Thoughts on a pair of ugly losses

Twins 5, Rangers 0 today. Twins 7, Rangers 2 yesterday.

I'm not going to bulletpoint, because these two games were ugly and forgettable, and are games I would like to forget. There's not much point in going through and picking them apart. Really, the two games were very similar...the starting pitchers (Derek Holland yesterday, Alexi Ogando today) pitched well enough to win, but each gave up a 2 run homer in the 6th that swung momentum over to Minnesota. The bullpen (Michael Kirkman yesterday, Joe Ortiz today) turned the games into routs. The hitters didn't do much, and when they did get on base, ran the bases poorly and struggled to cross the plate.

All in all, the past two days, the team looked tired, lethargic, and in need of a day off. Maybe it is arriving in Minnesota around sunrise on Thursday after playing in L.A. Wednesday night, maybe it is too many games in a row, maybe it is something else, but this Ranger team just didn't look sharp in these two losses (and, really, didn't look all that sharp while winning the first two games, either).

The Rangers are still in first place in the A.L. West, 2.5 games up on Oakland (they should be 3.5 up by the A's had a pesky, annoying comeback win against the Orioles today). They're still in good shape. But the past few games have been too reminiscent of the second half of 2012 for comfort.

Hopefully, a day off tomorrow, and starting a homestand on Tuesday, will help them get back in a groove.