Thoughts on a 4-1 Rangers loss

Angels 4, Rangers 1

• We're three weeks into the season, and already it feels like there's a pattern.  The Rangers score early on, the starting pitching is okay, the other team scores once or twice, the bullpen lets in a run or two, the bats do nothing, and the Rangers lose.
• Colby Lewis was okay yesterday, throwing 5 scoreless innings before getting in trouble in the 6th and being removed for Roman Mendez without retiring anyone in the inning.  Mendez wasn't effective, either, but was bailed out by Leonys Martin throwing out a pair of runners in the inning (although Leonys didn't catch a ball that he arguably should have gotten that would have saved a couple of runs in the inning).  Anaheim ended up scoring three runs in the inning, and that was enough.
• That contrasts with the Rangers work in the top of the sixth, when, with a 1-0 lead, they were in a position to blow the game open.  An Elvis Andrus single was sandwiched between a Mitch Moreland walk and a Shin-Soo Choo walk, loading the bases for Adam Rosales and Robinson Chirinos.  Rosales fanned meekly, however, and Chirinos grounded out, and the rally was over.
• On the "more bad news" front, Tanner Scheppers was awful again, faacing six batters and retiring just two of them, with a walk, an HBP and a pair of hits accounting for the baserunners.  Scheppers looked like, in his last couple of outings, he was back on track.  This was a step backwards.
• Still, the problem continues to be the bats.  Of the nine position players with the most plate appearances this season, six of them have an OPS below 600.  Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland are hitting well, Robinson Chirinos is hitting like a catcher, and everyone else is floundering.  The team isn't going to hit this bad all season, but while its going on, its unpleasant to watch, and unpleasant to write about.