SEATTLE — Roy Oswalt isn't coming down from
Mississippi to make a start for the Texas Rangers anytime soon. Neither is
Martin Perez, Neil Ramirez or Alexi Ogando.
As it stands, Scott Feldman is the best option to replace an injured Neftali
Feliz in the rotation.
In Wednesday's series finale against Seattle, Feldman's start was done in by
walks and one bad pitch in a 5-3 loss to the Mariners.
Sketchy command put Feldman in a bind as he walked five (one intentional) and
then when he needed to make a big pitch, it didn't happen as Alex Liddi's first
career grand slam broke the game open in the fifth inning.
While Texas manager Ron Washington said after the game that the team hasn't
made a decision on who will start next Tuesday against Seattle, Feldman is
preparing as if it's him. The Rangers also don't have anyone else stretched out
with their club now and no one who's shown that ability on a consistent level
in the minors.
So at least for now, it looks like the job is Feldman's and he showed flashes
Wednesday of what could be.
The good Feldman mowed down nine consecutive Mariners from the second through
the fourth innings. Unfortunately, there was also the bad Feldman who loaded
the bases on walks and allowed Seattle to score a run without a hit in the
second.
But it was the fifth that was his undoing as a walk, single and intentional
walk set the stage for Liddi. With the Rangers in need of a double-play ball to
get out of the inning, Feldman tried to throw a fastball down and in that
missed its spot and Liddi was ready, lining a homer to left.
That was the final pitch Feldman threw and the one the Rangers wish they could
have back.
"I don't think you can put what happened today that deep on Scotty,"
Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He made one bad pitch to Liddi.
Other than that, I thought he made a ton of good pitches. It's just unfortunate
that the one (mistake) he made they happened to get four runs on it. I thought
he was doing a very good job."
Feldman threw 73 pitches in his 4 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits. He
walked five, but control issues could be expected for a pitcher who's now
thrown just 19 2/3 innings.
Feldman wants to get in as much work as he can before Tuesday and said he’d like
to face hitters before the next outing.
That can only help his command.
"Walking that many guys I was kind of dodging bullets the whole day,"
Feldman said. "Finally, they got me in the fifth there. It's been like
that the last couple of times I've got the ball, just bad command. I have to
get back to where I was leaving camp feeling confident with all my pitches
thrown for strikes."
Even with the one bad pitch Feldman through, under normal circumstances that
isn't an issue for the Texas offense. But the Rangers scored just seven runs in
the series against a team they have beat nine of the last 12 meetings.
The Rangers are batting just .243 over the last 10 games and managed just three
hits off former Texas starter Kevin Millwood (3-4) in his six innings.
Texas did make things interesting in the eighth, getting an RBI double from
Josh Hamilton and a two-run homer from Adrian Beltre. But the team's inability
to hit in big situations – the team's lone two hits with runners in scoring
position came in the eighth – proved too much to overcome.
Giving Feldman a little support may have changed things around Wednesday.
"It's been about a week or two now where we haven't been very consistent
offensively," said David Murphy, who went 0-for-1 with a walk Wednesday.
"That's going to come and go, but it hurts us. I think Feldy deserved a
better fate today. He walked some guys, but all in all, he really made one big
mistake. You'd like to see him stay in the game longer. Who knows what happens
if we have a few runs in that situation. The whole game might be
different."
