Right-hander Vicente Padilla couldn't give the Rangers the "shut-down" inning they needed Monday night. As a result, they lost for the fourth straight time.
Padilla went to the mound with a 4-2 lead in the fourth, but had no weapons at his disposal. His fastball was sluggish, and plate umpire C.B. Bucknor gave him no part of the black outline of the plate as part of the strike zone. The combination made Padilla an ineffective pitcher. He allowed runs in three of the four innings he started. "There are no excuses," Padilla said through an interpreter. "I felt fine. I thought tonight was going to be a good night. But I didn't really have my best fastball and I couldn't get the strikes on the edges of the plate. I tried everything -- all of my pitches -- but they just started hitting everything I threw."
That was especially true in the fourth inning. Padilla dug the Rangers a 2-0 hole before they ever came to bat, but the club tied the score with single runs in the first two innings, then took a two-run lead on Michael Young's first homer of the season in the bottom of the third.
Padilla went to the mound needing a "shut-down" inning against the bottom third of the Baltimore lineup.
Instead, he walked No. 7 hitter Gregg Zaun on four pitches and never recovered after that. Felix Pie followed with a single. After Cesar Izturis bounced into a fielder's choice, the Orioles rolled off five consecutive run-scoring hits before the Rangers could pull Padilla.
"I wish we could have had that fourth inning back," manager Ron Washington said. "The first three innings he battled out there, but once they got the walk, it seemed like a lot of pitches were up in the zone. I don't think he had great velocity. I think there were some good pitches he didn't get calls on. But that's the way baseball goes."
ORIOLES 10, RANGERS 9: The Rangers nearly overcame a six-run deficit, but they couldn't quite finish the comeback Monday night. The Rangers trailed 10-4 at one point, but scored five runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the ninth, 2B Ian Kinsler led off with a double and looked to be able to score the tying run when 3B Michael Young lined a shot to right field. Kinsler, however, assumed the ball would get over the head of RF Nick Markakis. When Markakis made a highlight-reel catch at the wall, Kinsler had to go back to second and couldn't advance. That potentially cost the Rangers a chance to tie because OF Josh Hamilton lifted a flyball to left in the next at-bat. The game ended with OF Marlon Byrd striking out with Kinsler on third and PR David Murphy, representing the winning run, on second, thanks to a double steal.
