Rangers Sign Brett Tomko

Veteran starting pitcher Brett Tomko has signed a minor league contract with the Rangers and has been invited to Spring Training.

Tomko, who has played for 10 teams over 13 years, has a career record of 100 wins against 102 loses with a 4.65 ERA. After determining that Scott Feldman, who is still recovering from micro-fracture surgery, won't be ready until possibly mid-season, Tomko represents added depth for the Rangers.

Tomko is the second veteran starter the Rangers have added to their roster via minor league deal, the first being 7-year vet Dave Bush.

Rangers Roll On, Take 2 Of 3 In Cleveland

In game 1 of the series, Texas looked like a team feeling the effect of a tough emotional series with the Angels. The offense was terrible, swinging wildly at pitches way out of the strike zone. Even when they managed some sort of contact with the ball, it was far from solid. Texas made Indians starter Aaron Laffey look like an ace, doing everything in their power to ensure the loss.

Dustin Nippert, making his first start since officially being named to the rotation, looked fine save for one bad inning. In the 3rd, it all came undone for Nippert as he allowed a couple of bloop base hits to snowball, surrendering five runs before the inning was done.

"That third inning was a disaster," Nippert said afterward. "I have no idea what happened."

To his credit, Nippert hung tough, remaining in the game, eating up six innings while spelling the bullpen. In the process, he struck out a career high 10 batters and at times looked dominant.



Omar Vizquel and Josh Hamilton were the lone bright spots for the Rangers offense. Each player had two base hits on the night but it was nowhere near enough to overcome the entire lineup hitting 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.

"We were just a flat team coming off an off-day," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "We have an offense that can come back and score runs and negate that one inning, but tonight we didn't do it. Tomorrow we just have to come out focused and score early."

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Game two got off to a much better start as the emerging Tommy Hunter came out and set the tone on the mound for the night. After getting into a 1st inning jam, Hunter managed to get a double play to get out of the inning. He proceeded to toss another 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out five while not walking a single hitter.

"Tonight, Tommy Hunter was tough," manager Ron Washington said. "He had everything going for him. I don't think you expect him to throw 7 2/3 [innings of] scoreless ball every night, but you expect him to keep us in the game. He has shown the repertoire to keep hitters off-balance, and as long as he keeps it over the plate, he has a chance to keep us close."

"It's just fun going out there and winning," Hunter said. "It's fun going out there and being a part of something and know you had something to do with it."



Josh Hamilton continued his hot hitting by drilling a 2-run double in the gap in the top of the 3rd, giving Hunter all he would need to pick up his 5th career win.

C.J. Wilson came in to record the final five outs but all anyone, including Indians manager Eric Wedge, wanted to talk about was Tommy Hunter's performance.

"I thought he was real good. I was very impressed by him," Wedge said. "He threw his fastball where he wanted to. He worked both sides, he was down. He really worked his breaking ball early and mixed in his changeup as it wore on. We had a lot of quick outs and that was because of his command. Another thing that stuck out to me was his poise out there. He seemed very relaxed."

"It's the same thing he's done for us since he got up here," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "He battled for six or seven innings. We went with a lot of curveballs, but that's what was working. He got ahead of a lot of hitters and stayed ahead."

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Cleveland picked up a run early in the final game of the series but, much like he's done all season long, Scott Feldman simply regrouped and battled back to give the Rangers six innings of six strikeout, one run baseball.

"Their pitching the last couple days has been very good," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I was really impressed with their pitching this entire series. They've always hit, but the difference this year is their pitching. It has to start with the starting pitching. We were able to shut them down and score a couple runs the first night, and that's exactly what they did to us these last two days."

Neftali Feliz came in and unleashed his 100mph fastball on an Indians offense that had been hitting close to .300 since the All-Star break before Texas came into town. Feliz pitched two innings of shutout ball, striking out five of the six batter he faced.

"I go out there, pitch six innings and get five or six strikeouts," Feldman said. "He matches me in two innings. Pretty impressive."



Josh Hamilton continues to make huge strides in his attempt to shake off what had become a season-long slump. Hamilton went 4-for-4 on the day with a couple of doubles and two RBI. He is now 9 for his last 10.

"This was a good series," said Hamilton. "[The Indians] have been playing well. Hopefully we can go back with some fire under our tails against Boston."

Frank Francisco pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his 16th save of the season.

Texas will have Friday off as they head home for a 3-game series with Boston, followed by a big 4-game home series with the Minnesota Twins.

Rangers Split Final Two Against Mariners

Turns out Tommy Hunter is mortal. After a series of dominant starts, Hunter came back down to earth on Saturday, reminding all of us that despite his hot pitching over the last month, he's still a rookie.

