Saturday a.m. Rangers things

Texas lost, Oakland won.  The lead in the A.L. West drops down to 2, and we have another round of "Is Yu Darvish really an ace when he can't hold a lead?" debates ahead of us.

Drew Davison's game story focuses on Yu Darvish not holding the 2-0 lead he was given, while relegating the poor offensive performance against a bad Minnesota Twins starter to a couple of paragraphs at the end of the story.

T.R. Sullivan's game story also is all about Yu, although there is a quote from A.J. Pierzynski where he says that the Rangers didn't score enough to win the game.

Evan Grant also writes about Yu Darvish, although he quotes Ron Washington as saying the late losing of a slim lead is just random, and not a reflection on Yu's abilities, and focuses more on the offense failing to support Yu.

Art Garcia has his Rapid Reaction at the ESPN Dallas blog.

Davison has a story on Nelson Cruz working out to stay in shape for a possible return to the Rangers in the playoffs.

Sullivan also has a story on Cruz, who issued an apology yesterday, that includes quotes from Jon Daniels and Ron Washington.

Anthony Andro has a story on Cruz's apology and his possible return for the playoffs.

Joe Ortiz was recalled for the series against Minnesota, with Ross Wolf being optioned to AAA Round Rock.  Round Rock's season ends Monday, so Wolf will return to Texas then, along with, you have to think, some other reinforcements, just as Josh Lindblom, Cory Burns, Wilmer Font, Engel Beltre and Robinson Chirinos.

The S-T's notes talk about the Rangers not expecting to make any trades before today's deadline, Lance Berkman wanting to finish strong after a disappointing season, and the parking problems tonight with a football game start at the Death Star just an hour after the Ranger game starts.

Sullivan's notes talk about Berkman's return, Joe Ortiz being called up in place of Ross Wolf yesterday, and the Rangers not expecting to make any major deals.