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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Ian Kinsler is streaking at the plate, with hits in seven straight games. He also made the Rangers Web Gem of the Week on Tuesday night.

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Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the first month of the 2013 season for the Rangers. Listen

Kinsler went behind second base on a ground ball in the seventh inning of Tuesday's 10-6 victory and made a long throw to narrowly beat White Sox outfielder Alex Rios as he touched first base.

Kinsler's web gem drew a salute from Rangers manager Ron Washington from the dugout.

"It was a very sharp play," Washington said. "He made it as perfectly as you can make it. That's when I saluted him, because it was perfect. That was the only way he could do it, catch it and get rid of it and whatever happens, happens."

Typically, Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, with his tremendous range, would have made the play, Kinsler said. But Andrus had fouled a ball off his calf earlier in the game. Andrus said that he was having trouble moving to his left as the game went on Tuesday night.

"It was funny, before that play he told me, 'Make sure that I get everything up the middle,'" Kinsler said. "So I went at it a little more aggressively than I normally do thinking that he normally has that ball. It turned out good."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers are going back-to-back with rookie starters for a third straight turn.

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ESPN senior MLB analyst Buster Olney joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the Rangers' strong start, Matt Harrison's additional back surgery and much more. Listen

But for the first time, Justin Grimm will follow Nick Tepesch after a loss. It will be a little different situation for Grimm after his fellow rookie teammate allowed two home runs in the seventh inning in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Grimm, who has been undaunted by replacing injured Matt Harrison in the rotation, said Wednesday that whatever the circumstance, he has to depend on himself first.

"The name of the game is trusting my stuff," Grimm said. "It's not just the stuff, it's just a mindset. It's not trying for the strikeout or trying to do too much, but just trusting my stuff out there."

Grimm is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in three starts since joining the rotation. The Rangers have won all three games. He didn't walk anyone in seven innings at Minnesota last Friday.

Grimm has been at his best when he has been in high pressure situations. Opponents are 1-for-19 against him with runners in scoring position.

Other notes:

Pierzynski expects to play: Catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had his right elbow wrapped after getting hit by a pitch in a pinch-hit at-bat in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday, said he will play Thursday against his former team. Pierzynski has been out with a sore oblique. It will be interesting to see how Pierzynski and the White Sox handle things after closer Addison Reed came inside and hit him on the elbow. Pierzynski yelled out at the mound but said after the game that he didn't think Reed's intent was to hit him.

Kinsler streaking: Ian Kinsler will take a seven-game hitting streak into Thursday night. Kinsler has five multi-hit games in the last six games and is batting .452 (14-for-31) during that stretch. The Rangers' second baseman is driving the ball, just missing a grand slam over the 14-foot wall in left field in the second inning Wednesday.

Andrus hot: Shortstop Elvis Andrus has a team-best nine-game hitting streak. He extended it with a leadoff single in the eighth inning off Rangers nemesis Jesse Crain.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Lance Berkman will eventually play first base in a game this season. The question of whether he'll play there next week under National League rules in Chicago and Milwaukee is still a mystery.

Rangers manager Ron Washington said Wednesday that Berkman needs repetition at first base -- taking ground balls -- to prepare. But Washington also has said he's comfortable putting Berkman in the lineup at first base without him getting work there.

"He needs some repetition. We have to start getting him out there," said Washington, who added he hopes to get Berkman out for infield work soon. "You could put Berkman out there whether he's had repetition or not. I'm going to find out if he wants to play out there, and if he says he wants to play out there, I'm going to put him out there. You'd like to get some repetition before you put somebody into a position."

Berkman said Wednesday while it would help to take ground balls, it wouldn't be the same as being at first base in a real game. "The speed of the game is the real deal," Berkman said.

The Rangers will have to give up the designated hitter for Monday's makeup game at the Cubs and Tuesday and Wednesday at Milwaukee. Cold weather could also be an issue, though Milwaukee's Miller Park does have a roof to provide climate control.

