Tearing it Up
LEADOFF NO MORE ... Royce Clayton, who had batted just .164 in the leadoff role during his first 14 games, spent the Twins series shuttling between the eighth and ninth spots in the order. The move seemed to agree with him, as he finished 8-for-11 including a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday. Clayton has rocketed past the Mendoza line to a season average of .250, more in line with his career mark of .259, but still well below what the Rangers are hoping for. He does lead the team with, uh, two stolen bases.

Slumping
EASTER LAMB ... With Tom Evans hitting just .238 in his first 16 games, the Rangers have started investigating other options at third base. Frank Catalonotto’s trip to the DL took him off the list of possibilities, so the Rangers reached down to AAA Oklahoma and grabbed organizational favorite Mike Lamb to make his first start on Easter Sunday. The move is a little odd since Lamb himself was batting around .220, and had made seven errors in the RedHawks’ first 12 games. True to form, he made another miscue in his debut, though he also singled for his first major league hit.

At the Plate
SHAKEUP ... With Clayton moving to the bottom of the order, 2B Luis Alicea has taken over the leadoff role, and is 3-for-11 (.273) so far -- not spectacular, but considering what Clayton was doing, the Rangers will take it. When they return, Rusty Greer and Frank Catalanotto will likely also get a crack at leading off, and there is talk that rookie Ruben Mateo may be tried there, though he strikes out too much to be a prototypical "table-setter." Johnny Oates seems to have settled on David Segui as his everyday #5 hitter; Segui was 12-for-28 (.429) in his first seven games in that slot.

From the Rubber
ACE-TEBAN LOIAZA? ... The top story of the Rangers’ season continues to be their excellent starting pitching. While solid performances from Kenny Rogers and Rick Helling should be no great surprise, young righty Esteban Loiaza has been the most impressive of all the Texas hurlers. Loiaza has pitched at least 7.1 innings in each of his first three starts, and ranks 5th in the American League in ERA and ninth in strikeouts. His win over the Twins on Saturday not only is the only Ranger victory on the homestand so far, it also evened Loiaza’s career major league record at 40-40.

On the Mend
FRANKIE GOES TO DISABLED LIST ... The scrappy Catalonotto, who was hitting .500 (12-for-24) with eight RBI went on the 15-day DL Saturday with a pulled groin muscle, leading to Lamb's recall. Of more interest to Ranger fans, lefty Justin Thompson seems nearly recovered from shoulder surgery, as he threw a solid 5.2 innings for Tulsa on Thursday, and is scheduled to pitch for Oklahoma on Tuesday. If all goes well, the Rangers plan for a controlled (pitch count) major league debut some time around May 1, though they may hold Thompson back for the Oakland series at home, which opens May 5.