Thoughts on a 5-2 Rangers loss

Orioles 5, Rangers 2

• Yu Darvish was scheduled to start tonight, but Scott Baker got the start instead.  Why?  Because the weather was bad, and the Rangers didn't want to risk having Yu deal with a rain delay, and possibly only pitch a couple of innings before rain came and his outing was possibly canceled.  So instead, the Rangers basically told Scott Baker, we don't want to use our good starter in this weather, so you go out there and pitch instead.
• Baker wasn't bad.  If the Rangers had any sort of offense, he might have gotten a win.
• Actually, no, that isn't true, because Baker got pulled with two outs in the fifth.  So he wouldn't have qualified for a win.  In any case, he went 4.2 IP, gave up 7 hits, walked Nelson Cruz intentionally, and fanned a couple of batters.  He allowed 3 runs, which is more than the Rangers scored tonight.
• Aaron Poreda faced four batters, and struck out all four.  The Rangers may have found something here.
• Ben Rowen faced five batters, retired two of them, gave up a pair of singles, and walked Nelson Cruz intentionally.  He appeared to be having problems keeping his pitches down, and when that happens, major leaguers are going to hit him.
• Neal Cotts followed up yesterday's less-than-ideal outing by giving up an RBI single to Chris Davis upon entering the game, causing further damage to Ben Rowen's ERA, before retiring the second (and final) batter he faced.  Shawn Tolleson fanned two and allowed two hits in an inning.  Tolleson, incidentally, is tied with Colby Lewis for the team lead in HRs allowed, at 9.  Nick Martinez has allowed the most homers -- 12.
• This offense continues to be brutal.  Elvis Andrus had three hits.  Chris Gimenez had two hits.  Shin-Soo Choo had a homer, and Adrian Beltre had a single.  That was it for the offense.  Oh, well, Choo also drew a walk, and Adrian Beltre drew an intentional walk...I guess you can throw that in there.  But it was another godawful night for the Ranger bats.
• Carlos Pena went 0 for 3 tonight.  He's now hitting .091 on the year.  He's 0 for his last 18, and 1 for his last 24 over his past seven games.  And I can't even really complain about him being in there, because its not like there's someone better he is blocking.
• Michael Choice went 0 for 4 tonight.  He's 0 for his last 14, 1 for his last 24, and 2 for his last 34.  I hate cliches like "he's drowning" or "he looks lost at the plate," but that's the only way to describe Choice right now.  Engel Beltre, on a rehab assignment currently, did not play for Round Rock tonight, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's because he's en route to New York to join the Rangers, and replace Choice on the active roster.  At this point, I just don't see how having Choice continue to flounder like this in the major leagues is conducive to his development.
• On the plus side, I got to watch the Myrtle Beach Pelicans play on TV.  Nick Williams hit a home run, and I saw it.  That was cool.  And elsewhere in the minors, Joey Gallo and Jairo Beras had home runs.  That's also neat.
• I couldn't tell you, right now, what the Rangers' record is.  I don't remember the last time I looked at the standings.  I don't really want to know what the Rangers' record is.  When I go to the B-R main page, I studiously avoid allowing my eyes to focus on the A.L. West standings.  All I know is that the team's record is bad, and I'm ready for the 2014 campaign to be over.