort to come back from elbow surgery and a hip replacement procedure.

Lewis has not seen big-league action in nearly two years, but he was one of the Rangers’ most reliable pitchers before his recent injury woes. Across 80 starts from 2010-12, Lewis produced a 3.93 ERA and surpassed 200 innings pitched in each of his two full seasons over that span.

His potential return would bring a stabilizing influence to the Texas rotation, which currently features just one of the five starters (Martin Perez) who had been penciled in last offseason.

Rangers Notes: Late-Inning Losses Hurt Club’s Playoff Hopes

Joakim Soria gave up a walk-off grand slam to the Royals’ Justin Maxwell Sunday afternoon.

For the second year in a row, the Rangers on Sunday saw Oakland complete a September comeback and win the American League West division.

Now, Texas has its postseason hopes riding on one of two potential A.L. Wild Card berths, although the ballclub currently sits in third place behind Tampa Bay and Cleveland in that race.

Having lost all six games on their most recent homestand, the Rangers extended their losing streak to seven with a 6-2 defeat last Monday at Tropicana Field.

Rookie of the Year candidate Wil Myers drove in three runs for the Rays while Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb struck out 10 batters across eight innings.

Ian Kinsler gave Texas an early lead Tuesday when he homered on the very first pitch from  Jeremy Hellickson, and both Kinsler and Elvis Andrus finished with three RBIs as the Rangers beat the Rays, 7-1, to end their losing skid.

Wednesday proved to be the first of two heartbreakers on the road trip for Texas, which took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth before Jurickson Profar failed to turn what should have been an inning-ending double play, and Sean Rodriguez followed with a two-run home run to tie the game.

Adrian Beltre put the Rangers back in front with an RBI single in the top of the eleventh, but Tampa Bay tied it again on a single from David DeJesus, then won the game, 4-3, when Desmond Jennings delivered a walk-off hit in the twelfth.

Texas clubbed four long balls on Thursday to salvage a four-game split with the Rays, cruising to an 8-2 victory behind right-hander Yu Darvish — who walked six batters while struggling with his command — and a trio of relievers.

In Friday’s series opener at Kauffman Stadium, both the Rangers and Royals plated an early run to forge a 1-1 tie heading into the eighth inning, when Neftali Feliz issued a bases-loaded walk that forced in Lorenzo Cain and gave Kansas City a 2-1 win.

On Saturday, Texas finally got the kind of top-tier performance it had been expecting from starter Matt Garza, as he pitched into the ninth and allowed just one run while the Rangers held on to beat the Royals by a 3-1 final.

Seemingly unable to maintain any sort of momentum, the team endured another blow to its playoff chances Sunday with a gut-wrenching 4-0 loss in Kansas City. The Rangers and Royals each missed on RBI opportunities over the first nine innings and entered the tenth in a scoreless tie.

Kansas City loaded the bases before Texas could record an out, and although Joakim Soria was one strike away from escaping the jam, his payoff pitch to Justin Maxwell was hit beyond the left-field wall for a game-winning grand slam.

Recent Performance Leaves Washington ‘Concerned’

With the ballclub emerged in an extended funk through much of September, Rangers manager Ron Washington has received some criticism from fans and media members alike, and last week he acknowledged feelings of concern regarding his long-term job security.

“I’m concerned about my job,” Washington said Tuesday on a local radio station. “If that decision is made, it’s out of my hands. I hope I’ve gained credibility for what we’ve accomplished the past few years.

“I’m not a finger-pointer. We’ve all got to take blame … I don’t really think about that type of stuff. I know at some point in this game of baseball, we all may have to look for another job.”

Washington led Texas to the franchise’s first two World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011, but the team squandered a late-season division lead last year before losing in the Wild Card game, and the Rangers are now at serious risk of missing the playoffs altogether.

Rangers Notes: September Swoon Continues in Arlington

In the midst of his worst big-league season at the plate, outfielder David Murphy has just nine hits with 11 strikeouts in his last 52 at-bats.

As the regular season enters its final stretch drive, Texas finds itself a full 6.5 games out of first place in the American League West, thanks in part to a pair of home sweeps at the hands of Pittsburgh and Oakland over the past week.

Whereas the Rangers had their sights set on reclaiming the A.L. West division crown for much of this season, they are now tied with Tampa Bay for the lead in what has become a very tight American League Wild Card race, with a key four-game series against the Rays beginning tonight at Tropicana Field.

For the most part, the primary suspect in recent Texas losses has been an offense that has suddenly gone silent, which was most apparent when Yu Darvish lost two games by final scores of 1-0 on the homestand.

Darvish was done in by a lack of run support Monday versus the Pirates, keeping Pittsburgh off the board for six innings before allowing an RBI double to Pedro Alvarez in the seventh while the Rangers’ bats were shut down by rookie right-hander Gerrit Cole.

