OAKLAND, Calif. — It was as if the all the stars of
ugliness perfectly aligned Monday night for the Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum.
For the second time in less than a week, a Texas starter yielded eight runs in
the second inning and couldn't finish the frame against a team that came into
the game with the worst batting average in the American League.
If that wasn't bad enough, the mighty Texas offense was no-hit into the eighth
inning by a rookie, Jarrod Parker, making his ninth start in the majors.
At least the game ended with some levity as outfielder Craig Gentry became just
the fourth position player to pitch for the Rangers, finishing the eighth
inning in a 12-1 thumping at the hands of Oakland.
The Rangers have lost five of their last six games and are 1-3 on their 10 game
road trip.
Gentry did fare better than Feldman, allowing two runs in his eighth inning.
But when that and Michael Young breaking up the no-hit bid with a leadoff
single in the eighth inning are the highlights, then you know it was a bad
night for the Rangers.
"They're capable of putting runs on the board," Rangers manager Ron
Washington said. "They might put 12 on the board, but they're a major league
club and some nights things happen for them. Tonight when we made pitches they
found a way to put them in play. They happened to do it with runners in scoring
position. I thought we would probably get to Parker."
Even if the Rangers would have gotten to Parker (2-2), it wouldn't have made a
difference after the performance Feldman had. After a perfect first inning, the
A's sent 13 batters to the plate in the second and rapped out eight hits, with
seven of them coming off Feldman.
Brandon Inge hit a three-run homer, but he had plenty of company. The A's had
been shut out in three of their last four games and came into the game with a
team average of .209.
They raised that to .213 Monday as Feldman was charged with eight runs on seven
hits and one walk. He's 0-4 on the season and has lasted a total of 11 innings
in the three starts since he replaced an injured Neftali Feliz in the
rotation.
"I hung a pitch and Inge hit it out and after that it was just like they
just kept getting hits, hit after hit after hit," said Feldman, whose ERA
is now 7.01. "I did leave a few pitches up there, but they also kept
finding holes. It was like a runaway truck with no brakes. I couldn't really
stop the bleeding and it's not how you want to do things."
While the A's were cooking on their way to a season high in runs and hits, the
Rangers could do nothing with Parker.
He walked batters in the first and third inning, but after David Murphy's
leadoff walk in the third, Parker retired 12-consecutive Rangers before Elvis
Andrus drew a one-out walk in the seventh. With his pitch count over 100, Parker’s
his no-hit bid ended with Young's leadoff single to center to open the eighth.
Breaking up the no-hitter became a goal late for Texas, but it didn't take the
disappointment from the loss.
"No one wants to get no-hit," Young said. "I've been no-hit in
the big leagues before. It's definitely no fun. At that point we were definitely
scratching, clawing trying to figure out a way to get one. It doesn't take away
the sting from the game."
Gentry saved the bullpen with his work in the eighth inning. Washington
dislikes having to use position player to pitch but the Rangers had already
used Robbie Ross, Mark Lowe and Yoshinori Tateyama.
Washington asked Gentry, who said he pitched an inning in college, if he could
get three outs. Gentry did that, but allowed two runs on three hits by throwing
20 pitches, all of which were fastballs.
Gentry didn't have much time to warm up because of a quick top of the eighth
for the Rangers. He still hit 88 mph on the stadium radar.
"I wasn't trying to do anything," Gentry said. "I was trying to throw
it easy down the middle. It saved us having to use another pitcher and any way
I can help out I will."
