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ARLINGTON, Texas -- It's Friday and that means our weekly stock report. Let's take a look at who's trending up and who's trending down for Texas:

STOCK UP

The Rangers: At 27-14, the Rangers have their best record through 41 games. Their previous best had been 26-15 in 1996. The Rangers have been in solo possession of first place for 25 consecutive days. They are the first team to have a seven-game division lead at this point in the season since Boston in 2007.

Mitch Moreland: Mitch Moreland hit two more doubles to drive in runs in Thursday's 10-4 victory, including what turned out to be the game-winning runs, and continues to be the Rangers' hottest hitter. Since April 22, Moreland has 33 hits in 91 at-bats with six home runs, 10 doubles, a triple, 15 RBIs and 13 runs. It's one of the best Rangers streaks in recent memory.

Yu Darvish: He's won five straight decisions, the longest single-season win streak of his career. He is one win shy of matching his overall best streak of six wins in a row from Aug. 28, 2012 to April 7, 2013. He has won seven straight games at Rangers Ballpark.

STOCK DOWN

Joe Nathan: It's hard to say a closer who has saved all 12 of his opportunities is down, but Nathan has flirted with his trouble in his last two outings. He's allowed a run in each of his last two games. He loaded the bases in Oakland, putting the winning run on second base, before getting a strikeout and a fly out. Nathan's velocity is down, but more regular work could solve that.

Derek Lowe: His last two appearances haven't gone well. He allowed four runs in the eighth inning in Houston to turn a 12-1 game into a 12-5 game. The Rangers eventually won 12-7. Lowe has allowed nine hits and nine runs in his last 4 2/3 innings.

Justin Grimm: The Rangers will be looking for a better result from Grimm when he starts Saturday against Detroit. He's allowed 10 earned runs in his last 10 innings, giving up three home runs as his ERA has risen to 4.28.

Did you find it odd to see Yu Darvish come back out for the eighth inning last night with a six-run lead? I did. Darvish had already thrown over 100 pitches. His team had added to its lead, taking a 10-4 advantage into the eighth inning, six outs away from a victory. But there was Darvish, back on the hill for the eighth inning.

PODCAST
Jim Bowden joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Ron Washington's decision to send Yu Darvish to the mound for the eighth inning Thursday night and how he would handle a situation like that if he were still a GM. Listen

At the time, I thought manager Ron Washington was likely going to have Darvish pitch to right-handed hitting Miguel Cabrera and then have Robbie Ross, who was warming up, come in for the left-handed hitting Prince Fielder. Instead, Darvish stayed in and mowed down the middle of the order. He ended up with 130 pitches, his highest total this season. He has thrown an average of nearly 121 pitches in his last three starts.

Darvish needed 15 pitches to get through the inning and got the toughest three hitters in the Tigers lineup, giving the game to Cory Burns in the ninth. Washington probably had a variety of reasons for leaving Darvish in. First, it was the tough part of the order. Second, he wanted to save as much of the bullpen as he could knowing he's got some young, unproven pitchers starting games coming up -- including Josh Lindblom, who has to take the place of Alexi Ogando -- and will need them. Third, it's still the Tigers with the top offense in the league. And fourth, though he probably won't admit it, Washington can't have a ton of faith in parts of this bullpen. Right now, you want Ross, Tanner Scheppers and Joe Nathan in a tight game. Beyond that, it gets iffy. I'm sure he wanted to save those key arms.

I get all of those reasons. And I still would not have pitched Darvish in the eighth. It's not the pitch count that actually bugs me. If you're an ace, sometimes you've got to be able to go out there and carry the team. We've seen Justin Verlander do that a fair amount in his career. But it depends on the situation. I don't think you ask Darvish to do that with a six-run lead. That's not the time to push him. You have to think big picture, especially with the injuries to this staff. You protect that Darvish investment.

For those that note Verlander's high pitch count at times -- he's thrown more than 125 pitches 21 times in his career -- a total of 19 of those came in games that ended up at a margin of four runs or fewer (and in most of those, when Verlander went back out to pitch, it was three or fewer). In 10 of those, it was a one-run game. That's the time to push it.

Darvish, of course, has no issues with this. He's thrown more than 130 pitches enough in his career in Japan. But there, it's a six-man rotation and you're pitching about once a week. There's more recovery time. Darvish can handle some longer workload. I just think you pick and choose your spots and last night was not one of those spots.

But that's just me. What do you think? You OK with the decision to leave Darvish in last night?

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The pitching duel that wasn't Thursday night between Yu Darvish and Justin Verlander ended up being more about pitch counts.

