Bullpen struggles in sixth cost Rangers

Any good prizefighter knows the value of striking with quick combinations. And for the second time in their last three meetings, the Oakland Athletics dropped the Texas Rangers with consecutive power shots.
Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez smacked back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning on Monday, erasing a one-run deficit and propelling the Athletics to a 3-2 victory before 23,802 at Ameriquest Field.
Rangers reliever C.J. Wilson gave up the blasts, which cost starter Kevin Millwood a chance at his first home win for Texas. Losing the opener of this three-game series also ended the Rangers' four-game winning streak.
"For 8 2/3 innings, I'd say we pitched really well," Wilson said. "I just happened to be on the wrong end of the home run ball tonight."
Millwood graded himself on a tougher curve. Even though he left the game with a 1-0 lead after five innings, the Rangers' top starter described his performance as "terrible."
After walking only one hitter in his first 25 innings this season, Millwood walked six and gave up four hits Monday night. It took him 96 pitches to traverse his five innings, prompting manager Buck Showalter to pull the plug early despite the shutout.
"I didn't give up any runs, but to go only five innings is unacceptable," Millwood said. "Six walks, that's terrible. I put our bullpen in a really tough spot."
Millwood stranded 10 runners, including six in scoring position. But his six walks tied a career high set May 27, 2004, when he pitched for Philadelphia against Atlanta.
"Kevin made good pitches when he had to, but it took a lot out of him," Showalter said. "It was a tribute to him that he was able to get through it for five innings and give us a chance there."
It looked as if the solo home run by Kevin Mench that gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the second might hold up. Mench took Oakland starter Joe Blanton deep to left leading off the inning. He has homered in four consecutive games, one shy of the team record shared by Carl Everett (2003), Alex Rodriguez (2003) and Mark Teixeira (2004).
Wilson retired the first two hitters he faced in the sixth, then walked Mark Kotsay and surrendered the consecutive home runs to Swisher (No. 9) and Chavez (No. 8).
"The pitch to Swisher was a mistake," Wilson said. "My sinker has been effective all season, but I think I tried to turn it over a little too much. Same thing with Chavez. I just think I tried to do a little too much with my slider."
The quick reversal was reminiscent of the teams' April 15 game in Oakland, when Rangers starter Vicente Padilla had a shutout for 4 2/3 innings, then gave up four home runs in the span of five batters to turn his lead into a 5-4 loss.
Mench singled home Phil Nevin to cut the Athletics' lead to 3-2 in the sixth. The Rangers threatened again in the seventh, putting two on with one out. Teixeira drove a 2-0 pitch from Joe Kennedy high and deep to left, but Swisher was able to make the catch on the warning track. Kiko Calero struck out Nevin to end the inning.
Teixeira's fly ball might have tied the game, had Gary Matthews Jr. been able to advance from second to third on Michael Young's one-out single to left. Matthews properly froze when the ball was grounded to the left side and appeared to be within shortstop Marco Scutaro's reach. But as it bounced through to the outfield, Matthews was already starting back toward second base. Swisher reached the ball in left field before Matthews could advance.
"It looked like (Scutaro) had a pretty good shot at it," Matthews said. "So, it's an easy play, just knowing the outs. I'd love to be on third base, but if I get caught then, it's two outs with a runner at first. The way I saw it, we still had two shots with a runner in scoring position."
Showalter said, "That was a tough baserunning play, because if (Matthews) commits either way, you risk getting thrown out at third or not getting to third. He just had so much momentum going back to second base, he couldn't get his motor going again."
It turned out to be the last time the Rangers had a runner in scoring position. Calero finished a scoreless eighth and former Rangers prospect Justin Duchscherer stranded a runner in the ninth for his first save in place of injured Oakland closer Huston Street.
Chavez's home run was the 198th of his career, and No. 192 hit as Oakland's third baseman, breaking a tie with Sal Bando for the Athletics franchise record for home runs from that position.