Hunter hit the mound without his best fastball and was knocked around for five runs on seven hits while walking three in five innings. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch.

"Tommy just didn't have his location tonight," manager Ron Washington said. "They made him throw some pitches."

"I had a changeup and a curve, but I didn't have a fastball tonight," said Hunter. "I didn't locate my fastball. That's the first thing you do in baseball as a pitcher."

Warner Madrigal offered little in the way of relief, allowing another run on four hits and a walk in just 1 1/3 innings.



Mariners legend Ken Griffey Jr. turned back the clock for the night hammering the Rangers to the tune of 3-for-5 with a single, a double & a 3-run homer, the 622nd of his career. Tommy Hunter became the 400th different pitcher to allow a homerun to Griffey since his debut back in 1989.

Mariners starter Felix Hernandez, much like Tommy Hunter, didn't have his best stuff on the night, but Texas was never able to really take advantage. Despite a big night from Nelson Cruz, who went 3-for-4 while hitting his 25th homer of the season, Texas went just 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, never putting any real pressure on Hernandez.

"We had Hernandez on the ropes," Washington said. "It might have been different if we got a few hits early. Hernandez didn't have his [best stuff] either."

"That's what I thought after I saw him in the first inning," Cruz said. "He didn't have much control, and we didn't take advantage. We gotta get walks and make things happen."

Hernandez, despite picking up the win, was also very aware he dodged a bullet.

"I don't know how I allowed just two runs," Hernandez said. "That is hard to believe. I am disappointed with my performance today. I don't know, I just felt terrible. I was all over the place."

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On an evening when Texas made several pre-game roster moves (Ian Kinsler and Jason Grilli to the 15-day DL, called up top pitching prospect Neftali Feliz) it was a move made by manager Ron Washington that may have been the biggest of the night. Washington, suddenly short of arms, was forced to roll Scott Feldman out on only 3 days rest. Not only was Feldman pitching on short rest, he was also coming off his worst start of the season in which he was unable to get out of the 3rd inning.

But on Saturday night, Feldman was back to his old self, giving Texas seven innings of work, picking up his 10th win of the year.

"Feldman did a good job bouncing back," manager Ron Washington said. "[His sinker] was working pretty well. He's a ground-ball pitcher. If batters aren't squaring it up, that's how you know he's pitching well.

"He wasn't getting enough ground balls [in his last outing]. If you take the ball 16, 17, 18 times, that happens. He went out there and he gave us an opportunity to get to our two best pitchers."

"I thought Feldman was awfully tough," said Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu. "I have seen this kid and he gets better every year. I think you have to tip your hat. He just didn't throw anything over the center of the plate and kept our hitters off balance."



David Murphy homered in the bottom of the 1st, giving Feldman and early lead to work with. Michael Young added another solo homer in the 6tha dn is now hitting .417 since the All-Star break. Feldman's catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia tacked on a 2-run blast in the 7th to cap the scoring and pput Texas up for good.

Texas is now 36-12 this season when they hit multiple homeruns.

The four runs proved to be more than enough for Frank Francisco who, making his first appearance since his latest stint on the DL, dominated the 8th inning, not allowing a baserunner while striking out two batters.

"He looked outstanding," Washington said. "One-two-three inning. He used his pitches. We're happy to have him back."

C.J. Wilson pitched the 9th, also striking out two batters on his way to his 13th save this season.

Tigers Run It Up Against Feldman, Rangers

Every team is gonna have nights like the one the Rangers had Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. Scott Feldman who, up until this start, has been one of the better pitchers in the American League was shelled for 6 runs on 10 hits, lasting just 2 1/3 innings.

"It was just an all-around awful job," Feldman said. "Bad command cost me the most. I was not executing my pitches. It was just a frustrating night."

Feldman never did seem to find the 'feel' of his cutter, a pitch that has netted him so many soft outs throughout most of this season. The lack of touch resulted in several pitches outside of the strike zone, forcing Feldman to pull back and throw his fastball down the middle which is fine so long as his other pitches are working. When they aren't, a 90 mph fastball is little more than batting practice for MLB-caliber hitters.

"It wasn't our night tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They came out swinging the bats and never stopped. If you play enough games, you're going to have one like this. Tonight their bats were on. They got hits, all kinds of hits: doubles, chinks, broken bats. There was nothing we could do."



Despite 2 homeruns by Andruw Jones, the offense never really got on track, managing just 8 hits on the night while striking out a season high 18 times. Tigers starter Justin Verlander was dominant for most of the game, putting in seven innings of work en route to his 12th win of the season. Even when Verlander struggled, he was always able to work his way out of the jams.