The 130 pitches that Darvish pitched in the Texas Rangers' 10-4 pounding of Verlander and the Detroit Tigers was a big topic in postgame interviews.

And Rangers general manager Jon Daniels met with manager Ron Washington after Thursday's game to discuss Darvish's pitch count.

Darvish stood at 115 pitches and the Rangers leading comfortably, 10-4, as the top of the eighth came up. It seemed to be the right time for a handshake, slap on the back, and to say thanks for the seven innings.

Not so fast, said Washington, who had enough respect for a Tigers lineup that sent up Triple Crown man Miguel Cabrera, left-handed slugger Prince Fielder and Victor Martinez in the inning.

PODCAST
Jim Bowden joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Ron Washington's decision to send Yu Darvish to the mound for the eighth inning Thursday night and how he would handle a situation like that if he were still a GM. Listen

Plus, setup man Tanner Scheppers wasn't available after finishing off Wednesday's 6-2 victory in Oakland, and Washington preferred Darvish to left-hander Robbie Ross, who has walked batters in two of his three appearances.

"I saw the big lead; the lineup they got, it's not soft anywhere in it," Washington said. "Even though we had the lead, I wasn't comfortable. I felt like he needed to get us through the eighth inning to give our bullpen a break, and he certainly did that."

Washington reasoned that after Darvish's 36-pitch third inning that put him at 63 pitches for the night, he was more economical. Darvish went 17, 11, 13 and 11 pitches the next four innings. He had 15 more to go.

(Read full post)

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Thursday's marquee pitching matchup between Yu Darvish and Justin Verlander didn't materialize, highlighted by a 74-pitch third inning by the two aces.

The teams combined for 10 runs in the inning, with the Texas Rangers scoring seven times against Verlander to rally for a 10-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers at home.

Verlander goes down: The Rangers hammered Verlander, who allowed eight earned runs in a start for the fifth time in his career and for the first time since August. Verlander went 2 2/3 innings for his shortest outing since 2010. It's the fourth time in his career he's failed to pitch three innings. The Rangers pounced on him for seven runs in the bottom of the third, the most Verlander has allowed in one inning. Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre drew bases-loaded walks to tie the game at 3-all, followed by a Mitch Moreland double to right field for a 5-3 lead, and capped by Geovany Soto's first home run of the year, a three-run shot over the left-field fence.

Darvish smells win: Darvish struggled also, falling behind 3-1 and allowing two more home runs to make it seven in his past four games. He smelled a victory after the Rangers' seven-run third for an 8-3 lead. After allowing a solo home run to Jhonny Peralta, Darvish retired 15 of the next 16 batters he faced, giving up only a two-out single to Prince Fielder in the fifth inning. Darvish retired the last 10 batters he faced.

Darvish's pitch count: Darvish set his career high with 130 pitches, just two starts after he threw 127 pitches against Boston on May 4. Darvish has thrown 362 pitches in 12 days, an average of 120.7 pitches per start.

Moreland on fire: There's no stopping Moreland, who extended his hitting streak to eight games with his go-ahead double in the bottom of the third. Moreland had two more hits Thursday night to give him 13 hits in his past 31 at-bats. He has four doubles, a triple and five home runs during that stretch. Moreland also made two Web gem-worthy defensive plays in the fifth inning, first on a scoop on a low throw by Soto, then on a diving stop on a smash to his right by Miguel Cabrera.

Soto goes deep: Soto produced his first home run of the season at the right time, knocking Verlander out of the game. Soto, who has started eight of the Rangers' past 10 games, hadn't been producing at the plate, going 1-for-his-previous-19 at-bats with eight strikeouts entering Thursday's game. But he pounded a fastball 365 feet for his first home run since Sept. 23 against Seattle.

Cruz tied for HR lead: Nelson Cruz tied for the American League lead in home runs with his 11th of the season, joining Baltimore's Chris Davis, Cleveland's Mark Reynolds and Toronto's Edwin Encarnacion. Cruz has six RBIs in his past three games. He has a homer every 14.4 at-bats, tied for seventh in the AL entering Thursday.

Beltre-Andrus special: The Rangers had a spectacular defensive play from the left side of the infield to start the eighth inning. Beltre had a smash go off his glove to the shortstop area, where Andrus charged in, picked up the ball barehanded and threw out Cabrera.

Up next: The Rangers send rookie right-hander Nick Tepesch (3-3, 4.03 ERA) to the mound against Detroit right-hander Rick Porcello (1-2, 6.68) at 7:05 p.m. CT on Channel 21 and ESPN-FM 103.3 and 1540-AM.

