Thoughts on a 3-0 Rangers loss

Angels 3, Rangers 0

• At this point in the season, I watch the games the way I would watch a minor league game.  I want the team to win, but really, I'm more concerned about seeing progress and production from players who are going to help down the road.  Its about evaluating more than wins and losses.
• Along those lines, you have to come away from this game feeling good about what you saw from Nick Tepesch.  Through 6 innings, he allowed ghfdd hit, didn't walk anyone, and the only run was a home run by Mike Trout.  In the top of the 7th, he gave up a hard hit single by Albert Pujols that Elvis just missed making a play on, and then a looper off the end of the bat of Josh Hamilton that Rougned Odor leaped for and got a glove on, but couldn't catch, and then a softly hit single to left field by Erick Aybar.  That ended his night, and resulted in his final line -- 6 IP, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 Ks, 1 HR -- look a little uglier than it would have otherwise, but he got a Quality Start, and in a season that is about evaluation, Tepesch putting up solid outings is important.
• Tepesch now has a 4.31 ERA on the season.  That's not great, but its not bad.  Going into 2015 believing you can rely on Tepesch in the back of the rotation would be a big thing.
• Neftali Feliz came into the game in relief of Tepesch, allowed a run-scoring hit to David Freese, but got a GIDP to get out of the inning.  Steve Busby and Tom Grieve, unfortunately, had to speak at length about what happened the last time Freese faced Feliz, complete with a replay of that event, which makes me very angry at the Fox Sports Southwest producers.
• Neal Cotts threw a scoreless 8th.  That might help his trade value.
• Yesterday, Ron Washington had a meeting with the club after the game where he did some butt chewing.  Today, he talked about the importance of effort, and said attitudes needed to get checked from some guys, saying that only Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre had won anything with this team.  And in the 7th inning, when Feliz gave up a single to Freese, Leonys Martin made a sloppy play, booting the ball and allowing Josh Hamilton to advance to third base.  It ended up not mattering, but it seems emblematic of the problems this year Wash has been so frustrated by.
• Rougned Odor got called out on a called third strike by home plate umpire Ron Kulpa on a pitch that was several inches high and out of the strike zone.  Odor stood at the plate and complained long enough that I thought he might get run.  Ron Washington came a little ways out of the dugout and was yelling, presumably at Kulpa, although he may have been telling Odor to get back into the dugout before he got run.
• One of the reasons that Odor getting run would have been especially problematic is that the Rangers are using a three man bench right now, and Jake Smolinski had already left the game after getting hit by a pitch.  If Odor had gotten ejected, the only player left on the bench would have been Chris Gimenez.
• Shawn Tolleson, who I think is battling with Miles Mikolas for the Dustin Nippert role on the 2015 Rangers, pitched a scoreless inning.  I'm not sure, but I think Tolleson may have pitched in every game this season.
• Let's see, other positives from this game...Carlos Pena made a great stabbing catch on a line drive down the line.  Adrian Beltre did that funny thing where he runs at a slowly hit roller down the line, then follows it until it runs foul.  Only one Ranger got hurt.
• I can't remember the last time I was so eager for a season to end.  I'm ready to hit the re-set button and start over in 2015.