Today's game summary is brought to you with the able assistance of Susan Slusser's game report in the San Francisco Chronicle:

[The A's] held a two-run lead in the eighth inning, but the Rangers scored three runs against Oakland's top two relievers, Justin Duchscherer and Huston Street, to rally for a 4-3 victory and the series win.

Guh.

Game 18: Rangers 4, A's 3

Your Pitchers of Record: WP -- W. Eyre (1-0) LP -- J. Duchscherer (1-1) S -- Otsuka (2)

Went Deep: Stewart (2)

Your Nation's Strawberry Pie Star of the Game:

Street, who had retired the first hitter he faced in all nine of his appearances this year, came in and got two strikes against Hank Blalock. Blalock then fished for a changeup down and away, and one-handed, dunked it into right to drive in two runs.

Bah.

The Turning Point:

Duchscherer lost his signature control and put Mark Teixeira on, and followed that with a bases-loaded walk to Sammy Sosa.

Glaaaaaaargh!

Dreaded Larry Davis Sighting:

Before the game, [the A's] learned their most talented pitcher, Rich Harden, will miss his next start. During the game, Milton Bradley left with a recurrence of the hamstring strain that cost him a week on the last homestand and that could now land him on the disabled list.

[Inaudible gurgling noise]

Worth Noting:

Chad Gaudin continued a remarkable run for the A's starting pitchers, who have not allowed more than three runs in a start for the past 16 consecutive games.

Huhm?

All in All:

"Everything was up,'' Duchscherer said. "I wasn't making pitches, I was getting balls up, I was getting behind in the count. You can't pitch like that, obviously. I just made bad pitches. Sometimes, you go out there and you don't have what you need to get people out."

[Disconsolate sigh.]