Byrd carries Rangers past hometown team

Tonight was supposed to be Mark Teixeira's homecoming, but an Atlanta native showed him up instead. Marlon Byrd made his one hit of the night count, sending it out of the yard. In between at bats, he was flashing a little leather as well, and the bullpen should buy him dinner tonight.

I'll admit it -- I was a little nervous about seeing Tex play AGAINST my Rangers tonight. I wasn't sure how I would feel. Isn't that always how it is when you see your ex with his new woman for the first time? Tex was and will always be my first baseball love, but he's moved on, and apparently so have I. I felt no sense of regret, remorse or old love surfacing when I saw him in the batter's box tonight. I think it's safe to say I'm over him. I won't necessarily always cheer for him, but I'm not likely to "boo" him either (it's lame and I owe him more than that).

Vicente Padilla had a perfect game rolling through four. I'm not sure who jinxed him. Maybe it was Padilla himself. But, unfortunately, it came to an end. Ah well. A perfect game will have to come another day. As it turns out, the Rangers were lucky to eek out a win! They had a six run lead through five and then gave up two in the top of the sixth. The real nail-biter innings were 8 and 9, in which Eddie Guardado gave up a three-run homer and then C.J. surrendered a lead-off double. But Ceej calmed down after that and got two groundouts and a flyout. He also showed off some impressive hops to get that second out. Maybe he was watching the Lakers & Celtics before warming up.

KISS: Gerald Laird. He was 2 for 4 with a stolen base and a run scored. He also had a decent night behind the dish. (He won't be quite so happy when he checks in on his beloved Lakers after the game.)

MISS: It's gotta be Guardado. Not long ago, Wash said Everyday Eddie was his 8th inning man. I actually felt pretty good about that, but tonight was not encouraging. Guardado walked two and then gave up a homer in his one inning of work. His ERA was below 3 entering the game, and he finished with a 4.03. Ouch.

Speaking of "ouch," Milton Bradley suffered a strained quad muscle early in the game. It's a shame too, because the league's hottest hitter was 1 for 2 with two RBI. He was on his way to a nice game. Hopefully he won't be out too long.