ARLINGTON, Texas - Nick Tepesch is smart enough to know that ending the season on a bad note isn't going to take away from the strides he made this season.
That's a good thing too because Tepesch struggled Friday against Oakland, lasting just 4 1/3 innings in a 6-2 loss to the Athletics. The loss snapped a Texas winning streak at five and allowed the A's to trim their magic number for a postseason spot to one.
Tepesch (5-11) had command issues from the start and at one point threw as many strikes (36) as balls. He surrendered six runs (five earned), allowed six hits and walked four on his way to finishing the season with a 4.36 ERA.
"I didn't have very good command," Tepesch said. "I didn't get strike one very well. When you don't get strike one you're trying to get yourself back into counts and the hitter definitely has the advantage when you're not getting strike one and falling behind early and a lot of deep counts."
The Rangers spotted Tepesch an early 1-0 lead but Oakland took the lead for good with two runs (one earned) in the third, another in the fourth and then chased Tepesch with three runs in the fifth. Adam Dunn's two-run double in the third was a key hit and it came after an error by Adam Rosales on a potential double-play grounder.
Tepesch went just 3-10 over his final 19 starts of the season but interim manager Tim Bogar was pleased with the second-year pitcher's progress.
"As the season went on he got better and better," Bogar said. "Tonight was a little bit of a setback, nothing crazy. He threw the ball okay just not where he wanted to throw it. I'm pretty happy with how many innings he's thrown this year (126). He's posted every fifth day. That's a good sign heading into next year."
The Texas offense didn't do much to help Tepesch against Scott Kazmir (15-9). The Rangers had just five hits.
