Rangers thoughts from a disheartening loss

Up until the bottom of the 8th inning last night, the Rangers game was almost perfect. Dustin Nippert had given the team five shutout innings, Neftali Feliz looked otherwordly in his major league debut and the Rangers were up 2-0. The only thing that could have made things better would have been a better offensive performance.

But from the bottom of the 8th on, the game fell apart like a house of cards. Darren O’Day did look good in his appearance, but C.J. Wilson blew the save and the Rangers lost 3-2. It’s tough to lose games like that, but I guess it doesn’t hurt as much as a 9-7 loss would. Which is weird, considering that every other year in Rangers history the opposite has been true. One loss does not kill the season, but it sure would be nice to see Derek Holland give the Rangers six or seven strong innings tonight.

The season is far from over, with 58 games to go. The Rangers are 3 games behind Boston for the Wild Card and 4.5 games behind the Angels, with both teams matched up in tough series this week. It’s not inconceivable the Rangers could win the last three games in this series against Oakland, but all they need to do is have a winning road trip. Win six of the remaining nine games on the road trip and it will be successful. It’s not time to worry about the Angels and Red Sox just yet.

So with that optimism in mind, here are a couple of positives to come out of last night’s loss:

• Josh Hamilton. Apparently he read the post I wrote yesterday, as he went 2 for 3 with two singles and a walk. Fifth straight game with no strikeouts. Both hits came against the stellar Brett Anderson, a very solid left-handed starter. With Nelson Cruz injured for at least the next couple of days, Josh is going to have to step up in order to carry this team.
• Dustin Nippert. It would have been nice to see him go longer in the game, but Dustin put the team in a position to win. Can’t ask much more from your starter.
• Neftali Feliz. Holy crap this guy looks good. Combine that performance with what Derek Holland did to the Mariners the other night? I’m tingly all over. Stretch Neftali out over the winter and throw him in the rotation next year. The best-case scenario would be if there’s a new owner and Sheets could be signed, giving the Rangers a rotation of Sheets-Millwood-Feldman-Holland-Feliz. Or go Millwood-Feldman-Holland-Hunter-Feliz. Either way, the next few years should be awesome.

Those A’s are pesky. If they find some offense in their system the next few years, they are going to be really tough to deal with. The Mariners look like they know what they’re doing, and the Angels are always going to compete. The AL West was one of the worst divisions in baseball last year besides the Angels (who probably weren’t as good as their record indicated). Within the next couple of years, it could be one of the best.

Good luck tonight Derek. We need it.