Rangers see winning streak snapped
Ponson goes 5 1/3 in loss; Kinsler has 3-for-5 day at plate
By Drew Davison / Special to MLB.com

ARLINGTON -- From the start, Rangers starter Sidney Ponson knew it wasn't going to be his day against the Athletics. And it certainly wasn't a good day for reliever Eddie Guardado. In fact, it wasn't a good day for the Rangers in general, considering that ace Kevin Millwood was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to the game.

In the end, the Rangers fell to Oakland, 12-6, on Mother's Day at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The loss snapped the Rangers five-game winning streak as they were unable to complete their first three-game sweep of the season.

Ponson struggled from the start. He hit the second batter he faced, then gave up four runs and four hits in the first inning, including a three-run home run to Oakland left fielder Emil Brown.

"I wanted to go down and right and it's in the middle of the plate like a souvenir," Ponson said. "They're professional hitters and know what to do.

"My stuff was off. I didn't have any command on anything, so I tried to mix up my pitches. It's one of those days. You just have to tip your hat to them."

Still, Ponson battled and held Oakland scoreless after the first inning until the sixth, when he issued two walks to Jack Hannahan and Ryan Sweeney. Eventually, both would score and Ponson's day was finished after 5 1/3 innings, allowing a season-high six runs (all earned) on seven hits.

It was a shorter outing than the Rangers were hoping for, though, especially a day after the bullpen had to go 8 1/3 innings to compensate for Millwood's injury.

Following Sunday's 3 2/3 innings pitched, the Rangers' bullpen has now thrown the most innings -- 136 2/3 -- of any team in the American League. Manager Ron Washington, however, isn't concerned about that.

"Yesterday was a freak game and we had to fight through today," Washington said. "Give credit to the Oakland Athletics. We'll be fine. We will have four or five relievers available tomorrow. It happens to every ballclub. We'll be fine."

Despite trailing 4-0 after the first, though, the Rangers responded. In the first, Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley had back-to-back two-out doubles to score a run. The Rangers tacked on one more in the second on Ian Kinsler's single to center. Jarrod Saltalamacchia drove in two more runs in the third and Hamilton added to his Major League-leading RBI total with a run-scoring triple to right in the fourth.

The Rangers had the lead after four innings, 5-4, and even knocked Oakland starter Rich Harden out of the game in the fourth, after scoring five runs on eight hits while drawing four walks.

The Athletics retook the lead in the sixth, however, when Ponson walked the first two batters -- Hannahan and Sweeney -- and both would score. The Rangers tied it in the sixth on Michael Young's RBI double, but that was the only run they would score against Oakland's bullpen over the final five innings.

"We battled back and came back swinging well," Young said. "I have faith in our ability, but we just didn't score enough."

Oakland ran away with the game late. The Athletics scored two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. The A's cushioned their lead in the ninth, when Daric Barton had a two-run blast to right field off Guardado.

"It's just one of those days," Guardado said. "It didn't work out and it especially didn't work out for me today. But we'll be fine. We won the series and that's what you need to do."

Despite the loss, the Rangers did win the series, their fifth consecutive one. It's the first time the Rangers have reached that mark since Aug. 23-Sept. 7, 2005.

"We fought and came back and we'll bounce back," Washington said. "I would've liked to win the third one, but we want to win series. I still feel good about this team."

Drew Davison is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Monday schedule:

Seattle at Texas, 6:30pm, KYZS-AM 1490 and KEES-AM 1430

Astros thwart history to clinch sweep
Pence breaks up no-hit bid before offensive outburst in eighth
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com

LOS ANGELES -- For seven innings, the Astros looked overmatched. In the eighth, however, they reverted back to their old ways, mounting a comeback and eventually beating the Dodgers, 8-5, on Sunday.

After nearly being no-hit by right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, the Astros chipped away at the Dodgers' bullpen, scoring one in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk and six in the eighth off Jonathan Broxton.

"What an eighth inning," manager Cecil Cooper said. "You go from being almost no-hit to getting eight runs and how many base hits did we end up with? 10? That just shows what kind of guys we have in the locker room. They don't quit."

The Astros were down, 3-1, when they broke through with six runs in the eighth. They opened the frame with five consecutive hits off Broxton, beginning with a single by Kazuo Matsui. Once Ty Wiggington struck out for the first out of the inning, the merry-go-round continued with a Brad Ausmus two-run single and an RBI double from pinch-hitter Darin Erstad. Michael Bourn capped the inning with a sacrifice fly.

"I'm tickled I can sit and watch it," Cooper said. "Base hit after base hit ... big at-bats there. I thought Kaz had the biggest one of the day, really -- he gets down, 0-2, with some real real good stuff on the mound in Broxton. He took a couple close pitches and he gets a base hit."

"I was leading off, and that guy was throwing really well," Matsui said. "I was just trying to be patient and get a hit."

The Astros have 11 come-from-behind wins over their first 38 games of the season and after sweeping the Dodgers over the weekend, are now four games over .500 at 21-17.

