I was unable to catch the game last night, but here is what they are saying in the media...

Kevin Sherrington says exactly what I've been saying for weeks, and then some....

Column by KEVIN SHERRINGTON / The Dallas Morning News | ksherrington@dallasnews.com

• E-ma

ARLINGTON – Here in North Texas every summer, we can assume a few givens.

Your air conditioning will go out. Your vacation will be too short.

Your temper will overheat.

Your Rangers will hit.

Bulletin: Not so fast on that last one.

Even as the Rangers wallowed around in their worst month of hitting since their inaugural season, wasting improved pitching and fielding and squandering a first-place lead in the process, you've been steadily assured that this slump shall pass. Everyone says so. Players, coaches, the manager.

Even me.

Consider me cured of that notion, friend. Not even Tuesday's 9-5 rout of the Angels could persuade me otherwise, either, no matter how many home runs Marlon Byrd whacked or bases Elvis Andrus stole. The fireworks weren't entirely unexpected. Something about the Ballpark gets in the head of the Angels' Joe Saunders, who shows an 11.67 ERA in Arlington and 1.44 against the Rangers otherwise.

Come to think of it, be glad the Mark Teixeira-for-Saunders-and-Casey Kotchman trade didn't go down. Saunders might be in therapy by now.

Anyway, the assumption about a hitting resurgence has been based on the fact that the Rangers always hit, therefore, they always will.

Don't feel bad if you bought into it. Bernie Madoff's clients made a similar assumption, only no one's going to jail for this one. I hope.

The only thing the Rangers hit last month was bottom. Or at least that's what Ron Washington hopes.

Frankly, it should only get better, as indicated by Tuesday's results.

But can you reasonably expect the Rangers to sustain anything close to it?

Not if you look at individual track records, or, more precisely, the lack thereof.

Of the Rangers' regulars, only two, Ian Kinsler and Michael Young, are on an upward trend. Three if you count Byrd, who'd played more than 109 games only once before last season.

Nelson Cruz was great for 31 games last season and terrific in May. And that pretty much covers his career highlights.

Coming into this season, David Murphy had played in the equivalent of one full major league season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, too. Chris Davis had 80 games under his belt. Andrus didn't have any.

Yes, all of the above had impressive minor league stats and projected well, and most looked promising last season. But there may be a reason for that, too.

One Rangers official advanced this theory: When the club's pitching was its usual ineffective self last year, opponents didn't feel threatened. They threw the back end of their bullpens at them. Cushioned by big leads, mediocre pitchers challenged the Rangers with fastballs, and the Rangers pounded them.

But the Rangers' improvement in pitching and defense this season has in some cases worked against them.

Opposing pitchers are more careful. They're not throwing as many fastballs, and the Rangers still have trouble laying off pitches, particularly breaking balls in the dirt.

Case in point: In four at bats Tuesday, Saltalamacchia saw six pitches. Maybe he was just excited.

Of course, if Josh Hamilton were still in the lineup, it would make a difference. For that matter, if Milton Bradley were still here, that'd help, too. Not to mention what it'd do for Lou Piniella's blood pressure.

Without that type of veteran presence – and neither Andruw Jones nor Hank Blalock appears capable of supplying it – it puts more pressure on the kids. Opposing pitchers are forcing them to make adjustments, and they have little experience to call upon. Most aren't used to struggling.

The diagnosis is simple enough: Too many free swingers, not enough patience, too few adjustments, not enough contact.

The remedy? Not so easy. Calling up Julio Borbon and Justin Smoak and giving them at-bats can't hurt, especially if they present a different approach. Sending Davis down seems reasonable.

As for the rest, they'll have to battle through it. Some hitters will make it; others won't. From here on out, let's not assume anything.

This from the DMN Ranger Blog....

Discuss:

• Lineup. Give Ron Washington credit on this one. He put Marlon Byrd at third in the order and look what he did, especially in the fourth. Maybe that's where he should stay until Josh Hamilton returns (at least against lefties).

• Marlon Byrd. He was upset with himself last night for not producing when needed and came back with a great game. Two homers -- his second multi-homer game of his career (Sept. 11, 2007 at Detroit) -- and a real jolt for an offense that needed it.

• Scott Feldman. Wow. He looked terrible for the first two innings and found something. He managed to go six innings despite more than 50 pitches in the second. He located better, got timely ground balls and had an offense hit behind him. He's earned the chance, you would think, to pitch against the Angels next week.

• Offense. They got going tonight. It was the long ball, but this team also had 5 walks and stole 5 bases. It was a good night. They were patient, going deep into counts early against starter Joe Saunders.

• Little things. Andruw Jones stole second base with two outs as soon as a new pitcher came in the game in the fourth. The aggressive approach paid off when Nelson Cruz's single scored another run.

• Elvis Andrus. He had four stolen basess in the game and was on base in his first three at-bats. That was a big boost in the bottom of the lineup. Just the fourth time in Rangers history to steal 4 bases. Lofton did it June 29, 2007 at Boston. Club record is 5. Scarborough Green, Sept. 28, 2000 in Seattle. Only other AL player with 4 steals was Carl Crawford May 3 vs. Boston with 6.

• Shutdown inning. It was a problem in the first inning as the Rangers led 3-0 and then Scott Feldman gave it up in the second. But after the Rangers re-took the lead, they actually did figure out the shutdown innings to hang onto it.

• Strange things. Erick Aybar stepped out of the box and was called out on a sac bunt attempt in the second. That's scored catcher unassisted. And the Rangers didn't finish strong. They loaded the bases in the ninth and the Angels scored two runs off CJ Wilson and Frank Francisco.

At any rate, the Rangers look to close out the series tonight with a win to move them within a half game of first place. It should be a low scoring game, Jarred Weaver vs. Kevin Millwood. My 3 keys to the game tonight:

Ian Kinsler: As Kinsler goes, so goes the Rangers. In June, the Rangers were 5-3 when Kinsler reaches base at least twice, but were only 7-11 when he did not.

Kevin Millwood: He's pitched like a true ace of the staff this year and it's games like this when you need your ace to come through for you

Defense: The Rangers got themselves into a little bit of trouble last night with poor defense at times. This Angels team doesn't have a whole lot of pop, but they are a team that keys off of momentum. Good defense will limit the opportunities they have to get runners on base and start rallies.

GO RANGERS!