Following Rajai Davis' 2-run, walkoff triple, Nelson Cruz came up lame in right field and had to be asisted off the field. He apparently sprained his ankle and will probably miss at least the next few games. If it looks no better by then, Cruz make find his way to the 15-day disable list.
"The ball hit off the wall and I was trying to block it," Cruz said. "Then I tried to turn and the foot got stuck in the metal part of the wall. My ankle turned."
Cruz's injury could not come at a worse moment for an offense that has been struggling to find itself since the beginning of the season.
Dustin Nippert, again making a last second spot start, pitched very well for the Rangers, going five innings while striking out five and allowing just one hit. He left with a 1-0 lead.
Rookie sensation Neftali Feliz made his major league debut in the 6th inning, striking out the first four batters he faced, throwing a fastball that topped out at 101 mph. Overall, Feliz pitched two innings of hitless baseball.
"Pretty impressive debut," manager Ron Washington said. "Not so much the strikeouts but the way he filled up the strike zone with strikes."
"When I first got up there, I felt a little nervous," Feliz said. "But once I threw the first pitch, I knew what I was doing and felt comfortable."
The bullpen continued to post shutout inning up till the 9th, when C.J. Wilson came in and imploded, allowing four hits, including the game-winner by Rajai Davis.
"Sometimes you get beat by the long ball, sometimes you get beat by the short ones," Wilson said. "Absolute luck, that's all it is. All of them were lucky hits, dude. They didn't hit any of those balls hard."
Oakland rookie starting pitcher Brett Anderson dominated the Rangers for 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8 while allowing just two runs.
"Brett was great," A's manager Bob Geren said. "There's a lot of home run hitters on that team, and I thought he tied them down well. ... He was pretty pinpoint with his control, really. He commanded both sides of the plate. He had the perfect game plan, and he executed it."
Michael Wuertz picked Anderson up, pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball, nabbing his 6th victory of the year.
"That was a tough one right there," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We had them right where we wanted them to be, and we had the right guy in the game."
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