ARLINGTON, Texas -- Two things that were apparent in the first 81 games of the season for Texas are still evident in the second half of the season.
The Rangers struggle to hit against left-handed pitchers and they can't win in their own division.
Game No. 82 played out that way Saturday night as the Rangers had nothing for Los Angeles lefty Hector Santiago as they were walloped by the Angels 13-0. Texas is now 14-17 against lefties, which isn't good but it's not terrible.
Their record in the American League West is terrible, as the Rangers are now just 11-22 in the division. The only other team in the majors with 11 division wins is Philadelphia and the Phillies are 29 games under .500 and have the worst record in baseball.
The Rangers have been outscored 21-2 in the series and have given up 32 hits. That's not exactly a winning recipe to start an eight-game homestand.
"We didn't score runs," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "We pitched poorly. I think we were behind 23 times in the count tonight. We've got to be better. They're one ballgame. Each one of them. They don't feel good. You allow one ballgame to destroy any confidence or anything you want to do for the rest of the season."
For the second-consecutive night the game against the Rangers was a no contest as Texas starter Wandy Rodriguez followed the lead of Friday starter Chi Chi Gonzalez and dug the Rangers an early hole.
Rodriguez was tagged for three runs on five hits in the second inning and then allowed solo runs in the fourth and fifth innings. He surrendered nine hits and five runs in his five innings and has now allowed 37 hits in his last 19 1/3 innings of work.
Rodriguez is now 0-4 at Globe Life Park this year with a 7.42 ERA in his six starts.
"I want to win here," said Rodriguez, who has five road wins. "I've got four losses at home and I'm always winning on the road. I want to win over here too so I try every time to do the best I can. I don't know."
Rodriguez did make an adjustment with his arm slot late in the outing which got him some results. He said he's struggling with the mound in Texas but didn't use that as an excuse.
"That's not an excuse, because in the game you can't have any excuses," he said. "Something happened and I needed to make an adjustment because I don't want every time I pitch at home and lose the game. I need to try something better. I think it's the mound when I'm landing I don't feel comfortable. That's the only thing. I feel good. I feel great. My arm's strong."
Spencer Patton offered no relief as the Angels scored six times against him in the sixth to put an end to any suspense in front of the second sellout at Globe Life Park this season.
Of course the offense did nothing to help the cause, managing just three hits against Santiago in his seven innings of work. The 13-0 loss was the largest margin of defeat for the Rangers in a shutout loss in 12 seasons and it was the third time they've been blanked in the last 23 games.
Two of those three shutouts have come against left-handers.
"We have some guys that need to swing the bat," Banister said. "That's obvious. But it's who we are. We've got to be better."
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