"We feel like we have the offense to get us back in a lot of ballgames," Hunter Pence said. "We don't feel like we're defeated just because we're down two runs late in the game. It just goes to show the kind of character we have on this team. We have some guys that dig in and battle."

What does the comeback win mean for Shawn Chacon? Another no-decision, of course.

Chacon was in line for the loss when he exited after six innings, but thanks to the Astros' rally, the right-hander's streak of eight consecutive starts without a decision lives on. The streak is a club record and ties the all-time record for starts without a decision to start a season. Minnesota's Dick Stigman had eight no-decisions to begin the 1965 season.

"It's pretty weird," Chacon said. "And I definitely want to get a win before I get a loss. I'll keep taking it, as long as we're winning."

Chacon isn't sure how to react to being a record-holder for this kind of distinction.

"I don't now how excited I am about it, but it is what it is," Chacon said. "I can't do anything but keep trying to pitch well and keep our team in the game. If the relievers get all my wins, then fine, take them."

The Astros were-well aware that they were being no-hit by Kuroda, who yielded two walks and hit a batter through his first six frames. The right-hander had two outs in the seventh when Pence broke up the no-hit bid with a single to left.

In Pence's view, eliminating the no-hitter was only a part of the battle.

"That was just a small part," Pence said. "Getting a hit isn't the same as scoring runs and getting the lead to win the ballgame. The big picture isn't avoiding a no-hitter. It's a team thing. The goal is to win the game."

That came later. After Pence singled, Kuroda walked Wigginton. After Kuroda threw one pitch to pinch-hitter Geoff Blum, manager Joe Torre called for Joe Beimel, who had no better luck finding the plate. He walked Blum and with the bases loaded walked Mark Loretta, forcing in the Astros' first run.

The next inning, the Astros' offensive onslaught began.

"That's the sign of a really good team," Chacon said. "It's very hard to sweep a team, especially a team like the Dodgers, on the road. What we did today was pretty awesome, against a guy whose pitched well in Broxton. We don't quit. Our offense is too good to go out there and give up and not keep the game close."

Matsui echoed the sentiment, in simpler terms.

"Suharashii," Matsui said -- Japanese for "excellent."

Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Monday schedule:

Houston at San Francisco, 9:15pm

UNDATED (AP) _ The Florida Marlins appear to have the Washington Nationals' number. The Marlins are 6-0 at Nationals Park after rallying for a 5-4 win over Washington. The Marlins have taken eight of nine from Washington this year.

The first-place Marlins belted a pair of homers in the eighth inning to turn a 4-2 deficit into their seventh straight win. Jeremy Hermida knotted the score with a two-run blast before Dan Uggla smacked his second homer of the game to complete the rally. The Marlins are 11-5 on the road this season.

In the rest of the NL:

-- Ryan Braun belted a pair of solo homers to power Milwaukee past St. Louis 5-3. Jeff Suppan limited the Cardinals to a run in seven innings before Brian Shouse closed out the Brewers' second victory in nine games.

-- Pinch-hitter Daryle Ward doubled home a pair of runs in the eighth inning to snap a 4-4 tie in the Chicago Cubs' 6-4 victory over Arizona. Reed Johnson clubbed a game-tying two-run homer in the seventh before the Cubbies completed a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks.

-- Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church hit back-to-back homers to give the New York Mets a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning of an 8-3 win over Cincinnati. Oliver Perez carried a one-hit shutout into the sixth before ending his three-game losing streak.

-- Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene homered to spoil Greg Reynolds' first start, leading the Padres to a 6-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies and their first series win in nearly a month.

-- Steve Holm hit a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning for his first major league home run, and the San Francisco Giants held on for a 4-3 victory to win the rubber game against the Philadelphia Phillies.

-- Atlanta at Pittsburgh was rained out. They'll play a twinbill Monday.

In the AL:

-- The Tampa Bay Rays are five games over .500 for the first time in team history following a 7-5 comeback win over the Los Angeles Angels. Carl Crawford closed out the scoring with a three-run homer in the sixth after Cliff Floyd provided a pair of RBI singles. Tampa Bay won its fourth in a row while preventing Angels pitcher Ervin Santana from becoming the AL's first seven-game winner. The Rays are a game and a-half back of Boston in the AL East.

-- Minnesota held off Boston 9-8. Craig Monroe homered twice and drove in four runs. His three-run homer highlighted a seven-run second inning. The Twins have a one-game lead in the AL Central.

-- Brian Bannister allowed just two hits over eight innings as Kansas City finally beat Baltimore 4-0. The Royals had dropped 12 straight to the Orioles since July 2006.

-- Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the third inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 to snap a five-game losing streak.

-- The Yankees and Tigers were rained out in Detroit, wiping out what was supposed to be the rubber match of a three-game set. No makeup date was announced.

-- The Indians and Blue Jays will play a pair Monday in Cleveland after rain washed out their game.