"That's what he does," Byrd said. "He comes out throwing 90-92 [mph], then he gets into trouble and he's throwing 96-100. There is a reason why he leads the world in strikeouts. When he has guys out there with runners in scoring position, he steps up his game. You have to do that as well."

Despite scoring 3 in the bottom of the 5th, Texas never got close, allowing the Tigers to score at least one run in the first 7 innings of the game, ultimately dropping the final game of the series, 13-5.

"You gotta tip your cap to their whole team," Rangers third baseman Michael Young said. "Verlander threw a great game, they had, what, 19 hits. You just gotta file it away and move on."

Greinke Tough But Feldman Comes Up Big As Rangers Shutout Royals

Scott Feldman has been saying all year that staff ace Kevin Millwood has set the bar pretty high for staying in games and chewing up innings. Feldman has been very effective this year for six innings but high pitch count and/or fatigue has prevented him from getting through the 7th. On Friday night, Feldman finally broke through that wall, deliving a masterful performance over eight innings in route to his 9th win of the season.

"I hope I can build on this and make it more of a regular thing getting us deeper in the game," Feldman said.



As good as Feldman was, allowing no runs while scattering just four hits over his eight innings, Royals ace Zack Greinke pitched quite a game as well. Greinke went seven innings, striking out ten while allowing just three hits. Unfortunately for the Royals, one of those hits was a solo homerun off the bat of Marlon Byrd.

"I know he wished that pitch was in a better spot," Byrd said. "That was something we needed, and Feldman took it from there."

Texas added an insurance run in the top of the 8th when Hank Blalock hit a long double to center field, scoring Marlon Byrd.

C.J. Wilson took over for Feldman in the 9th, closing Kansas City out, nabbing his 10th save of the year. But despite Wilson's dominant 9th, everyone was talking about Feldman's big night.

"He used his changeup more and had a nice little breaking ball going," catcher Taylor Teagarden said. "I figured Greinke was going to do his usual seven or eight innings and allow zero or one run. At the same time, I was expecting Feldman to do the same."

"For you to outpitch Zack [Greinke], you gotta throw pretty good," Royals catcher Brayan Pena said. "[Feldman] did a great job."

Ron Washington was also quick to praise his starter saying, "Feldman matched the best pitcher in baseball and threw an excellent ballgame."

The shutout was the 6th of the season for Rangers pitchers.

Offensive Struggles Continue As Texas Drops Another Game To Minnesota

Texas is off to a sluggish start here in the 2nd half of the season and is on the verge of finding themselves in 3rd place in the AL West.

The Rangers dropped another game to the Minnesota Twins, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and striking out a ridiculous 10 times.

"I hope this is not the case, but this might be how our offense is this year, and pitching will have to take us to the promised land," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "Hopefully, our offense will come around, but if not, we'll have to win it with pitching and defense. That's what good teams do in September anyway."

Nelson Cruz accounted for the lone Texas run, hammering his 23rd homer of the season. Cruz added a double and a single but recieved little help from the rest of the offense.



The Rangers have now lost 6 of 7 games, hitting just .192 during that stretch.

"We haven't done as well hitting as we did last year," outfielder Josh Hamilton said. "This would be a good time to pick it up and hit the way we did last year. We'll just see what happens. We just have to keep working hard and hope it comes around soon."

Scott Feldman did what he could to keep the offense close, giving Texas 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs while striking out five. Feldman continues to give his team quality start after quality start. It's a shame many of his efforts are being wasted due to inconsistency on the part of his offense.

Regardless of the struggles, Texas' manager remains confident.

"We're not going any place," manager Ron Washington said. "We're still in it. We'll come back tomorrow. We know we're better than that. We're not going to drop our heads or make excuses. The name of the game is scoring runs and we're not doing it."

Rangers Power Their Way To Win

Coming off a tough loss the previous night to the Mariners, the Rangers broke out the big bats, homering their way to victory.

Down 2-0 after starter Scott Feldman got off to a rough start in the 1st, the offense responded, getting a solo shot from Hank Blalock in the 2nd, a 3-run blast from Michael Young in the 3rd and a big 2-run shot from newly named All-Star Nelson Cruz that proved to be the difference in the game.

"That was the best ball I hit this year," Cruz said. "I crushed it."



Seattle picked up two runs in the bottom of the 8th off Derek Holland but it wasn't enough to keep Feldman from picking up his 8th win of the season.

"You never want to give up two, but I just tried to tell myself if I can keep it there, I know, more times than not, we're going to put up some runs," Feldman said. "I just really focused on keeping them right there, forgetting about that first inning and just pitching my game."

