Thoughts on a 4-2 Rangers loss

A’s 4, Rangers 2

• Much of the discussion late in yesterday’s game, and then in the post-game, was about that weird sixth inning, the decision to pull Yu, and, it seemed, whose fault it was that the Rangers lost.
• Fittz covered the decision to pull Yu Darvish, and the baffling comments made post-game by pitching coach Doug Brocail and manager Jeff Banister. I don’t get it.
• That said, for the folks saying that Banny lost the game by pulling Darvish, or that Darvish lost the game by coughing up a lead, or whatever. There’s plenty of blame to go around, though.
• Other than Elvis Andrus and Keone Kela, pretty much every participant in this game shares some blame. Elvis went 2 for 4, drove in one of the Rangers runs, and created the other run with two stolen bases and a mad dash home on an infield grounder. The rest of the team went 1 for 27 on the night, with no walks. The Rangers got four baserunners all game — one of them being Nomar Mazara, when he reached on the fielder’s choice when Elvis was safe at home. Its a minor miracle the Rangers scored two runs, given the offensive performance.
• On the pitching side, Yu Darvish deserves blame for pitching poorly in the 6th. Tony Barnette deserves blame for coming in to put out the fire and immediately walking the first batter he faced, loading the bases, and then allowing a sac fly. Dario Alvarez deserves some blame for allowing Ryon Healy to single in the insurance run. Jeff Banister can be criticized for pulling Yu, or alternatively, for bringing in Barnette, who hasn’t been sharp this season, rather than, say, Keone Kela, a guy who gets strikeouts, when the situation — a tie game and runners on based -- suggested you wanted a guy who can strike out batters.
• So here we are, 14 games into the season, in last place in the A.L. West at 5-9, 4 games back of the Houston Astros. Ironically, after how 2016 went down, the Rangers actually have a positive run differential on the season -- +7 — but have a losing record due to being 0-4 in one run games.
• Its still early, and a win in the series finale in Oakland to take the series would make us all feel a lot better, but still, yesterday was a game to make folks grouchy.