The Limitations Of The Strikeout Pitcher: Rangers 7, Angels 0

John Lackey recorded eight of his 20 outs by means of the strikeout, but as has been often the case with him this year (and pretty consistently against Texas), he kept leaking baserunners. Some of these weren't his fault, as in the fourth, when Bobby Abreu muffed a routine catch of Esteban German's lineout, turning it into a two-base error, and again in the fifth, when David Murphy reached on catcher's interference. In the end, Lackey only got charged for two earned runs, but it really wasn't a very compelling performance. Unlike Derek Holland, who got early count outs virtually the whole game, Lackey was constantly throwing a ton of pitches to every Texas batter. It didn't work. The lineup was minus regulars Kendry Morales, Mike Napoli, and Chone Figgins, but none of them have been especially hot in this series, and given how well Holland was throwing today, it's doubtful they would have made a difference offensively. Defensively, it's possible that Nap...