The bottom of the 9th was closed out by Rangers closer Frank Francisco, who was on his game and looked as good as he has since returning from the disabled list.

The win keeps Texas alone in 1st place in the AL West and also moved the team 4 1/2 games ahead of Seattle in the division.

Rangers Sweep Rays, Keep Pace With Angels

The Tampa Bay Rays came to town riding a bit of a hot streak. But Texas, riding a bit of a streak of their own after having taken 2 of 3 against AL West rivals the Anahiem Angels, took it to the defending American League champs, sweeping the 3-game series to keep pace with the Angels.

"We're a confident team," third baseman Michael Young said. "[The Rays] are a very good team and whoever wants to go to the World Series from the American League has to go through the Rays. They are a talented club and we know they are going to be in the AL mix the whole way. The one thing we did well in this series is we pitched well."

In game 1 of the series, rookie Tommy Hunter gave Texas a big boost, going 5 1/3 innings while allowing only 1 earned run. The win, the first in his MLB career, came on his 23rd birthday.

"Their guy was deceptive, Hunter, and we had a hard time picking it up," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "Everybody came back in and had a different idea of what he was trying to do. We just had a hard time seeing the ball on him."



Hank Blalock continued his recent power surge, hitting a 2-run shot that proved to be the difference in the game.

"He made me pay," Rays starter Scott Kazmir said. "You don't throw that pitch to Blalock, anything that's hanging, anything that's up. I got away with it the first time and the second time he made me pay."

The trio of Jason Jennings, C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco came in to pitch 3 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball with Frankie picking up his 15th save of the season.

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Game two of the Rays series saw two top pitching prospcets going head-to-head and at least this time, The Rangers Derek Holland came out on top.

Playoff hero David Price took the mound for Tampa Bay and continued his recent struggles, walking 5 and allowing 6 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. He's now walked 30 batters in his last 38 innings.



Holland got a lot of early offense from the Texas offense and managed to hang on for the ride, going six innings, allowing 4 earned runs and striking out four.

Nelson Cruz and David Murphy combined for 6 hits and Andruw Jones added a big 3-run blast, leading Texas to an easy 12-4 victory.

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In the final game, Scott Feldman continued to do what he's been doing since joining the rotation, going 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs and picking up yet another victory.

"[Feldman] kept the ball down," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He's done good work this year against left-handed hitters. A lot of it looked like a backdoor cutter and then he'd get in on their hands, too. And we had a lot of jammed swings tonight."

Conversely, Rays starter Matt Garza struggled with his location, walking two and hitting another, allowing 5 earned runs over 5 innings of work.

"I went after them with my fastball," Garza said. "It's all it was, lack of command a lot. When you get behind the hitter gets in a more comfortable, confident position and gives them pitches to hit."

Texas scored all 5 of their runs in the first 4 innings of the game, 3 coming via sacrifice flies off the bats of David Murphy, Marlon Byrd and Elvis Andrus.



Ron Washington speaks a lot on the fundamentals of baseball and the Rangers, at least during the month of June, seemingly lost the abilty to play that form of baseball. Runs weren't being manufactured, men weren't being moved tp the next base but with the turn of the calender, they seem to have found their groove again.

"There's a lot of energy about them," said Maddon about the Rangers. "They're playing the game right. So they just outplayed us for three nights.

"It always starts with pitching. You either win because you pitch or you lose because you don't pitch well. And they've just been pitching well."

Rangers Jump Out Early, Hang On For Win

Joe Saunders should just skip all future road trip through Arlington. Despite offering nothing the way of consistency for the entire month of June, the Rangers offense jumped all over Saunders last night to the tune of 8 earned runs over 3 2/3 innings. He is now 0-5 with an ERA of 11.62 in 5 career starts in the Ballpark.

Ian Kinsler got the ball rolling early, drilling a lead-off homerun in the bottom of the first, his 19th homer of the year. After a Michael Young walk, Marlon Byrd followed with a 2-run blast.

Rangers starter Scott Feldman allowed three runs in the top of the 2nd, allowing the Angels to tie the game up but Nelson Cruz hit a solo blast to give Texas the lead again in the 3rd. Texas would never trail again.

"We definitely needed to win tonight," Washington said. "Hopefully tonight is the night we can get back to playing Texas Rangers baseball. We did tonight."



Marlon Byrd put a little more distance between the two teams, hitting his 2nd homerun of the night, a 3-run blast, in the bottom of the 5th, putting Texas up 8-3.

"Obviously the way we swung the bats tonight was awesome," David Murphy said. "Hopefully it will create some momentum for us."

Despite his early struggles, Scott Feldman settled down, giving Texas six innings of work, picking up his 6th win of the year. He finished his day retiring 13 of the last 14 batter he faced.