Geovany Soto is back at catcher after giving way to Robinson Chirinos in Wednesday's series finale against the A's. Yu Darvish will be on the hill for the Rangers for the highly-anticipated matchup against Justin Verlander and the Tigers. Here are the lineups:

PODCAST
Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the latest Rangers news, including the Yu Darvish-Justin Verlander matchup. Listen

RANGERS
2B Ian Kinsler
SS Elvis Andrus
DH Lance Berkman
3B Adrian Beltre
RF Nelson Cruz
1B Mitch Moreland
C Geovany Soto
LF David Murphy
CF Leonys Martin

TIGERS
LF Andy Dirks
RF Torii Hunter
3B Miguel Cabrera
1B Prince Fielder
DH Victor Martinez
C Alex Avila
SS Jhonny Peralta
CF Don Kelly
2B Omar Infante

The Rangers' Yu Darvish and Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander will meet in a duel between two of baseball's premier pitchers Thursday night in the first game of a four-game series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. First pitch is 7:05 p.m. on FSSW, MLBN and ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM and ESPN Dallas Deportes 1540 AM.

PODCAST
Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the latest Rangers news, including the Yu Darvish-Justin Verlander matchup. Listen

Darvish (6-1, 2.73 ERA): Darvish has won four straight decisions and has 22 victories since the start of the 2012 season, the most in the major leagues. ... With 80 strikeouts, Darvish leads the major leagues. He's had 14 strikeouts twice and hit double-digits in four of his eight starts. He's averaging 13.67 strikeouts per nine innings, baseball's best mark. ... Darvish has allowed at least one home run in each of his past three starts, including two Saturday against Houston and two on May 5 against Boston. In his first five starts, he didn't allow a home run. ... Since the start of 2012, Darvish has 301 strikeouts, which leads the major leagues. ... Darvish went 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA against the Tigers last season. ... He is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA and 39 strikeouts over four starts at Rangers Ballpark this season. He has won six straight starts at home, a streak that began Aug. 12, 2012, against the Tigers.

Verlander (4-3, 1.93 ERA): The hard-throwing right-hander has a 7-2 career record against the Rangers with a 2.02 ERA over 51.1 innings. He's struck out 57 and walked only 18. ... Verlander is a perfect 3-0 at Rangers Ballpark with a 1.29 ERA over 28.0 innings. He's struck out 34 and walked only four in those three wins. ... Verlander took the loss against Cleveland in his last outing, allowing six hits and three earned runs over just five innings, matching his shortest stint of the season. He struck out seven but struggled with his command and walked five. ... Before losing to Cleveland, Verlander had a two-game winning streak with victories over Minnesota and Cleveland. ... Verlander had double-digit strikeouts just once this season, fanning 12 at Seattle on April 18. ... Verlander has pitched at least seven innings in five of his eight starts but never more than 7.1 innings.

Hitters: Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter, a former Angel, has a career .333 batting average against Darvish, going 6-for-18 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Detroit 1B Prince Fielder is 2-for-6 with a double, a home run and three RBIs vs. Darvish. Third baseman Miguel Cabrera has just two hits in eight at-bats. ... Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre has a career batting average of .314 (11-for-35) against Verlander with two doubles, one home run and three RBIs. He's the only Ranger on the active roster who has homered off Verlander. Outfidler David Murphy is 5-for-17 with five singles. Second baseman Ian Kinsler (.120), right fielder Nelson Cruz (.133) and shortstop Elvis Andrus have all struggled against him.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It's all about Yu Darvish versus Justin Verlander on Thursday.

PODCAST
Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the latest Rangers news, including the Yu Darvish-Justin Verlander matchup. Listen

But the matchup between the Rangers and Detroit Tigers also features two American League powerhouses. It should be an entertaining four-game series.

The Rangers have a seven-game lead in the AL West and the best record in the AL. The Tigers are a half-game ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central.

Here's what to watch for as these two titans clash in Arlington:

Failing to sweep Houston: The Tigers arrive in Texas following a missed opportunity: They didn't sweep the Astros at home. While Texas swept the Astros in Houston over the weekend, the Tigers couldn't finish their series off against baseball's worst team Thursday. Detroit lost 7-5 to Houston as Miguel Cabrera's near walk-off grand slam fell just short in the bottom of the ninth. Houston had scored two runs in the top of the ninth against the Tigers' bullpen to take the lead.

Getting started: The Tigers are getting great starting pitching. Detroit's rotation leads the AL with 19 wins, a 3.32 ERA, 252 strikeouts and 26 quality starts. It doesn't get any tougher in baseball than Verlander (4-3, 1.93 ERA), Rick Porcello (1-2, 6.68), Anibal Sanchez (4-3, 2.05) and Doug Fister (5-1, 3.06). And the Rangers are missing the Tigers' No. 2 starter, flamethrower Max Scherzer (5-0, 3.98).

