ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers have dropped three of their last four and 12 of the last 19, but remain first in the middling American League West at 41-38. The defending AL champs aren't too pleased with their recent level of play.

"The last two days we haven't played our style of baseball," Michael Young said. "We've got to get back to that on Tuesday. Enjoy our day off, and come back and get better."

The Rangers were 3-3 on the homestand going into an opener of a three-game series Tuesday at Houston. Young didn't have any theories about why the Rangers can't maintain any consistency.

"I don't know," he said. "I'm not going to rack my brain thinking about it. I'm just going to expect to get better. The people in this clubhouse are a lot of good, confident players, so we'll keep battling, keep getting better and expecting to improve."

David Murphy, though, took a stab at it.

"The day that we hit, we don't pitch," he said. "The day that we pitch, we don't hit.

Manager Ron Washington said he's not at the point of being frustrated, despite the opportunities the Rangers have had to run away with the division.

"You can't lose your composure," he said. "There's still a lot of baseball left to be played."