Another issue could be taking Mitch Moreland's bat out of the lineup to make room for Berkman at first. Moreland is currently the Rangers' hottest hitter, batting .429 with six RBIs in his last nine games.

Other notes:

Pierzynski out again: Catcher A.J. Pierzynski, out Tuesday and Wednesday with a sore oblique, is an extra scout when it comes to his former team, the White Sox, after spending eight years with them. While Pierzynski sat by Washington for much of the game on the bench, the catcher wasn't offering up nuggets of information about his former team.

"He's was talking about anything and everything," Washington said. "Half of the stuff I couldn't understand."

Pierzynski said before Wednesday's game that the bruising in the area around his right oblique has improved and that he expects to play Thursday. Pierznyski took batting practice in the cages before the game.

Andrus is OK: Elvis Andrus is back in the lineup Wednesday after fouling a ball off his calf in the fifth inning of Tuesday's game. His calf stiffened up enough to where he couldn't move well to his left, which explains why Ian Kinsler was able to go all the way behind second base for a ground ball and get on out that brought on a full salute from Washington.

Kinsler said after the game that Andrus would usually be able to get to the ball.

"I don't usually foul the ball off my leg," Andrus said. "I've never had one like that."

Moreland in, Murphy out: Moreland was back in the lineup while David Murphy sat Wednesday. Jeff Baker was in left field to get his right-handed bat in the lineup against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale.

It's the first time either Murphy or Moreland have been out of the lineup for consecutive days. Moreland had three hits against White Sox lefty Jose Quintana and reached base all four plate appearances, giving Washington further reason to keep him in Wednesday's lineup.

"Logic would suggest that," Washington said. Murphy will play in left field Thursday against White Sox right-hander Jake Peavy, the manager said.

Washington will reach quicker: Murphy will be a defensive replacement for Baker in the eighth inning if the Rangers have a lead in a close game Wednesday night.

Washington said he should have put Murphy in the game in eighth inning of Tuesday's 10-6 victory. Baker, still nursing a knee injury, had a ball fall into front of him in the eighth inning. Baker bruised his right knee making a sliding catch in the left-corner in Anaheim last Tuesday. He's still not 100 percent, he said after Tuesday's game.

"It took a toll on him," Washington said. "He's fine. I have to make my defensive replacement earlier."

No update on Olt: Daniels said the Rangers didn't have an update on Triple-A infielder Mike Olt, who reported vision issues to club earlier this week. Olt, batting .139 for 72 at-bats, saw doctors Tuesday.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A.J. Pierzynski could very well get another day off Wednesday as he rests a sore oblique muscle.

PODCAST
Ron Washington joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Yu Darvish, the Rangers' recent losses and if the notion that the team looked fatigued is warranted this early in the season. Listen

On Saturday, No. 2 and 3 hitters Elvis Andrus and Lance Berkman had a scheduled day off. Berkman was given time off in the cold weather in Chicago a few weeks ago.

Rangers manager Ron Washington is serious about giving his regulars more time off during the season. Washington said in the days after the Rangers were eliminated by Baltimore in the AL wild-card game that he wished he had given his everyday players more rest. The Rangers lost 10 of 14 games and were swept by Oakland to end the 2012 season.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre was among five Rangers who played in at least 156 games. Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz and Andrus all played in the most games of their careers.

"My regulars were healthy and they were able to go out there, but if I can look back now maybe I could have done something in the middle of the season where I could have given them some time down," Washington said in post-mortemum news conference last October. "My everyday guys, I rode them, man."

Andrus, Beltre and Kinsler all had full days off in April. Veterans Pierzynski and Berkman have had a combined 10 games off. Washington has avoiding using regulars in pinch-hitting situations to make sure his players get a full day off.

The Rangers are off to another great start. Washington's approach could help bring a stronger finish.