Valverde is back: The Tigers struggled to find a closer early in the season, even turning to former Ranger Joaquin Benoit for a spell. They believe they've solved their issue by returning to old closer Jose Valverde. The 35-year-old missed all of spring training before re-signing with Detroit, so he's not in pitching shape just yet, Tigers manager Jim Leyland told reporters this week. Valverde has converted three of his four save opportunities and has a 1.29 ERA in seven games. It will be interesting to see how things go this time around with Valverde. He was already one the most erratic closers in the game, almost always pitching himself into trouble and getting out of it.

Out of the Anaheim mess: How happy are Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells right now? They're out of Anaheim, where the Angels are off to an abysmal start. Meanwhile, Wells has double-digit home runs with the Yankees and Hunter already has 15 multihit games for the Tigers and is batting .325. He is two home runs shy of 300 for his career. Hunter has been as good as any hitter in baseball against Darvish, with six hits in 18 at-bats, tying him with the Angels' Alberto Callaspo for the most career hits against him.

Versus the West: The Tigers are 10-6 against the AL West but haven't played the Rangers yet. That includes a 6-1 mark against the Astros. The Rangers are 3-4 against the AL Central, splitting a four-game road series at Minnesota and losing two of three to the White Sox in Arlington.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Name a better ace versus ace matchup in the American League than Yu Darvish versus Justin Verlander.

PODCAST
Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the latest Rangers news, including the Yu Darvish-Justin Verlander matchup. Listen

Can't, can you?

Thursday night's matchup has a chance to be a classic battle of baseball's top right-handers. Combined, they have 10 wins and 137 strikeouts. Verlander has the better ERA at 1.93 to Darvish's 2.73. Darvish is 6-1 on the season; Verlander is 4-3.

Darvish has been tougher to hit, with a .163 opponents' batting average and 23 more strikeouts than Verlander, who has a .229 opponents' batting average.

Both came close to no-hitting the Astros. Here's a closer look at this marquee matchup at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington:

Awesome April: Verlander had the best April of his career in posting a 1.83 ERA. That's more than a half run better than last season (2.41), which was his previous career best for the month. He also had 41 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings, also his career high for the opening month. It's a little bit of a change for Verlander, who is 14-17 in 41 April starts during his career.

Darvish has had nine of his 22 career wins come in April, including a 5-1 mark this season. He had a 2.33 ERA and 58 strikeouts for the opening month, and came within an out of throwing a perfect game against Houston. He allowed only 23 hits in 38 2/3 innings.

Keeping it going: Verlander has won more games in May (25) than any other month during his career, and his 2.69 ERA probably has a lot to do with it. It's also been his best strikeout month with 264 -- 37 more than he's had in April.

Darvish's ERA has risen to 3.83 for this month, and he's given up the long ball, allowing four home runs after giving up just one in April. He's fallen behind early in starts against Boston and Houston, but he got stronger as those games went along and his offense rallied for a win and a no-decision.

Changing speeds: Verlander and Darvish rank among the top 13 pitchers in average fastball velocity this season, according to FanGraphs. Verlander, whose velocity has dropped slightly this season, still ranks 11th in the majors with an average fastball of 93.3 mph. Darvish is 13th at 93.0 mph.

Darvish and Verlander throw their changeup on average at the same speed: 86.7 mph. Verlander throws his slider a bit harder at 84.8 mph; Darvish averages 81.7.

The biggest difference comes, not surprisingly, with the curve. Verlander averages 78.6 mph, while Darvish tends to throw his much slower (66.9) and even drops below 60 mph at times.

Inside the numbers: Opposing hitters have five hits in 15 at-bats for a .333 batting average against Verlander with a full count. They are 1-for-21 against Darvish with 14 strikeouts. Verlander has four strikeouts with a 3-2 count. ... You better get to Darvish early. He's allowed nine of his 16 runs in the first inning. Verlander has allowed two of his 13 runs in the first inning -- both of those runs came in his previous start -- a 7-6 loss to Cleveland on Saturday. Verlander has allowed five runs in the second inning.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- When the Texas Rangers return to Arlington on Thursday, they'll open a seven-game homestand with a dream pitching matchup that features two of baseball's marquee right-handers, Yu Darvish and the Detroit Tigers' Justin Verlander.

PODCAST
Rangers manager Ron Washington joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett live from Oakland for his weekly visit. Listen

Just don't expect Darvish to promote this showdown as if it were a heavyweight bout. Before Tuesday night's game against the Oakland Athletics, Darvish was asked if he's looking forward to this start against Verlander more than most.

