In a 7-5 loss to the Angels on Thursday, Wright couldn't hold a big eighth-inning lead. Wright entered a game for the 64th time this season, moving him within 10 appearances of the Texas record for most outings by a right-hander. He retired just one of five batters, and moments after he departed, the lead was gone for good. Right-hander Warner Madrigal allowed a bases-loaded double after Wright's exit.

"I would imagine it does wear guys down some," manager Ron Washington said of the workload, "but we can't use that as an excuse. We've got find guys to bridge the gap from the starters to the end of the bullpen. I know they've been used, but we can't use that as an excuse."

Wright got Mark Teixeira to ground out quickly, but then allowed consecutive singles. Searching for a double play, he ended up walking Garret Anderson to load the bases and Mike Napoli to force in a run, drawing Los Angeles within 5-3.

"I feel good," Wright said. "That's not an excuse. I just tried to do too much tonight. I rushed to try and make that perfect pitch, and it blew up on me."

While the rotation faltered early in the season, Wright was the Rangers' top middle-inning threat, and he pitched well. Through June, he had a 3.60 ERA. But all that work -- he currently ranks second to teammate Josh Rupe in the AL in relief innings with 73 2/3 -- has caught up to him. Since June 1, Wright has a 6.28 ERA.

ANGELS 7, RANGERS 5: The bullpen's struggles Thursday rendered a quality start by Brandon McCarthy meaningless. McCarthy, in his second game since being activated from the disabled list, pitched six solid innings and allowed two runs (one earned). It was the fourth consecutive quality start by a Rangers pitcher, the longest streak this year. McCarthy ran into first-inning trouble, loading the bases with two outs, but got Garret Anderson to fly out to deep center. McCarthy retired the Angels in order in the second, his first 1-2-3 inning of the season. He had allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in his first five innings.