The beginning of Derek Holland's start Tuesday night for the Texas Rangers could not have gone any better. Things quickly deteriorated, however, as the lefty had his worst start of the season, failing to get out of the fifth inning, as the Rangers fell to Cleveland.
Holland had gone 45 days without a loss and had a team-leading 2.82 ERA entering Tuesday's game against his hometown Cleveland Indians, a team that Holland has had loads of success against over his career. In the first inning on Tuesday, the lefty struck out the side and looked to be on his way to another great outing against the Indians.
Holland gave up nine hits in 4 1/3 innings, marking the first time this season Holland has failed to pitch into the sixth inning.
"I'm very disappointed in the way I performed," a disappointed Holland told reporters after the game. "I didn't do my job."
The outing resembled what Rangers fans had grown accustomed to over the past few years from Holland, who has been known to have some stinker outings mixed in with some gems. So far this year, Holland has been much more accustomed to strong outings and has seemed to turn a corner. Still, he's allowed a bad outing every now and then like any starting pitcher, and Tuesday night was definitely an example of that.
"I was still making some pitches,” he said. “You've just got to tip your hat to their hitters. It was just one of those starts that didn't go my way. I'll go home and it will stick with me for awhile, but I'm not going to let one game get me down. There are a lot of games left."
