What was particularly interesting about tonight's game--aside from home plate umpire Eric Cooper's inconsistent strike zone--was that Ian Kinsler did not even reach base. In the nine previous Rangers' wins Kinsler had hit safely in each game and scored in eight of them. Yet, tonight Kinsler was 0-4. Just how important is Kinsler's offense to this club? In the team's ten wins (including tonight) Ian is hitting .488 (20-41) whereas in the team's ten losses he is hitting only .195 (8-41). Generally, as Ian goes so goes the Rangers. The fact that the Rangers won tonight without even a base hit from Kinsler shows the rest of the club stepped up.

Tomorrow the Rangers match Vicente Padilla up against Josh Outman. Young Mr. Outman has made two starts this year and has failed to make it out of the fifth both times. If Padilla pitches tomorrow the way he pitched in Baltimore then I like the Rangers chances of getting on the plus side of .500. And I expect Kinsler to get at least one base hit too.

Honestly, through seven innings tonight it looked like more of the same. Although it was great to see Padilla's fastball return to the mid-90s and Saltalamacchia make some big defensive plays and bang out some hits. Still this looked like another Ranger loss, and the beginning of another lost series/season. It's amazing how one swing from Michael Young's bat, coupled with a myriad of fine baseball played by a number of different players, can change that feeling.

Yes, Young's home run was clutch and will be on all the highlight reels. But there were many heroes tonight. This was a team win.

With each new loss the temperature of Ron Washington's managerial seat has to be rising. I wonder how bad things would have to get for Nolan Ryan to make a managerial change. I'm not saying one needs to be made (although I've never been a big fan of Washington) but something needs to change quickly to make the Rangers and us fans believe that this could be a magical summer.

BTW, if I hear Ron Washington say one more time that "it was just one of those days" when describing a loss, I am going to scream. It can't be "one of those days" every day.

Also, I'm not sure why Josh Lewin (whom I like) keeps chuckling every time he mentions that the A's have only three home runs this season. Remember, coming into today the A's had more wins the the Rangers. I would gladly take fewer home runs and more wins any day.

We should not read too much into the Rangers win today (although I'll always take any win we can get). To be fair the Royals gave this one away. Four walks in the first inning allowed the Rangers to pick up two cheap runs. The eighth inning error by Mike Jacobs allowed Hank Blalock (the eventual tying run) to reach base. Then Royals' catcher John Buck failed to block the plate which allowed Blalock to score. Although I applaud Blalock's hustle all around.

Furthermore, too much is being is being made of the slow starts by David Murphy, Chris Davis, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, and even Josh Hamilton. Each will hit better. Besides, the Rangers still rank 3rd in the AL in runs scored. The real problem with this club remember, is pitching.

Although, Murphy might be slipping down to be the club's fifth outfielder, with Andruw Jones moving up the ladder one slot. Jones already has five extra base hits this season (in only 14 ABs). Last year with the Dodgers he had only 12 extra base hits.

Back to pitching, Kevin Millwood may be off to the best start of his career. Brandon McCarthy is off to a somewhat promising start. Kris Benson is still an unknown. His one bad start was his first big league appearance in over two years so that might not be indicative of what he will do this year. Matt Harrison and Vicente Padilla though, have just been disappointing. If the Rangers are going to compete this year, they must improve quickly.

But the real weak point on this team, as we all knew coming out of spring training, was the bullpen. Any team with only three reliable bullpen arms is going to struggle. Notice, in today's game that Washington used the most reliable relievers on the squad so far: Jason Jennings, CJ Wilson, and Frankie Francisco to keep the Rangers close. Already gone are Warner Madrigal and Josh Rupe who were both ineffective. Eddie Guardado and Scott Feldman must be on thin ice too.

The addition of Willie Eyre and Derek Holland will hopefully help the cause some. Expect the call for Thomas Diamond to come soon too. And don't forget Luis Mendoza. So far in Oklahoma City he has thrown 10.1 scoreless innings with 13 strikeouts. He might be back in Arlington sooner than expected.

In some ways this is a scary week ahead for the Rangers. Clearly, the team is not playing well and now they have to go on the road to take on the first-place Blue Jays and the second-place Orioles. In other words, this week has the potential to be the week where the team falls off a cliff. Of course, with their backs against the wall maybe this team will show some of the fight it has been lacking so far. A Ranger fan can only hope.

Yes.

More important than the color of the uniforms are the people wearing the uniforms. In Detroit today, it was the people wearing the pitching uniforms that were the real concern.Now, I'm not going to read anything more into Kris Benson's first big league start since 2006 than it deserves. At times he pitched well...at times he pitched poorly. A little inconsistency is to be expected in this situation. The key is not his performance today, but for the rest of the month.

The real concern to me is the bullpen. We knew they were thin coming out of spring training, but wow have they been bad. Over the last two games the bullpen has allowed 12 runs in 7 innings. If the Rangers are to have any chance of competing, the bullpen must perform much better. Unfortunately, outside of CJ Wilson and Frankie Francisco there doesn't appear to be any relief in sight.

But I am really happy for Nelson Cruz. In his short career he has been ridiculed and criticized (some of it justified), but continues to persevere. Last year, when he was starring in Oklahoma City I was urging the Rangers to give him another shot. Now, after his two home runs, a stolen base, and a big catch in the outfield last night, maybe we should officially launch the Nelson Cruz for the All-Star game campaign.

Yes, the Rangers picked up their first opening day win since 2003 by thumping the Indians 9-1.

Yes, Kevin Millwood logged a quality start while allowing only one run in seven innings (striking out five while walking only one).

Yes, C.J. Wilson pitched a dominant 8th inning.

Yes, Frankie Francisco did the same in the 9th.

Yes, the Rangers put up seven runs against Cliff Lee who won 22 games last year.

Yes, every Ranger batter except Chris Davis had at least one hit...and six collected at least two hits.

Yes, the Rangers had homers from Hank Blalock and Jarrod Saltalamacchia...two players the Rangers need to have big years.

Yes, the Rangers new double play combo turned two double plays.

So, I keep telling myself that this is just opening day, and no baseball team started planning parades in April.

Perhaps it is because the Rangers have been so bad for so long, perhaps it is because in my 35 years of being a Rangers' fan the Rangers have won just one playoff game, perhaps it is just the empty optimism of spring, but I'm trying really hard not to get too excited about today.

And then there is this: last night on Baseball Tonight Peter Gammons spoke of the AL West race this season and said, "The Rangers are going to be a lot better."

I know it's only opening day...but what a day it is.