Let's talk: Washington continues to get positive results when he makes a rare visit to the mound to talk to a pitcher. The skipper went to talk to reliever Robbie Ross after he hit Adam Dunn and fell behind Paul Konerko in the top of the ninth with two outs and a 10-6 lead. Ross responded by getting Konerko to ground out to end the game.

The Rangers have this April thing down.

The Rangers won for the 17th time Tuesday night, beating the Chicago White Sox 10-6, and have gone three consecutive Aprils with at least 16 wins. It's the third time in club history they've won 17 games in April. The 1989 Rangers -- with new acquisitions Nolan Ryan, Rafael Palmeiro and Julio Franco -- faded and finished 83-79. Last year's Rangers were 17-6 in April and reached the American League wild-card game.

The 1998 Rangers are the only team in club history to top that, going 18-7 in April. They went on to win the club's second AL West title before losing to the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series.

Pitching carried the Rangers this April. They have a 3.14 ERA, best in baseball. Yu Darvish was 5-0, with all the wins coming after Rangers losses. The offense was inconsistent but might be re-energized after Tuesday's 10-run outburst, which was sparked by the continued surge of Mitch Moreland and a two-run home run by Adrian Beltre.

"We're a good team. We're a very good team," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "We have a lot of guys on this team that love to win and love to play baseball. We work hard, and when you have that and you win, it snowballs. We're a good team, and we're going to continue to play good baseball and see what happens."

Other notes:

1. Opening wins: The Rangers won their eighth straight series opener going back to their loss to Houston on opening night. The Rangers have been able to grind through the schedule because of it. They are 17-0-3 in their past 20 series when winning the opener.

2. Cruising in April: Nelson Cruz carried the Rangers in the last two weeks of the month. He hit safely in nine of 12 games, and batted .364 with five home runs and 15 RBIs. He sparked the Rangers again Tuesday night with a two-out home run to left field to cut Chicago's lead to 2-1. White Sox starter Jose Quintana, who had allowed two hits before Cruz's homer, gave up five hits to the next nine Rangers batters.

3. Beltre breaks out: Beltre snapped an 0-for-11 stretch with runners in scoring position with a two-run home run to cap a six-run sixth inning. Manager Ron Washington proved prophetic, having said on "Fitzsimmons and Durrett" on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM on Tuesday that Beltre would do something big in his fourth at-bat. The manager knows.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- About Rangers' first baseman Mitch Moreland. And an offense not hitting with runners in scoring position.

The Rangers took a while to heat up Tuesday night, staring at a 2-0 deficit until the bottom of the fourth inning. Back-to-back home runs by Nelson Cruz and Jeff Baker served as the spark. Moreland's third hit of the night was the dagger in the Rangers' 10-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Moreland has quietly turned his season around in the last nine games, hitting .429 to raise his batting average to a season-high .267. He's hit in five straight games. On Tuesday, Moreland reached based all four times, getting three more hits, all against left-handers.

Moreland's big blow started the Rangers' six-run sixth inning. With one out and Geovany Soto on first base, Moreland smoked a scorching line drive up the left-center field alley off left-handed reliever Donnie Veal. The ball was hit so hard, with some tailing action, that White Sox left fielder Alejandro De Aza never had a chance. Soto scored from first for a 5-4 lead. The Rangers scored five more runs on an Ian Kinsler RBI, two wild pitches and a two-run home run by Adrian Beltre.

"He [Moreland] hasn't been keeping the bat on his shoulders," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He's confident that he has a dangerous bat and he let it fly."

Moreland's early season struggles against lefties are behind him. He is 7-for-17 with five doubles against left-handers in the last seven games. He's handled Jason Vargas, Scott Diamond and now Jose Quintana. Moreland and right-handed hitting Jeff Baker, who is crushing lefties, were the only two Rangers with a pair of hits off Quintana.

Moreland has never wavered in his approach, whether it's a lefty or righty. He didn't look at the numbers while he started 1-for-18 against southpaws.