"I didn't do anything different, I was just more aggressive," Feldman said. "It wasn't that I was trying to be too fine, but I followed through more and brought everything more toward the plate."

Despite some struggles at the end of the game from both C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco (who's fastball was topping out at just 91 mph), Texas hung on for the big win, keeping them within striking distance of the Angels.

Rangers Win In Extra Innings, Take 2 Of 3 In Arizona

Last night in Arizona, Texas put nine runs up on the board, the first sign of any real offense we've seen from the Rangers for virtually the entire month of June. Despite the offensive explosion, it almost wasn't enough.

Starter Scott Feldman again looked good for Texas, going six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. However, the usually reliable combo of Darren O'Day and Frank Francisco let a 6-3 lead evaporate into a 6-6 tie, thanks to a couple of big homeruns, including a 2-run bomb by D-Backs Third Baseman Mark Reynolds off the Rangers closer.

Ron Washington doesn't seem to be worried about Francisco.

"A good fastball hitter caught a good fastball," Washington said. "He threw him a fastball, and he got it. I thought Frankie's velocity was good and the ball was coming out of his hand good. Frankie is only human. That Reynolds kid has good power."

But in the top of the 12th inning, the much maligned Chris Davis picked up his fourth hit of the night, a big 2-run homer to give Texas the lead.



"[They] threw that first one by me, and I barely got it," Davis said. "I could hear his frustration on the mound. I stepped out and collected myself. Then he threw a changeup over the plate and I just threw my hands at it and hit it well."

Daivd Murphy followed Davis with a solo homerun and it proved to be a huge run, as Arizona fought back for a couple in the bottom of the 12th, coming up one run short.

"It's really nice to get out of here with a win regardless if there is a 'W' by my name or not," Feldman said. "A long plane ride home is better considering it was a battle, but we still pulled through."

The Big Unit & Co. Hold Texas Down In San Fran

Texas' one feared offense has disappeared and, if they are to stay in the race for the AL West crown, they'd better find it soon.

San Francisco scored three runs in the first three innings, jumping out to an quick lead thanks to a solo homerun by Aaron Rowand. Their starter, 300-game winner Randy Johnson, looked confident on the mound, controlling the Rangers hitters early.



Michael Young got Texas back in it with a solo homer in the top of the 4th. They added three more runs in the 6th, chasing Johnson in the process, thanks to an RBI single by Nelson Cruz, followed by a 2-run double by Marlon Byrd.

However, Texas was only 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position (one of those hits in infield single that didn't score a run) and, after starter and San Fran native Scott Feldman gave the lead back in the bottom of the 6th, were never able to recover.

Ron Washington knows missed opportunities like early lead-off hits by Ian Kinsler (double in the 1st) and Hank Blalock (triple in the 2nd) have to result in runs if Texas is to truly be considered a serious threat in the AL.

"The two we needed most were the ones we didn't get in the first and second inning," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Those were the ones that came back to haunt us."

With the loss, the Rangers lead in the West is now down to 1/2 game over the Angels.

"We can't worry about the Angels," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "They're going to win games, it's as simple as that. If we win, we'll be fine. If we don't and they get on a streak, they'll catch us. That's where we're at. We just need to take care of our business."

Rangers Struggle Against NL's Best

With the Los Angeles Dodgers coming to town for a 2-game set, Texas looked to measure themselves against the National League's best.

In game one of the series, Vicente Padilla worked out of a few jams, pitching five innings of shutout ball, setting the tone for the night.

"Padilla attacked the zone and kept guys off balance with off-speed stuff," Dodgers centre fielder Matt Kemp said.

The trio of Padilla, Jason Jennings, and the newly acquired Jason Grilli controlled the Dodgers, blanking them 6-0, Texas' 2nd consecutive shutout.

Texas also showed a little offense for the first time in several games, getting an RBI single from Michael Young and a 2-run blast from Hank Blalock, both of whom had been struggling at the plate.

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In game two of the series, both Scott Feldman and Dodgers starter Randy Wolf were mowing hitters down, both of them pitching five shutout innings. But an issues with the stadium lights forced a 1 hour and 41 minute delay, forcing both pitchers from the game.

L.A. manufactured a run in the top of the 6th which was match by a big, opposite field homerun by Andruw Jones. But in the 7th, with Jason Grilli on the mound, Matt Kemp hit a big 2-run blast, giving the Dodgers the lead and, ultimately, the victory.

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In the rubber match of the series, Derek Holland looked very much like a rookie pitcher, walking four and allowing four earned runs over five innings pitched, including a 3-run homerun by Casey Blake. 72% of Holland's pitches were fastballs and Los Angeles took advantage, making solid contact.



