Thoughts on a 9-3 Rangers loss

A's 9, Rangers 3

• Miles Mikolas had a very nice start against the Yankees his last time out, and picked up a victory.  This time...not so good.  Mikolas did not have his command today, and the A's made him pay for it...he gave up 7 hits and allowed 4 walks, finally, mercifully getting pulled with two outs in the fifth inning.  He ended up allowing 8 runs (although "just" 7 were earned), and his ERA on the year is now 8.54.
• The Rangers have a decision to make in the coming days, with Jerome Williams having pitched well enough in his spot start that Ron Washington has said Williams deserves another start.  If the season were about winning, then yeah, I think there's an argument to be made for going with Williams again.  But if the season is about evaluating your options for 2015, then you'd think that Mikolas and the Two Nicks would be above Williams in the pecking order.  Although the chances of Mikolas being a part of a good 2015 rotation seem to be slim...I've mentioned this before, but he seems like he's auditioning for a long relief/swingman role in 2015.  In any case, Mikolas might end up getting bumped from the rotation, at least temporarily.
• Ryan Feierabend pitched 2.1 innings, to the joy of the crowd, because you can never get enough Ryan Feierabend.  He allowed a single run.
• More intriguingly, Roman Mendez pitched a shutout inning.  Mendez now has 11 innings of work over 8 games since coming up to the big leagues for the first time, and he has yet to allow a run.  He's also not missing bats, which has to temper your enthusiasm a tad, but still, he's pitched well so far, and given that he's out of options next season, a strong finish to the year would seem to give him the inside track for a 2015 bullpen spot.
• Also seeming to have a firm grasp on a 2015 bullpen spot is Shawn Tolleson, who pitched a scoreless 9th, and dropped his ERA to 3.22 on the season.  His peripherals don't support that ERA, but like Mendez, he's in a place where a strong finish to the season would seem to have him penciled into the 2015 bullpen.
• The offense...bleah.  Adrian Beltre had a couple of hits, including a homer.  Adam Rosales had a two run homer.  Nothing else about the offense is worth talking about.
• Just 57 more games to go, then we can move on to 2015.