"I really didn't," Moreland said. "I tried to separate the numbers from what's going on at the plate. I've been putting myself in a position where I've been hitting the ball hard."

Moreland and the Rangers were 4-for-9 with runners in scoring position. That after the club batted .194 in those situations for the seven games in Anaheim and Minnesota. Kinsler had two hits Tuesday night, upping his average to .394 with runners in scoring position.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers overcame a slow start by both Yu Darvish and their bats to pound the Chicago White Sox 10-6 on Tuesday night at Rangers Ballpark. Texas has won seven of its past eight games at home.

Moreland coming alive: Mitch Moreland has been the Rangers' hottest hitter over the past week and he continued his surge against the White Sox. Moreland was 3-for-3, including a line-drive double to left field off a left-handed reliever, Donnie Veal, to give the Rangers a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Moreland's three hits were against left-handed pitchers, boosting his season average to .243 against southpaws.

Kinsler drives them in: The Rangers might be struggling with runners in scoring position, but leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler isn't. He had two more RBI hits Tuesday, one to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth, and another a key insurance run with two outs in the sixth inning. Kinsler is up to .391 for the season with runners in scoring position. He is 4-for-11 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Six-run sixth: The Rangers snapped a 4-4 tie, then broke the game open with a six-run sixth inning. They scored in a variety of ways. The aforementioned RBI double by Moreland and RBI single by Kinsler gave them a 6-4 lead. The Rangers loaded the bases and then White Sox reliever Nate Jones had a forgettable three-pitch sequence. He threw consecutive wild pitches to score Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Adrian Beltre then snapped out of his slump with a two-run home run to left field for a 10-4 lead.

Back-to-back: The Rangers woke up a quiet crowd with back-to-back home runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Nelson Cruz, who has carried the offense, broke through against White Sox starter Jose Quintana with his sixth home run of the season, a sky-high shot to left field. Jeff Baker, who has played his way into the lineup on a regular basis against right-handed starters, tied the game at 2-2 with a 434-foot home run to center field, his second of the season.

Taking advantage: The Rangers jumped on a mistake by the White Sox in the bottom of the fifth. Craig Gentry grounded into a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a throwing error by Chicago second baseman Tyler Greene. It worked essentially as a sacrifice, with a faster runner, Gentry, ending up at second instead of Moreland. Kinsler gave the Rangers the lead with a double inside the third-base bag. Andrus followed with a single up the middle for a 4-2 lead.

Darvish settles in: Darvish allowed two runs in the first inning on four hits. The first one, a one-out triple by Greene, should have been caught by Cruz in right field. The White Sox jumped on the opening. Alex Rios and Konerko had RBI singles to snap Darvish's 19-inning scoreless streak.

Hanging curveball: Darvish was settled in until the top of the sixth, when he had a lead-off walk and later failed to execute a 3-6-1 double play as he wasn't able to keep his foot on the first-base bag. The Rangers paid for it as No. 9 hitter Dewayne Wise connected with a hanging curveball for a two-run homer to tie the game 4-4. Wise had two hits in 22 at-bats entering Tuesday. He had three hits in three at-bats versus Darvish and was 4-for-4 for the night.

Walk-up crowd: Darvish is drawing fans to the ballpark. The Rangers had 4,000 fans walk up and purchase tickets Tuesday night as the stadium filled in nicely in the early innings. The final crowd total was 40,646.

Scheppers streak ends: Tanner Scheppers relieved Darvish in the top of the seventh and quickly saw his scoreless innings streak to start the season end. Scheppers allowed a two-out home run to Adam Dunn, ending the right-hander's streak at 12⅔ innings.

Up next: A pair of 24-year-old pitchers face off Wednesday night when Rangers right-hander Nick Tepesch (2-1, 2.52) faces White Sox left-hander Chris Sale (2-2, 4.09 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. on ESPN-FM 103.3 FM and 1540-AM.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Two starters coming off back-to-back wins will square off as the Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish opposes the Chicago White Sox's Jose Quintana on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game set. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Southwest and ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM, with the Spanish broadcast on 1540 AM.