"Not particularly, because I won't be hitting against him," Darvish said. "If that were the case, I'd be looking forward to it. I'm just going to be pitching, and I'm focused on pitching my game."

Darvish has had his A-game for most of this season. He's 6-1 with a 2.73 ERA and has won five straight decisions. He leads the major leagues in strikeouts with 80.

"The number of wins and the number of strikeouts, I'm not really concerned about," Darvish said. "That's something I have to look back to once the season's over. Since my ERA is not 0.00, that's what I have to improve on. I'm just making sure I'm healthy to throw for the rest of the season."

Darvish had a combined 31 strikeouts in his past three starts, wins over the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros, but he also gave up five home runs. In his first five starts, he didn't allow a home run.

The Tigers' lineup is filled with power hitters, including Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder.

"There's no particular hitter I'm looking forward to facing," Darvish said. "I'm more concerned about managing the lineup and pitching my game and giving my team a chance to win. Every game I look forward to facing every hitter, but there's no particular hitter I'm concerned about now."

Running into trouble?: With the Rangers trailing the A's 5-1 in the top of the ninth Monday night, shortstop Elvis Andrus stole second base and tweaked his right hamstring. He stayed in the game and was in the starting lineup Tuesday night.

"In the cold weather, sometimes, the part of the hamstring that comes down and goes behind your knee, sometimes it stiffens up on him," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "When he slid yesterday he just felt it a little bit. He's playing. It was no issue."

Washington, though, did take issue with Andrus' decision to steal in that situation.

"When they're not paying attention, he took a shot there," Washington said. "But you got to be safe. You take all excuses away if you're not safe. I'd much rather see him stay there in that situation, but I didn't put the hold [sign] on."

Washington quickly told Andrus as much.

"When I got out there, I told him, 'Don't try to steal third. Stay there,'" Washington said.

Pierzynski update: Catcher A.J. Pierzynski took another step forward in his comeback from the strained right oblique muscle that landed him on the disabled list on May 10, retroactive to May 6. He took swings on the field during a soft-toss session.

"Well, he swung today and didn't have any issues, so we just got to see how he feels after he finished swinging and then we'll make arrangements according to that. Hopefully, everything is well, and when we get back to Texas he can take some BP [batting practice]."

Pierzynski is eligible to come off the DL on Tuesday, and Washington said he'll probably need one or two rehab games before then. Washington said it looks like he's on track to be activated Tuesday.

"That's what it looks like. Did some soft toss out on the field and looked good," Washington said. "I didn't see him holding back. Now we've got to see how he feels afterwards. It looked like he was getting through the ball fine."

More praise for Griffin: Washington, as he did after Monday night's loss to Oakland, had high praise for A's right-hander A.J. Griffin, who allowed one run on six hits and struck out eight -- four on called third strikes. Washington said Griffin had great stuff and also took advantage of plate umpire Lance Barksdale's generous strike zone.

"He had a good game last night. He had a good game, he really did. He recognized what the umpire was doing and he stayed with it, a la [former Atlanta Braves pitcher] Greg Maddux and [John] Smoltz and [Tom] Glavine," Washington said. "Recognize what they're doing and don't change it. He'd go off this far [off the plate], he'd call it. Go that far, if he'd call it, oh man, you got another plate over there to throw to. He was in tune last night. Tip your hat."

No rest for Beltre: Third baseman Adrian Beltre was in the lineup Tuesday for the 39th straight game. He's yet to get a night off this season, and he might not get one for some time, Washington said, even with a day game Wednesday following a night game.

"We got these guys, and we got Detroit," Washington said. "I don't see him coming out before then. Can't have that bat sitting on the bench against these guys and against Detroit. If I do anything with him, I'll talk him into DHing. He told me, 'Whatever you want to do skip, other than taking me out.' So I might get him to DH."

Washington said he'll probably give catcher Geovany Soto a day off Wednesday, which would put Robinson Chirinos in the starting lineup. A number of other Rangers regulars will probably get some rest Wednesday.

"I don't know exactly where else yet. We'll see how the night goes," Washington said.

Ticket booth: There are still around 12,500 tickets available for Thursday night's opener of a four-game series against Detroit at Rangers Ballpark, the team announced. There are around 7,000 tickets available for Friday's game, 3,000 for Saturday's game and 11,500 for Sunday's.

Rangers team president and CEO Nolan Ryan tried to convince anyone who would listen that the Rangers' offseason of few moves wasn't as bad as many thought.