A late rally on Tuesday was not enough for Texas in a 5-4 loss to the Pirates (who are engaged in their own battle for a playoff spot in the National League) and Pittsburgh completed the sweep Wednesday afternoon by stifling another Rangers rally and leaving town with a 7-5 victory.

The first-place Athletics came to Rangers Ballpark on Friday and quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead when Yoenis Cespedes clubbed a three-run homer in the top of the first inning off Derek Holland, who lasted just two batters into the fourth before being replaced by Nick Tepesch.

Oakland continued to add insurance runs and took a 9-2 lead into the bottom of the eighth, and while Texas was able to score six times off the A’s relief corps, any comeback momentum was killed when Alex Rios was erroneously called out by third-base umpire Andy Fletcher on a play at the bag, making for a 9-8 final.

Saturday afternoon featured yet another solid performance from Yu Darvish, who struck out 10 batters and scattered four hits over seven innings, but he took the hard-luck 1-0 loss again as the Rangers failed to generate any offense against Oakland’s Bartolo Colon.

Although southpaw Martin Perez delivered his 10th quality start of the year on Sunday, the Texas lineup went a mere 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position while the Athletics cruised to a 5-1 win, taking a commanding lead in the A.L. West and all but ending the Rangers’ hopes for a division title.

Adduci Making Quick Impression with Bat

Logging his first big-league service time this month after spending the last 10 years in the minors, outfielder/first baseman Jim Adduci appears to have settled in comfortably with hits in four of his first five career starts.

Texas manager Ron Washington showed faith in the left-handed-hitting Adduci by keeping him in the lineup Sunday even when Oakland made a last-minute switch to a left-handed starting pitcher.

Adduci responded with three hits in the game, including singles in each his first two at-bats off A’s southpaw Tommy Milone, which brings his batting average to .412 (7-for-17) across 11 games in the majors.

“[Washington] decided to leave me in, and I was able to get a few to fall in,” the 28-year-old Adduci said.

Struggles Continue for Berkman

On the other end of the spectrum is veteran Lance Berkman, who is hitless in three games since returning from the disabled list when active rosters expanded to 40 players earlier this month.

Berkman, 37, signed a one-year deal in January to be the Rangers’ designated hitter, and although he was a productive part of the offense during the season’s first few weeks, a series of nagging ailments have hampered him since early summer.

The switch-hitting Berkman has been in a 5-for-41 slump while seeing only sporadic playing time over the last two months — he missed most of July and all of August due to injuries — and it seems doubtful he will re-join the Texas lineup on a regular basis.

Manager Ron Washington said “I just haven’t seen where, with all the time [Berkman’s] had off and where we are, that he’s a healthy guy right now.”

Rangers Notes: Beltre Lifts Texas Past Tampa Bay, into ALCS

Adrian Beltre connects for his third home run of the game Tuesday at Tropicana Field in Florida.

The Rangers became the first team to advance in this year’s MLB playoffs when they defeated the Rays on Tuesday, 4-3, to win the best-of-five American League Division Series and move on to the A.L. Championship Series, where they will play either the Detroit Tigers or New York Yankees.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre joined elite company when he hit three home runs in Tuesday’s clincher, becoming just the sixth different player to go deep three times in a single postseason game. Among the others are Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and George Brett.

After Tampa Bay took the opener handily last Friday in Arlington, pounding Texas starter C.J. Wilson for six earned runs en route to a 9-0 shutout victory, the Rangers were able to reel off three straight wins to get past the Rays for the second year in a row.

Derek Holland, Colby Lewis and Matt Harrison each earned victories for Texas in the three wins over Tampa Bay, with Harrison striking out a career-high nine batters as part of Tuesday’s clincher at Tropicana Field.

“It’s unbelievable,” second baseman Ian Kinsler said of advancing beyond the Division Series. “We’ve fought all year. To get back to the ALCS, get a chance to defend our title and go back to the World Series, that’s what we wanted all year.”

The Rangers will begin the ALCS on Saturday against either the Tigers or Yankees, who are tied at two games apiece in their best-of-five A.L. Division Series.

By virtue of the teams’ regular-season records, Texas would hold home-field advantage over Detroit for the A.L. Championship Series but would have to open at Yankee Stadium if facing New York.

Lowe Remains Unavailable, Roster Move Possible

Right-hander Mark Lowe continues to deal with a strained hamstring he suffered nearly a month ago, rendering him unavailable for the Rangers’ next playoff round and creating a potential opportunity for another reliever to be added to the ALCS roster.

Texas carried three catchers on its ALDS roster against the Rays, although veteran Matt Treanor failed to see any playing time behind Mike Napoli and Yorvit Torrealba.

“In a five-game series, it’s a little easier to go with the extra position player,” general manager Jon Daniels told ESPNDallas.com. “In a seven-game series, we might go with 12 [pitchers]. We haven’t made that call yet.”

Among those who could be considered for an extra relief role are right-handers Darren O’Day and Yoshinori Tateyama and left-hander Michael Kirkman.