PODCAST
Ron Washington joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Yu Darvish, the Rangers' recent losses and if the notion that the team looked fatigued is warranted this early in the season. Listen

Darvish (4-1, 1.65 ERA): Darvish, 26, has gone back-to-back outings and a total of 18 consecutive innings going back three starts without allowing a run. … He struck out 11 over six innings his last time out in an 11-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. The right-hander has notched double-digit strikeouts in back-to-back games. He has yet to strike out 10 or more hitters in three consecutive starts in his major league career. … Darvish faced Chicago once last season and was saddled with the loss after allowing six runs – five earned – on eight hits and three walks with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings on July 27. … Darvish is 5-0 in seven regular-season home starts since losing to the White Sox.

Quintana (2-0, 2.78 ERA): The left-hander lasted just five innings against Cleveland in his last outing but got the win in Chicago’s 3-2 victory after allowing two runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts. … Quintana’s three strikeouts against the Indians tied a season low. … The 24-year-old picked up the win in his only career outing against Texas last season, allowing one run on just two hits and a walk while striking out eight through eight innings on July 5. … Quintana has yet to allow an earned run on the road this season, having given up a combined six hits and two walks in 13 2/3 innings with 14 strikeouts against Cleveland and Toronto. Quintana was better on the road (3.42 ERA in 12 appearances) than at home (4.13 ERA in 13 appearances) last season.

Hitters: Gordon Beckham (2-for-3) is the only White Sox player with multiple hits or an extra base hit against Darvish, but he’s on the disabled list with a fractured hamate bone in his left wrist. Rangers hitters are a combined 2-for-19 against Quintana. Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler own the only two hits.

Up Next:

Wednesday vs. Chicago: RHP Nick Tepesch (2-1, 2.53) vs. LHP Chris Sale (2-2, 4.09), 7:05 p.m. CT, ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/1540 AM/FSSW
Thursday vs. Chicago: RHP Justin Grimm (2-0, 1.59) vs. RHP Jake Peavy (3-1, 3.38) 7:05 p.m. CT, ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/1540 AM/FSSW

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Texas Rangers were shut out for just the second time and lost back-to-back games for the first time this season as the Minnesota Twins won 5-0 on Sunday.

Walks will haunt: Rangers starter Alexi Ogando walked Josh Willingham twice Sunday, and Willingham scored both times. He was walked with one out in the fourth inning and came home on a Chris Parmelee sacrifice fly two batters later. Ogando walked Willingham with two outs in the sixth inning, but Justin Morneau hit his next offering into the right-field seats for a two-run homer.

Ogando still managed a quality start, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks in six innings with three strikeouts. After giving up just two earned runs in his first three starts this season, Ogando has allowed 10 in his past three. The right-hander is 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA in that stretch.

Still undefeated: The Rangers appeared poised to win their sixth series of the season by taking the first two against Minnesota but settled for a series split after losses Saturday and Sunday. Texas is still undefeated in series play this season with a 5-0-3 mark.

Runs at a premium: The Rangers scored two runs or less in three of their four games against Minnesota and just eight total in the four-game series. Their only lower series mark was six runs, but that was in a two-game set against the Chicago Cubs.

Texas went 0-for-5 Sunday and just 4-for-31 in the series with runners in scoring position.

Basepath blunders: Mitch Moreland continued a disturbing trend of Texas making outs on the basepaths. Moreland singled with one out in the third inning when Aaron Hicks misplayed his fly ball. But Moreland ran halfway to second base before turning around as Hicks recovered and threw to Brian Dozier. Dozier quickly relayed to Morneau, who tagged Moreland for the second out. Leonys Martin followed with a single, so instead of two on with one out, there was one on with two out. Ian Kinsler ended the inning with a groundout to second.