PODCAST
Nolan Ryan joins Galloway & Company to discuss his role with the Rangers. Ryan says that he has not been in contact with the Astros about a possible opening and he doesn't think that he would be interested anyway. Listen

Losing Josh Hamilton to the Los Angeles Angels. Free agent Zack Greinke spurning Texas to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not trading for Arizona outfielder Justin Upton.

Ryan said again Monday on his first weekly appearance of the season on "Galloway and Company" on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM that everything has turned out well and there was no reason to panic. The Rangers started Monday with the best record in baseball at 24-13.

"We filled some needs, and we filled it with a veteran presence," Ryan said of the Rangers' offseason.

The Rangers' major offseason moves were free-agent signings Lance Berkman as a designated hitter, catcher A.J. Pierzynski and reliever Joakim Soria. Berkman is batting .303 with three home runs and 18 RBIs. Pierzynski, who is currently on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle, is batting .263 with four home runs and 11 RBIs.

More importantly, Pierzynski has guided a pitching staff that includes two rookies in the starting rotation and a remodeled bullpen to the second-best ERA in the major leagues at 3.39, trailing only St. Louis (3.03 ERA).

"He's had a big impact on that pitching staff," Ryan said. "And his presence is a big reason why we're in first place."

Ryan also talked about the dominant start of Yu Darvish, who is 6-1 and leads the major leagues with 80 strikeouts in 52⅔ innings, which are Ryan-like numbers.

Darvish threw 127 pitches in a recent start against the Boston Red Sox, bringing to light a question of whether he should pitch more to contact. Ryan is in the camp that Darvish should keep doing what he's doing so well.

"The way he's throwing, you can't question that," Ryan said. "You would like to see him be more efficient with his pitches, but that's being real critical."

The 25-minute segment on "Galloway and Company" with Ryan didn't go without a conversation about Hamilton, who left the Rangers after a dismal end of the 2012 season that included a slump at the plate and a dropped fly ball in center field in the final game of the regular season as Oakland took the AL West title away from Texas.

Hamilton, who got big money from the Angels, is batting .203 with four home runs -- all against Houston -- and 13 RBIs. He has 44 strikeouts in 148 at-bats. The Angels are off to a brutal 14-23 start and are 10 games behind the Rangers in the division.

"That whole club is in a funk right now," Ryan said. "It isn't playing well. They're not having having good at-bats. They're not pitching well."

Ryan said he does believe Hamilton will turn things around, but it is up to him.

"He'll get hot," Ryan said. "Until he gets deeper into the count, he's going to have problems. Josh is going to have to make some adjustments."

The week will reach a pinnacle Thursday night with Yu Darvish facing off against Justin Verlander.

PODCAST
Nolan Ryan joins Galloway & Company to discuss his role with the Rangers. Ryan says that he has not been in contact with the Astros about a possible opening and he doesn't think that he would be interested anyway. Listen

But before that comes a three-game showdown with the Oakland A's, the team that stole the American League West division title from the Rangers last season.

Here's a look at the week ahead:

A's dominating the AL West: Oakland is 14-5 against the AL West even after losing two of three games over the weekend to Seattle. They are 5-15 against the rest of baseball. The Rangers and A's will play for the first time this season starting Monday and also have three games next week in Oakland. The A's are 6-0 against Houston and 5-1 against the Los Angeles Angels.

High-scoring A's: Oakland had led the majors in runs scored before Sunday's games and the A's are now third with 187 runs, trailing Detroit (190) and Baltimore (188). Oakland leads the league with 165 walks. They've also been shut out four times, tied with Houston and Toronto for the most in the American League.

Darvish-Verlander: It's as good of a pitching matchup as you'll find. These two could be the top contenders for the AL Cy Young. Darvish picked up his sixth victory Saturday against Houston while Verlander got knocked around Saturday by Cleveland, allowing three earned runs with five walks in five innings. Verlander is 4-3 with a sparkling 1.93 ERA.

Tigers on the road: Detroit is just 9-9 on the road starting the week but still is tied with Cleveland with the AL Central lead. That includes a four-game sweep of lowly Houston at Minute Maid Park. Detroit has lost four of its last five road games against Washington and Cleveland. The Tigers are home for three games with the Astros before starting a four-game series in Arlington.

Tigers usually finish: Detroit is 17-2 after eight innings, with one of those losses coming on Sunday against Cleveland. Jose Valverde, who was re-signed to be the Tigers' closer, gave up a run in the top of the ninth and the Tribe went on to score again in the top of the 10th off Darin Downs to win 4-3.

As tune-ups go, Yu Darvish and Justin Verlander didn't exactly breeze through their outings in preparation to take the mound opposite each other at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Thursday. At least that's the schedule as we sit here today.

