"Frank Francisco left spring training as the Texas Rangers' closer. Less than a week into the season and after a couple of blown saves, the right-hander was pulled from that role.But Francisco has regained his form over the past month. Francisco has 12 straight scoreless outings, allowing only six hits and striking out 21 over 12 innings.Francisco said he has better velocity on his fastball and better command of his breaking ball now, compared to the start of the season."I never panicked," Francisco said. "I've always trusted myself. I'm doing nothing different, I'm the same guy."Neftali Feliz replaced Francisco in the closer's role after Francisco blew consecutive save opportunities in the first week of the season."I had two bad games," he said. "I think people make too big of a deal about it and there's nothing you can really do."It certainly appears as if he's done something about "it" lately. Opponents are 4 for 35 (.114) in his last 11 games."He's getting his spots back. You know he's got his velocity back," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He might not be consistently hitting 95 mph, but he's around 94-95. I think his curveball and his split, his two tremendous pitches, he's able to get ahead with them. And he's hitting his spots down in the zone."Washington believes Francisco's decreased velocity had to do with the innings, or lack thereof, that he threw in spring training."Maybe he didn't throw enough," Washington said. "Maybe his arm wasn't totally in shape. It's certainly something that we need to make sure doesn't happen again.""