The Rangers made seven outs on the bases in the first three games against the Twins.

Solving Mauer: Twins catcher Joe Mauer entered the series with Texas hitting .366, but Rangers pitching held him to 0-for-15 in the four games to drop his average to .302.

Ortiz struggles: Joe Ortiz entered the series with a 1.42 ERA but saw that number jump to 4.05 after allowing four runs in two appearances (2/3 IP). The left-hander had allowed just two earned runs in his first eight outings.

Daydreaming: Sunday’s loss dropped the Rangers to 3-6 in day games this season. Texas is 13-3 at night.

Up next: The Rangers start a three-game set against the Chicago White Sox in Arlington as right-hander Yu Darvish (4-1, 1.65 ERA) takes the hill against Chicago left-hander Jose Quintana (2-0, 2.78 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday night on Fox Sports Southwest and ESPN 103.3 FM and 1540 AM.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout kept the game tied with his glove in the ninth inning and Howie Kendrick delivered the walk-off home run in the 11th, as the Texas Rangers fell, 5-4, to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

Bad luck: Adrian Beltre would have been the hero if not for Trout's leaping catch with two outs in the ninth. With Ian Kinsler representing the go-ahead run at third, Beltre hit the ball hard, but it stayed up long enough for Trout to chase it down at the warning track near the bullpen gate in left field. The Rangers were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Struggles through seven: Aside from Nelson Cruz's three-run shot in the sixth, the Rangers didn't muster much against Angels left-hander Jason Vargas, who was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA coming into the game. Vargas went a season-high seven innings, as Texas struggled to come through in clutch situations.

More from less: Mitch Moreland, who had three hits in Monday's opener, had two more Tuesday batting in the No. 9 spot. The multi-hit performance was significant given the fact that he had been 1-for-19 (.053) against left-handers entering the night.

Staying up: Rangers starting pitcher Alexi Ogando and manager Ron Washington agreed that poor pitch location was the cause of his troubles in Chicago last week, and the same issue appeared to affect him early when Kendrick jumped on a high fastball for a homer to the deepest part of the park, increasing the Halos' lead to four. It was Ogando's biggest mistake of the night, as he rebounded from last week's poor outing.

Baker flashes leather: Jeff Baker was in the starting lineup Tuesday for his bat, but he never got to use it. The left fielder robbed Josh Hamilton of extras bases with a sliding catch near the foul line in the first inning, but crashed into the padded wall at full speed and exited with a bruised left knee. David Murphy, who had been 1-for-19 in his career against Vargas, replaced him.

Up next: Yu Darvish (3-1, 2.03 ERA) looks for his second victory against Los Angeles this season. Angels right-hander Jerome Williams (1-0, 3.18 ERA) is expected to make the spot start in place of Tommy Hanson, who is on the bereavement list. First pitch is 9:05 p.m. CT on ESPN 103.3-FM.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It's only an inning. The Rangers' six-run fifth inning hasn't carried over to Saturday or beyond yet.

Still, stringing together some hits and producing the first real crooked number of the season was needed. The Rangers scored four or more runs in an inning for the first time in 16 games, using five hits and two walks to finally have an outburst worthy of the club's long-held reputation.

"We got some hits, and, obviously, the two-out hits were huge by (Craig) Gentry and (Ian) Kinsler were huge," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "It was one game. The biggest story was Yu (Darvish) coming out and giving us a chance."

No doubt Darvish was the story of this night, but the Rangers have to get their offense out of neutral before the end of April. Friday night was a start. They had gone seven straight games scoring four runs or less. They got all of that and more in the fifth.

The rally started with an out already on the scoreboard. Lance Berkman singled, Adrian Beltre walked and Nelson Cruz singled to load the bases. Pierzynski then slapped a two-run single the other way to left field for a 3-0 lead. David Murphy had an RBI groundout for another run.