Darvish got the win on Saturday and allowed just three hits, but he gave up three runs in seven innings to the Houston Astros, who own the worst record in the league. He issued three walks and had eight strikeouts. It was Darvish's sixth quality start in eight outings this season. But it wasn't Darvish at his most dominant, either. It certainly wasn't the Darvish the Astros saw in his near-perfect game early in the season.

Darvish started the season 4-1 with a 1.65 ERA in his first five starts. He's 2-0 with a 4.50 ERA in his past three starts.

Darvish did, though, give his team innings and get some offense (a big sixth inning) to back him in the victory (especially after Michael Kirkman struggled and made it a closer game than it should have been). Verlander wasn't as fortunate. He struggled from the very start of his outing against the Cleveland Indians.

Verlander had five walks on Saturday, his most since 2010. That included walking in a run, something he's done just three times in his career. Verlander allowed four runs (three earned) and needed 110 pitches just to get through five innings in a 7-6 loss to the Indians.

Both are at or near the top of the AL in most of the pitching categories and favorites for this year's Cy Young Award. Both will be looking for better outings on Thursday than they had on Saturday. It should be fun to watch.

HOUSTON -- It took all of the veteran savvy that Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan could muster to finish off a Saturday night of surprises at Minute Maid Park.

It started with the roof being opened in Houston. Then, Yu Darvish giving up two home runs to the same hitter for the first time, he recalled, since high school. Then, Nelson Cruz tying another game with a two-run home run, which actually shouldn't be a surprise anymore -- it's the third time he tied a game with a long ball this week -- leading to a six-run inning that seemingly had the game in hand for the Rangers.

The surprises weren't done. Nathan entered the game with a four-run lead, two runners on and no outs in the bottom of the ninth. He had to hang on for dear life for an 8-7 victory, in large part because of a brilliant defensive play by the 38-year-old closer, and his own hunch to get the game's final out.

Manager Ron Washington's hope starting the bottom of the ninth was that Michael Kirkman could get the final three outs with the Rangers leading 8-4. But Kirkman, who has struggled this season, allowed two hits, the second a lefty-lefty matchup with Carlos Pena that ended with a double off the left-center field wall. Kirkman, whose ERA is up to 7.90, just didn't make a good pitch to Pena.

"His stuff is good," Washington said of Kirkman. "He just made a mistake throwing a breaking ball to Pena."

That forced Washington to go to Nathan in a save situation. Like Darvish earlier, Nathan wasn't sharp. The first batter he faced, Trevor Crowe, laced a single up the middle to score Carlos Corporan and move Pena to third to close the lead to 8-5.

The Astros then forced the action as Crowe took off for second base. Nathan threw a wild pitch as Crowe slid in for a stolen base, which allowed Corporan to score and Crowe to get to third. 8-6.

That's when Nathan made what he says was the play of the inning. Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez, who had given the Astros a 3-1 lead with two home runs off Darvish, hit a dribbler down the third-base line. Nathan pounced off the mound, and what first appeared to be a sure infield hit for Dominguez turned into an out. Nathan was somehow able to get to the slow roller and fire a fastball to first base to beat Dominguez by a step. Crowe had to stay at third. One out.

On a night of surprises, even Nathan was surprised he pulled it off.

"Honestly, no, I didn't think I would make it," Nathan said. "I went toward it and I knew it was in the hardest spot on the field to make a play. I was just thinking, 'try to get your feet set.' It was going to be a no-stride throw and heave it as quick as you can.

"That one probably saved the inning. If I didn't make that play, we might be singing a different note right now. That definitely helped settled us down in the inning."

Nathan did allow another run on a sacrifice fly by Marwin Gonzalez that made it 8-7. But Nathan got the all-important second out, setting up a duel with Astros pinch hitter Chris Carter.

Carter, who has been all or nothing this season with eight home runs and 53 strikeouts, got ahead in the count with two balls. Nathan went to work. He threw a slider for a strike. Then, he went with a hunch, throwing a two-seam fastball thinking Carter, a right-handed hitter, would be looking on the outside of the plate for Nathan's out pitch, his slider.

The ball instead came in on Carter and he missed it, popping up to shortstop. Game over.

"I figured his eyes were probably going to be set away," Nathan said. "I'm glad my hunch came through and he was looking out there and I was able to run a decent pitch inside, a two-seamer running in and got in on the hands on him. It worked out."

HOUSTON -- Yu Darvish retired the first six batters he faced in Saturday night's 8-7 victory over the Houston Astros, but you could tell early on he didn't have anywhere near the dominant stuff he had April 2 when he was one out from a perfect game.

Darvish went to a full count against three of the first six batters he faced. He allowed his first baserunner with one out in the third inning on Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez's solo home run to left field.

