The Rangers put together the start of a nice two-out rally in the eighth inning, with singles from Michael Young and Nelson Cruz, and a hit by pitch for David Murphy, putting Mike Napoli at the plate with the bases loaded. Napoli worked an 3-0 count, and Texas looked to be in great position, before a borderline pitch was called strike one. Napoli fouled the next pitch, and then grounded out weakly to third, ending the threat.

Joe Nathan entered the ninth inning of a tied game with a chance to build on his success from Opening Day. Instead, the first batter he faced, Alex Rios, took 1-2 fastball over the center field wall and just past the glove of Josh Hamilton for the go-ahead run.

Texas could do nothing against Hector Santiago in the ninth, ensuring the season will not begin on a dominant streak like a season ago.

Texas out-hit Chicago 10-5, but could not bring enough of those runners home. Ian Kinsler added two more hits, now cycling for the season with a triple added, and David Murphy had a pair of doubles. Michael Young also had two hits.