I can't really complain about taking 3 of 4 from the A's. Last night's game was winnable, but then, there have been some losable games out there Texas has won of late, so...
Frankie Francisco picked up the loss, giving up his first run since last August. I probably would have preferred to see Derek Holland pitch the 9th, with a couple of lefties coming up, and then used Frankie in the 10th, but that has to do in large part with my lack of faith in the Rangers scoring in the 9th, and thus the desire to maximize the amount of innings you get from the bullpen pieces available, and not just because of the matchups Holland would get.
Evan Grant says that Frankie Francisco reacted no differently after yesterday's game than he has in any of the games he's closed successfully, an indication that he has the mindset and short memory necessary in a successful closer.
Josh Hamilton is getting an MRI today and seeing a hernia specialist tomorrow, as the team tries to figure out what is causing him pain. Hamilton says he hopes to stay off the d.l. -- if a trip to the d.l. were to be in the offing, I suspect Brandon Boggs would get the call to replace him.
Richard Durrett has an item up about Michael Young's improvement defensively at third base.