The Rangers then produced a pair of two-out, run-scoring hits, which is one thing they have done well so far this season. Gentry belted a line drive to center field that got past Endy Chavez, and for a moment it looked like a possible inside-the-park home run. Two runs scored for a 6-0 lead, but Gentry was held up at third base by coach Gary Pettis, denying him a chance to sprint home.

With Gentry's speed, it might well have been close.

"I didn't see," Gentry said. "By the time I saw him throw up the stop sign, I didn't know what was going on behind me. I guess we'll never know."

Kinsler finished off the big inning with an RBI double down the left-field line. It gave the Rangers a 7-0 lead, a six-run inning and a much-needed boost.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It's Friday and that means a weekly look at who is trending up and who's trending down for the Texas Rangers. A look:

STOCK UP

Derek Holland: Holland's stock continues to rise. He pitched seven shutout innings, allowing two hits on Tuesday in a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Holland's numbers are outstanding across the board. He's allowed 12 hits and walked four in 22 innings. He's given up one home run after allowing 32 last season. Opposing batters are hitting .171 against him.

Ian Kinsler: He has five hits in his last 15 at-bats, two of them home runs. Kinsler is batting .309 with five home runs and 10 RBIs. He is the Rangers' team leader in homers and RBIs.

STOCK DOWN

Alexi Ogando: Ogando had no command of his fastball in Thursday's 6-2 loss to the Cubs, leaving the ball over the middle of the plate as Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano crushed home runs off of him. He allowed six hits and two walks in 2 1/3 innings Thursday. He has pitched past 6 1/3 innings in any of his four starts this season.

Center field: Craig Gentry saved Tuesday's win with his diving catch, but the Rangers' offensive production in center field has not been there. Gentry and Leonys Martin have combined for zero RBIs in 15 games. They have 10 hits in 48 combined at-bats.

Rangers offense: The Rangers have gone seven straight games scoring four runs or less and are batting .209 during the stretch. The Rangers are the only team in the majors that haven't scored four runs or more in an inning.

CHICAGO -- On top of Alexi Ogando's struggles, the Texas Rangers' offense was once again an issue.

After a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, the Rangers now have scored 55 runs on the season. Their 3.67 runs per game puts them 12th in the AL.

“It’s just a matter of time,” manager Ron Washington said. “We have some guys in the lineup that we’re depending on that are just not swinging the bat the way they’re capable of. You just gotta keep getting them at-bats and it’ll finally fall into place. Right now we just got to continue to do the things we can in the game. Our pitching has been keeping us around. This is the first day our starting pitcher didn’t really keep us in the ballgame.”

Washington added that getting Lance Berkman back will be a boost to the bats as they return to American League play. Berkman, who didn’t play in the Cubs series because of the lack of DH, is posting a robust .389/.500/.611 line on the season and is one of the few Rangers who has avoided any early season adversity.

Ian Kinsler, who went 2-for-4 on Thursday with a home run, admitted that it’s time for the bats to get going to give the Rangers' normally dominant staff a boost on their rare off days.

“You can’t rely on your pitchers every day. You have to be able to put up runs and give those guys a little bit of a cushion early, and we haven’t been able to do that lately,” Kinsler said. “We have to get off the blocks a little bit better offensively early in the game and give our guys a little bit of a cushion. They’ve been throwing the ball really well, and I think that can only help.”

Kinsler said the bad weather can make it a little more difficult for the offense, and Wrigley Field’s lack of modern player facilities didn’t help, either. However, Kinsler refused to use it as an excuse and was just happy to be heading back to Texas, where better weather surely awaits.

Kinsler and Nelson Cruz were the only Rangers to record a hit on the day, combining to go 4-for-7 with two home runs and two singles. The rest of the team went 0-for-21 with eight strikeouts and one walk against Cubs pitching.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski didn’t seem concerned with the Rangers' lack of offense, saying it was more about bad luck then a bad approach.