"I didn’t have 100 percent of any pitch today," Darvish said through an interpreter. "I think they were average."

Darvish made his worst pitches to Dominguez, who wasn't in the Houston lineup for the near-perfect game. The third-inning home run came on a two-seam fastball, a pitch Darvish struggled to find consistency with all night.

Dominguez wasn't finished. He belted a two-run home run just inside the left-field foul pole in the bottom of the fifth to give the Astros a 3-1 lead, this one on a cut fastball.

"He was really aggressive, and I think that’s why he did really good," Darvish said.

For a moment, it looked like Darvish might follow up his near-perfect game last month with a loss to the worst team in baseball. The Rangers' offense saved him with six runs in the top of the sixth.

Darvish was able to get through seven innings, throwing an economical 105 pitches. He allowed only three hits. He did have two walks.

He beat Houston for the the second time this season, only this one was a little different than the last.

"He got us through seven innings," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "The only thing he struggled with today was Dominguez."

Not every night can be close to perfect.

HOUSTON -- For the second straight start, Yu Darvish and the Texas Rangers' offense overcame a 3-1 deficit, this time narrowly getting past the Houston Astros 8-7 on Saturday night at Minute Maid Park.

Scary ninth: With the Rangers cruising 8-4 in the ninth, the bullpen made things interesting. Reliever Michael Kirkman gave up a hit to the first batter he faced for the seventh time in 15 appearances when Astros catcher Carlos Corporan led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Carlos Pena followed with a double, creating a save situation and forcing manager Ron Washington to go to closer Joe Nathan. Pitching on the second of consecutive days, Nathan wasn't sharp. He allowed an RBI single to Trevor Crowe to cut the lead to 8-5. A wild pitch scored Carlos Pena to make it 8-6 and advanced Crowe to third. He scored on Marwin Gonzalez's sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game. Nathan walked Robbie Grossman to put the tying run on base, then, after falling behind pinch hitter Chris Carter 2-0, got the Astros slugger to pop out to shortstop to end the game.

Offense gets Darvish win: Yu Darvish trailed Boston 3-1 last Sunday, and Nelson Cruz hit a two-run home run to tie the game and help the Rangers scratch out a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox. The Rangers trailed again 3-1 on Saturday night in the sixth inning, and Cruz again tied the game with a two-run homer. This time, the offense produced a six-run inning as Darvish cruised to his sixth victory of the season.

Six-run eruption: The Rangers jumped all over Astros reliever Philip Humber with one out in the sixth inning. Cruz hit his third game-tying home run in seven days -- a one-out, two-run home run to right-center field. The Rangers built off yet another clutch Cruz home run. Mitch Moreland crushed a triple up the grass hill in straightaway center field. Pinch hitter David Murphy followed with a double down the left-field line for a 4-3 lead. After Geovany Soto walked, pinch hitter Leonys Martin broke the game open with a two-run triple up the left-center field alley. Elvis Andrus completed the team cycle against Humber with an RBI single for a 7-3 lead.

Darvish off early: Darvish went to a full count against three of the first six batters he faced, and, even though he was perfect through two innings, it was a precursor of things to come. Darvish fell behind Astros third baseman Matt Dominguez with one out in the top of the third. Dominguez then belted his first home run in 134 at-bats to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. Dominguez gave Houston another lead at 3-1 with a two-run homer just inside the left-field foul pole with one out in the fifth inning. Darvish has allowed five home runs in his past three games.

Bases-loaded waste: The Rangers loaded the bases with one out and the top of the lineup coming up in the top of the fifth inning after a leadoff double by Moreland, a single by Jeff Baker and a walk by Craig Gentry. Astros starter Erik Bedard, who had a 7.86 ERA coming in, got out of the jam. He got Ian Kinsler to strike out on a high fastball for the second out. Andrus flew out to deep right field to end the threat.

Berkman keeps streak going: Former Astros All-Star Lance Berkman extended his hitting streak at Minute Maid Park to 17 games with a single in the sixth inning. He added his seventh home run during the streak with an opposite-field blast to left-center field in the seventh inning for an 8-3 Rangers lead.

Pinch hits: The Rangers are 6-for-28 in pinch-hitting opportunities after Murphy's double and Martin's triple in the six-run sixth inning. Martin is 4-for-11 as a pinch hitter.

Up next: The Rangers send rookie right-hander Nick Tepesch (2-3, 4.50 ERA) to the mound against Houston right-hander Jordan Lyles (1-0, 4.50 ERA) in a 1:10 p.m. CT game at Minute Maid Park on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM and 1540-AM.