Holland is 0-3 with a 7.08 ERA after four starts for the Rangers.

The Rangers offense again appeared disjointed and out of sync, scattering just six basehits over nine innings. The group of Kinsler, Murphy, Byrd, & Andrus went a combined 0-for-13 with two strikeouts.

Texas has now lost 8 of their last 13 games and are averaging 3.3 runs per game during that stretch.

Michael Young says there's nothing to worry about.

"There's nothing in here that says anybody is going to panic with our offense," said Young. "We're a confident group we can make adjustments."

Texas has a day off tomorrow to regroup before hosting the Houston Astros for a 3-game set.

Adam Lind Has Big Night For Toronto, Takes Game One From Rangers

Starter Scott Feldman wasn't very sharp last night, pitching up in the zone for most of the game. Regardless, Feldman battled for six innings, allowing four earned runs, all of which were scored off the bat of Blue Jays left fielder Adam Lind, who went 2-for-4 with two homeruns and four RBI, pacing Toronto to the 6-3 victory.

"When he(Lind) is locked in, he's as good as anyone I've ever seen," Toronto center fielder Vernon Wells said.

Catcher Rod Batajas added: "He goes up there and he's successful without even trying."



Texas' offense never did get the big hit they needed, stranding 17 runners on base. They managed just three runs, all of them coming in the bottom of the 6th.

"It was tough," third baseman Michael Young said. "I thought we came out flat and didn't take advantage of the opportunities we had tonight. We're back from the road trip, today and tonight we got situated, tomorrow we need to come back with a better effort."

Rangers Get Big Win, Then Let One Slip Away

Last night Texas got yet another great pitching effort out of Scott Feldman, who avoided a near disastrous 3rd inning (in which he loaded the bases only to have Michael Young and Chris Davis bail him out by turning an inning ending double play on Alex Rodriguez) to go 6 1/3 innings, striking out 5 and allowing only 2 earned runs.

Said Feldman of the big play in the 3rd: "That was huge for me. I really lost the feel for what I was doing out there. I just totally lost the feel for it. And then I made a pretty good pitch, and the play that Michael [Young] made was probably the play of the game, and it really saved us."

Texas got their offense up and going early, scoring three in the 1st and one more in the 2nd, getting Feldman and early lead, allowing him to settle in and make good pitches. At one point, Feldman retired 10 or 11 hitters he faced.



"I thought he mixed well," manager Ron Washington said. "He didn't put anything where they could get the part of the bat on early. They were beating the ball into the ground, and that's when you know Feldman does have his best stuff."

Texas spread out the offense, getting RBI from Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz, Marlon Byrd, and Chris Davis.

C.J. Wilson and Frank Francisco came in to pitch 2 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, with Francisco picking up his 12th save of the season.

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By the 5th inning of today's gaem, Texas had amassed a 5-1 lead, thanks in part to a big 2-run double by Chris Davis in the top of the 4th.

Unfortunately, Brandon McCarthy was unable to make the lead stand up, allowing five runs to plate in the bottom of the 5th.

"It seemed like he just lost his location and couldn't throw the ball over the plate like he was earlier," Ron Washington said. "In baseball, that happens."

While Jason Jennings gave a good showing of himself by pitching three scoreless innings, C.J. Wilson wasn't able to continue his hot pitching, serving up a go-ahead, 2-run homerun by Melky Cabrera. C.J. found out the hard way what happens to baseballs when the wind is blowing in new Yankee Stadium.



Wilson still can't believe the ball left the yard.

"I was like, 'Oh, popup,'" Wilson said. "That's why I didn't really react. I was like, 'Oh, OK, fly ball -- oh [man], I forgot where we are. That's not good.'"

Mariano Rivera came in to pitch the 9th for the Yanks, shutting Texas down for his 12th save of the year and giving New York the series win.

Rangers Sweep Doubleheader Against A's, 10 Games Over .500 For First Time Since 2005

Coming off a disappointing series loss against the New York Yankees, the Rangers looked to get back on track against the last-place Oakland A's.

In game 1 of the doubleheader, Texas sent Tommy Hunter to the mound. Hunter was a last minute call-up from Oklahoma City, needed to make a spot start. Hunter did the job, going 5 1/3 innings and holding the A's down long enough for his offense to come through.

"Tommy got us through five, gave us a chance to win," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He looked more under control. For the most part, he got it done."

With Texas down 3-2 in the bottom of the 7th, Marlon Byrd came through with a game-tying solo homerun. Andruw Jones and Nelson Cruz put the Rangers ahead for good with 2-run and solo blasts respectively. The lead proved to be more than enough for Frank Francisco, who has been absolutely dominant all season, giving Texas a 6-3 win in the opener.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Texas sent Scott Feldman to the mound. Feldman has been very consistent since stepping into the starting five, giving the back end of the rotation some real stability. Despite some control issues on Friday, Feldman got the job done once again, going six innings while allowing only two earned runs.



"There wasn't a single inning he worked that was easy," Washington said. "He worked pretty hard to get to the sixth."

Texas scored four runs in the 1st inning thanks to RBI doubles by Josh Hamilton and Hank Blalock, and a 2-out, 2-run single by backup catcher Taylor Teagarden.

Oakland was never able to put together any offense, managing only five base hits over the course of nine innings.

Jason Jennings picked up his fourth hold of the season, pitching two innings of shutout ball. C.J. Wilson closed the game out with a 1-2-3 9th inning, picking up hiw fourth save of the year.

Ron Washington was thrilled with the effort.

"Two very efficient ballgames," said Washington. "We had great defense, clutch hitting. That's a lot of fun.

Nelson Cruz Homers Texas To Win In Houston

Looks like Nelson Cruz has found his stroke.

After drilling the game-winning homerun Friday night, Cruz came back and hit two more on Saturday, pacing Texas to the 6-3 victory.

"My swing is there," Cruz said. "I don't worry about home runs, they'll come. I just worry about being consistent and getting my knocks. It doesn't matter where I hit, I've got to do my job."



Hank Blalock added a solo homerun giving Scott Feldman, who went a season high 6 2/3 innings, more than enough to work with as he picked up his third win of the year.

"He was good," Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. "He was pitching great. He wasn't missing his spots -- good breaking ball, good fastball, good sinker. I was having a good at-bat in the second at-bat, fouled off some tough pitches and he ended up striking me out. "

"I feel like I'm going out there with more and more confidence and throwing all my pitches effectively," Feldman said. "My confidence in all my pitches is getting better and it makes it a lot easier to pitch when you're ahead in the count."

Both Michael Young (who had sprained his ankle in yesterday's game) and Ian Kinler sat out the game. Their replacements, Hank Blalock and Omar Vizquel, went a combined 5 for 9 with a run scored and one RBI.

C.J. Wilson closed the game out, picking of his 3rd save of the year.

Hamilton Saves The Day As Texas Sweeps Angels

For the past four or five seasons, the Angels have made it a habit of rolling into Arlington and laying the wood to the traditionally hapless Rangers.

But this years group of guys is looking more and more like the playoff teams of the late 90's and not the overpaid bunch of frontrunners the teams has been running out there since the A-Rod signing.

In the finale of the three-game set with Anaheim, Texas swept the Angels out of Arlington, getting yet another great start out of Scott Feldman, who threw six innings of shutout baseball.

Anaheim's Jared Weaver was equal to the task until David Murphy hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th, scoring Hank Blalock. Texas added two more in the bottom of the 8th thanks to a triple by Omar Vizquel and doubles from Kinsler and Marlon Byrd.



Quality pitching from the Rangers bullpen, coupled with an amazing catch by Josh Hamilton in centerfield put the game away for Texas.

Darren O'Day closed out the final 1 1/3 innings, picking up his first save of the season. O'Day said the crowd of more than 37,000 definitely brought out a little extra in him.

"When they started to chant 'Sweep!,' I had to step off the mound and take a deep breath," reliever Darren O'Day said. "It was pretty awesome."

104,859 fans showed up for the Angels series, making it the largest crowd total the Rangers have had for a three-game series in two years. This fact was not lost on the Rangers players, many of whom seemed blown away by the support.

"It was a great homestand, and the crowd was unbelievable today," second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "They were just incredible. It was really loud out there. If we can get crowds like that and as loud as they were for the rest of the year, we're going to win a lot of games at home."

Texas sold an impressive 10,682 tickets on Sunday, idicating that Rangers fans are starting to believe this team might just be for real.

"We had an absolute blast playing behind this crowd," third baseman Michael Young said. "They packed it in today, and we had fun."

The Gold Glove moment of the game came in the top of the 7th, with the score tied at 0-0, when the Angels' Howie Kendrick hit a shot to right centerfield that Josh Hamilton made an amazing play on, divin into the wall and pulling it in, saving at least one run on the play.

"[That was] one of the most unbelievable catches I've ever seen," left fielder David Murphy said.

Hamilton pulled a groin muscle on the catch but doesn't expect to miss any time. He's almost certain to play Tuesday in the first game of the Detroit series.

"You get so wrapped up in the game and wanting to do well as far as the team winning," Hamilton said. "That's the most important thing. If I have to run into a wall once in a while and tweak parts of my body ... that's OK."

"Another solid game -- pitching, great defense, timely hitting," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Just awesome."

After going undefeated (6-0) on the homestand, the Rangers now hit the road, starting a three-game series in Detroit. Texas now has a 4 1/2 game lead in their division.

Feldman Turns In Another Quality Start, Hamilton Returns From DL With A Bang.

Despite the news of a returning Josh Hamilton from the disabled list, the real story of the night was pitcher Scott Feldman. For the 4th time this season, Feldman turned in a quality start for Texas. Matter of fact, Feldman was cruising for 6 1/3 innings until the home plate umpire decided to get involved.

Having not allowed a run, Feldman had strike 3 on Franklin Gutierrez but home plate unpire Marty Foster didn't see it that way. One pitch later, Gutierrez stroked a single into center, then stole 2nd base. The next hitter, catcher Kenji Johjima hit a soft liner into right field, tying the game at one run a piece.



Feldman was visibly upset while being from the game but, having thrown 110 pitches, needed to sit. Rookie Derek Holland came in to retire the final two hitters of the inning, preserving the tie.

In the bottom of the 7th, Mike Young drilled a hard shot into right field (his 3rd hit of the game) setting up some heroics from the returning Josh Hamilton, who hit an opposite field homerun, giving Texas the lead.

Andruw Jones then legged out an infield single, followed by a Marlon Byrd double, whihc set up a deep sacrifice fly by Nelson Cruz, giving Texas a 4-1 lead. Chris Davis (who had given Texas a 1-0 lead earlier in the game via a solo homerun) drilled a hard shot off the glove of Seattle first baseman Russell Branyan. An error but it scored Texas' 5th run of the game. Jarrod Saltalamacchia then hit a hard shot into right field, picking up an RBI triple. Salty scored on an infield single by Elvis Andrus. After an Ian Kinsler base hit, Mike Young walked, loading the bases for Josh Hamilton, who ended Seattle's misery by striking out.

Leading 7-1, Derek Holland went 1 2/3 innings, throwing strikes, forcing Seattle's hitters to put the ball in play. He was rewarded with several weakly hit groundballs. Holland continues to progress and could find himself in the starting lineup before the end of the season.

Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the 9th for Texas, closing out the game and giving Texas a 2 1/2 game lead in the AL West.

The win was the 1st of Derek Holland's big league career.

Feldman Solid As Rangers Take Over 1st Place In The AL West

Kris Benson may well have come off the disabled list but Scott Feldman is doing everything in his power to keep Benson's spot in the starting rotation.

Yesterday in Oakland, Feldman pitched a gem of a game, throwing six solid innings, allowing only two earned runs on 89 pitches. Since some struggles early in the season, Feldman is keeping the ball down, working quickly, and getting ground balls. He is now 2-0 with a 3.24 ERA in three starts and opponents are hitting .186 off him as a starter. They hit .355 off him as a reliever.

"He was really pounding the ball inside, especially to lefties," Athletics outfielder Travis Buck said. "He threw a lot of cutters, and when it's 91-93 and he's throwing it for strikes, that's a tough pitch to hit. And he did a nice job by showing his curveball and change early in the game, so it wasn't like you could just sit on one pitch. It was just tough to square balls up."

Feldman then gave way to rookie Derek Holland who pitched two scoreless innings, getting the first hold of his young career.

The 9th inning belonged to Frank Francisco who picked up his ninth save of the season, yops in the American League.



Texas got it's offense going thanks to a solo homerun in the 1st by rookie short stop Elvis Andrus. In the top of the 4th, Marlon Byrd singled into right field, followed by a line drive double by the scorching Nelson Cruz. David Murphy pushed Byrd across with a sacrifice fly. Chris Davis then plated Cruz with an RBI single to center.

Despite surrending two runs in the bottom of the inning, Feldman and Co. made the three runs stand up. Manager Ron Washington seems pleased with the progress the pitching staff has made since the beginning of the season.

"I hope it continues," Washington said. "We're getting better. We're progressing. Those guys are taking the ball and they're taking a lot of pride in what they're doing. The tone is set with starting pitching. We're playing great defense and we're getting timely hitting. The guys in the clubhouse deserve a lot of credit, especially the pitchers."

Texas now has a season high five game winning streak and, save for the first few games of this season, find themselves in first place of the AL West for the first time since June 14th, 2006. Veteran Michael Young wants everyone to keep things in perspective.

"First place is nice, but it means more to me that we're playing good baseball," said Young, who extended his current hitting streak to 10 games on Wednesday. "We're pitching extremely well and we're playing good defense. Those are two things we were really bearing down on in Spring Training. We knew our offense could score runs in bunches."