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Ray Buck 
In my opinion
Some things never change for Rangers
One noise louder than the B-1 bomber fly-over Tuesday came from the Orioles dugout in the Baltimore sixth.
The Texas Rangers were well on their way to an 8-1 Opening Day defeat when Fort Worth native and Orioles’ cleanup hitter Aubrey Huff slugged an apparent three-run homer that was changed to a two-run double.
But then, an argument broke out over the yellow line atop the right-field fence at the Rangers Ballpark at Arlington.
Did the ball clear it? Or hop over it?
The umpires convened behind the mound. After a four-minute delay, Huff was ordered out of the dugout and returned to second base.
“I just asked the umpire to get some help,” said Rangers manager Ron Washington. “And they [eventually] made the right call.”
It proved to be a small consolation for the Rangers, 3-4, who felt good about themselves after splitting a season-opening West Coast road trip. They fell behind almost immediately, 6-0, before a sell-out crowd of 48,808.
This wasn’t exactly what the home fans envisioned from right-hander Jason Jennings (0-2), who became only the second native Texan to start an Opening Day game for the Rangers.
Jennings, of Mesquite, lasted 4 1/3 innings – and that was more leash than a lot of managers would’ve given him.
“His stuff moves a lot. His ball runs off the plate,” Washington said of Jennings, who may have had the plate “squeezed” a bit by home plate umpire Brian Gorman. “[Jennings] will get the ball when it’s his turn again.”
The wrong “hometown hero” came up big.
Huff (White Settlement Brewer High School) finished with four of Baltimore’s 12 hits.
Washington has seen his Rangers lineup, far too often, bang out hits (nine Tuesday) but fail to deliver the big hit.
Nine Texas baserunners were stranded Tuesday, including the bases loaded in the fourth (David Murphy stuck out), then a leadoff double (Gerald Laird) and a walk (Ben Broussard) in the fifth (Ian Kinsler hit into a doubleplay and Michael Young flew out to deep right).
The Rangers, as so often in seasons past, were sabotaged on Opening Day by problematic pitching.
“It was something I was looking forward to,” Jennings said of his first start in Arlington – less than 30 minutes from where he grew up. “I’m disappointed with the result. None of us played very well today.”
Jennings walked three batters in a scoreless first inning.
He then gave up a leadoff homer (Scott Moore), a double and RBI single in the second.
His 50th pitch of the game was parked by Luke Scott with a man aboard in the third – and the Rangers were quickly in a 6-0 hole.
The Rangers have now lost three of their last four Opening Day games, and five of their last seven.
Good or bad, the writing was on the wall early – and often – for this one.
Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer was asked before the game if he would’ve ever considered pitching half his games in this ballpark.
“For $18 million – yeah,” he replied.
And so, the Rangers’ storyline remains the same – at least for one more Opening Day.