“I mean, in the first inning Ian gets on to lead off the game and we hit into a double play,” Pierzynski said. “In the second inning, Nellie gets on, we have a hit-and-run on, I hit a liner and we would’ve had first and third and Villanueva sticks his glove out and catches it. The other inning (Kinsler) hits a rocket for a double play. It was just one of those days where it seemed like things weren’t meant to go our way. But that’s baseball, that’s the way things work. There’s no hanging your head because there’ s no time for it, no one feels sorry for you so you gotta be ready to go tomorrow.

The Rangers left no men on base for the only the eighth time in club history, as all three base runners they had on the day were erased on double plays. It was the first time the Rangers had done that since July 7, 2007 against the Baltimore Orioles.

CHICAGO -- The Texas Rangers (9-6) fell 6-2 to the Chicago Cubs (5-9) to split what ended up being a two-game series after Wednesday's rainout. The Cubs got to Alexi Ogando early, with Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano delivering back-to-back home runs in a four-run third inning. Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva was strong for his third consecutive start, holding the Rangers to only two runs. Yu Darvish is scheduled to get the start Friday for the Rangers when they return home to open up a three-game set with the Seattle Mariners.

Inefficient Ogando: Ogando has struggled with high pitch counts early on in the season and Thursday was no exception. Ogando was able to work through his issues with minimal issues in his previous outings, but he couldn't find the same magic against the Cubs. He walked Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro in his first two plate on eight straight pitches. Castro came into the game with no walks in 58 plate appearances. The real damage was done on back-to back-home runs by Rizzo and Soriano in a four-run third. Ogando gave up multiple runs in an outing for the first time this season.

Bats struggle: Entering the day, the Rangers were 12th in the AL in runs scored, and they did little to improve their standing. Outside of a combined 4-for-7 from Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler (each had a single and a solo home run), the offense went a 0-for-21 with a walk against Cubs pitching.

Up next: The Rangers head back to Arlington for a three-game home stand against the Seattle Mariners. Yu Darvish heads to the mound on six days rest to face Joe Saunders at 7:05 p.m. Friday night on TXA-21 and ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM.

Rangers manager Ron Washington had a few moments in the last week where he had an option to go to the bench in a pivotal run-scoring situation. He chose to stick with the player in the game.

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The first instance came in last Wednesday's 2-0 loss against the Tampa Bay Rays. With the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and Mitch Moreland coming up against left-handed reliever Cesar Ramos, Washington had switch hitter Lance Berkman available to pinch hit.

Berkman had been give the day off and Washington wanted it to be a full one. Washington stuck with Moreland, who grounded into a double play to end the rally.

Washington again had a chance to go to his bench in the eighth inning of Sunday's 4-3 loss at Seattle. This time he had backup catcher Geovany Soto coming up.

David Murphy had a two-out single, moving Adrian Beltre to third base. With left-handed reliever Oliver Perez in for Seattle and right-handed closer Tom Wilhelmsen warming up, Washington had the option of going to Ian Kinsler on his bench; or if Wilhelmsen came in, starting catching A.J. Pierzynski was available.

Washington stuck with Soto, who had a good at-bat, seeing eight pitches. And Soto had reached base in all of four of his chances against Perez. But his popup to right field was caught easily for the third out and the Rangers didn't score.

We'll never know what would have happened with Kinsler or Pierzynski at the plate.

Garcia shines: Washington decided to give utility man Leury Garcia back-to-back starts over the weekend at shortstop and second base. Garcia made Washington look good. He made one spectacular play and two other dazzlers at shortstop Saturday. Garcia also had a single and scored a run. Playing second base Sunday, Garcia had a triple and scored a run.

Leaning on Ortiz: Washington trusted 22-year-old rookie Joe Ortiz in two key spots last week against Seattle out of the bullpen, and the left-hander won the first two decisions of his career. He pitched two shutout innings in both outings. Ortiz has 1.04 ERA and six strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings.