ARLINGTON, Texas -- Scott Feldman seems to bring out to worst in the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers have lost twice on their current homestand, and Feldman has been the loser in both of those games.
Sunday Feldman allowed six runs in 5 2/3 innings as Minnesota snapped a four-game winning streak by topping the Rangers with a 6-5 victory.
Feldman has now lost his last four starts for the Rangers, who are 7-2 in in the last nine games with Feldman taking the two losses. Texas starters came into the game with a 2.85 ERA over the last seven games. Feldman has now allowed nine of the 20 earned runs allowed by starters.
"It was just one of those games where I made good pitches for the most part, they laid some nice bunts down, they had their fast guys on base the whole time," said Feldman, who gave up 10 hits and walked a batter. "They put up five (earned) runs. Ultimately we didn't win the game so that's the frustrating thing about it. Today I gave up five runs, which isn't very good. I think the way I've been throwing the ball is the same."
Even though Feldman has dropped his last four starts, Texas manager Ron Washington said he had no issues with Feldman being a member of the starting rotation. Feldman has the two longest losing streaks of any Texas pitcher this season as he started the season 0-6.
Washington thinks Sunday's game was a lot like Feldman's last four as he didn't catch any breaks.
"He made some pitches and they found some holes," Washington said. "Other than the triple that (Ben) Revere hit (in the sixth) and that Mauer got for an RBI, I thought they just found holes. You know, we messed up a play there, I think it was in the third inning, when we had the rundown. And then Revere chops a ball and we throw it away, put him in scoring position. That's a run that probably wouldn't have been on the board, but the rest of them they earned."
Feldman wasn't the lone Rangers who struggled Sunday during a game that was delayed for 1 hour, 26 minutes by rain in the first inning.
The Texas offense scored two runs in the first inning off Cole DeVries (3-6) but didn't have another hit off him in his five innings. DeVries hadn't won a game in the majors since June before holding Texas to three hits in five innings. The Rangers finished with six hits Sunday, but had hits in just two innings.
The Rangers also made two errors, botched a rundown and allowed a run to score after Josh Hamilton fumbled a ball after making a catch on a shallow fly ball in left. Those gaffes and Feldman's pitching allowed the Twins to build a 6-2 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth inning.
Texas made things interesting in the sixth, getting a two-run homer from Hamilton and as solo shot from Nelson Cruz. But that would be it for the highlights as the Minnesota bullpen retired the final 10 Texas hitters.
Following the delay, the Rangers jumped on DeVries for two runs in the first inning on a two-run single from Hamilton. Minnesota answered that with a run in the second and kept on answering, taking a 3-2 lead in the third, adding two more in the fifth and chasing Feldman with another run in the sixth.
While the Rangers won the series, they feel like they may have let a sweep get away from them.
"The frustrating thing is we didn't play as sharply as we could have today," said David Murphy, who went 0 for 4. "If we did, there very well could have been a different outcome. He (DeVries) just got outs. He's nothing special. We were just missing it. I don't know if it just looked so good, we were overswinging. He did his job."
