NEW YORK -- Alexi Ogando didn't have it and the Rangers fell behind early and couldn't claw back, dropping the first of a three-game set at Yankee Stadium. New York poured it on in the middle innings and ended up with 12 runs on 12 hits. Texas has lost four of its first five games on this road trip. Some quick thoughts on tonight's game (more to come from clubhouse shortly):
* Ogando had his worst outing of the season Tuesday. His command was shaky, leaving too many fastballs up and the Yankee hitters took advantage. The 27-year-old was gone after just 1 2/3 innings, by far his shortest start of the season. In fact, Ogando had gone at least six innings in all 12 of his previous starts, 10 of those quality starts.
* The six runs allowed in those 1 2/3 innings were the most he's given up in any outing all season. He's only allowed more than two runs three times this season -- twice in Yankee Stadium. He gave up five runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings on April 17. So he's got a 12.38 ERA against New York this season (both starts at Yankee Stadium).
* It was the second inning that ruined Ogando's night. It started with a broken-bat single by Alex Rodriguez and ended with Rodriguez coming up and Michael Kirkman coming out of the pen. In between, the Yankees got five more hits, including doubles by Jorge Posada and Mark Teixeira. Posada's double put runners at second and third with one out. Ogando walked Nick Swisher on a 3-2 pitch and then gave up a single to left to Eduardo Nunez, who was hitting just .214 coming in. Ogando didn't get any luck either as Brett Gardner's didn't-mean-to swing hit allowed him to get just enough of the ball to put it in left field to score a run. Things were blown open by Curtis Granderson's two-RBI single and Teixeira's two-RBI double.
* The outing raised Ogando's ERA from 2.10 to 2.71. He was second in the AL in ERA before Tuesday's start.
* Michael Young's two-RBI single in the fourth extended his Yankee Stadium hitting streak to 16 games at new Yankee Stadium. He has a 19-game hitting streak in New York dating back to 2008 and the old stadium. Young is hitting .417 (20-for-48) at new Yankee Stadium in the regular season, the highest among players with at least 40 at-bats since the park opened in 2009.
* Young played in his 1,574th game for the Rangers, passing Rafael Palmeiro for the most games played in Rangers franchise history.
* Josh Hamilton is 2-for-16 in his last four games and has a .222 average in his last 15 games to go from .339 to .280. He did have a productive out in the fourth, moving the runners over on a squibber down the third-base line. That allowed Young to drive in both runs on a single in the next at-bat.
* Mitch Moreland's infield single off Sabathia's foot was enough to give the Rangers' first baseman a career-high 10-game hitting streak.
* Yorvit Torrealba extended his hitting streak to seven games. Torrealba is still red hot, hitting 10-for-18 in his last five games.
* Ian Kinsler came up with runners and second and third and no outs. The Yankees were playing to concede the run on a ground ball, but Kinsler popped up to right. Kinsler was frustrated as he walked back to the dugout. He returned to the lineup Saturday in Minnesota after being on MLB's Paternity List and is 2-for-12 on this road trip.
* Kirkman wasn't able to hold the Yankees at six runs. With two outs in the fourth, Kirkman hit Teixeira in the foot with two outs and then allowed a two-RBI double to Rodriguez. He gave up a double to Swisher with one out in the fifth and was replaced by Yoshinori Tateyama.
* Nelson Cruz made a nice diving catch to end the fifth inning on a Cervelli drive to right field. But Cruz is still struggling at the plate, going 0-for-14 with nine strikeouts the last four games (since an eighth-inning homer in Minnesota on June 9).
* Cruz's walk in the ninth was the first in 33 innings for the Rangers.
* Tateyama gave up home runs to Granderson and Cano, both left-handed hitters. The lefties were 3-for-5 off Tateyama on Tuesday and in 25 at-bats against left-handed hitters this season, Tateyama has allowed three homers. Lefties are 7-for-25 (.280) off Tateyama.
* We had a 41-minute rain delay before the game began.
* Derek Jeter was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a groin strain (Grade I). He's slated to return in late June and, depending on how things go, could end up getting his 3,000th hit against the Mets at CitiField.
* LHP Derek Holland (5-1, 4.41 ERA) goes up against RHP Ivan Nova (5-4, 4.30 ERA) in Wednesday's game. We'll be live in-game chatting when the game starts (hopefully at 6:05 p.m. Dallas time as scheduled).