Walks shorten Scott Feldman's outing
He didn't top Yu Darvish's six-walk performance Monday, but he came close. Feldman's command was shaky in the second and fifth innings in Wednesday's 5-3 loss. His five walks gave the Mariners 13 free trips to first base off the Rangers' starters, including Matt Harrison, this series. It resulted in seven of the Mariners' 12 runs in three days.
Feldman walked the bases loaded to start the second against the Mariners' Nos. 3, 4 and 5 hitters. Michael Saunders' sacrifice fly would score the only run 0f the inning thanks to a couple of groundouts, but it resulted in an early 1-0 deficit.
Feldman seemed to find a groove, retiring eight straight heading into the fifth, but that inning started with a walk to Saunders. Mike Carp followed with a single, and an error by Ian Kinsler at second base advanced runners to second and third. Feldman intentionally walked Dustin Ackley to load the bases up for Alex Liddi with one out, and Liddi made Feldman pay on the first pitch. The grand slam on an inside fastball barely cleared the left-field wall over the scoreboard, but it was four runs nonetheless.
"Walking that many guys, I was dodging bullets all day, and then finally they got me in the fifth there. It finally caught up to me," Feldman said.
Robbie Ross entered the game, ending Feldman's night after five runs allowed on three hits and five walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Feldman hadn't thrown in eight days entering Wednesday's contest, and it was only his eighth appearance this season.
"I’ve been doing as good as I can to try and stay sharp," Feldman said. "The last couple times just haven’t been good."
Rangers manager Ron Washington said he isn't going to hold too much of this start against Feldman when judging him as a possible replacement for Feliz. Washington said Feldman made one bad pitch.
"It’s unfortunate that the one that he made put four runs on him," Washington said. "I thought he was doing a good job.
"There's decisions to be made and we'll make decisions, but you can't put that on Scotty."
Although Washington hasn't made any commitment, Feldman is preparing with the intention of starting Tuesday when what had been Feliz's turn comes up in the rotation.
"My fastball was decent but all the other pitches were lacking the command that I need," Feldman said. "I'm going to work really hard these next few days in between starts and throw a lot of pitches and work on that kind of stuff."
103.3 FM ESPN PODCASTS
Play Podcast Jim Bowden joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett for his weekly visit to discuss a hypothetical Jurickson Profar for Cliff Lee trade, how he would handle Profar's playing time with the Rangers and more.
Play Podcast Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus joins Galloway & Company to discuss having Scott Boras as his agent, his new contract and having Jurickson Profar in the lineup.
Play Podcast Rangers manager Ron Washington joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett for his weekly visit to discuss Yu Darvish's pitch count and how he spends time in the clubhouse during weather delays.
Play Podcast Nolan Ryan joins Galloway & Company for his weekly visit to discuss the latest Rangers news.
Play Podcast Reid Ryan joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss his new position with the Houston Astros and whether he could see his dad, Nolan, joining him there in the future.
Play Podcast ESPN MLB Insider Jayson Stark joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss if the Rangers are the best team in baseball, what makes them so good and if he thinks the team will trade Jurickson Profar.
Play Podcast Jim Bowden joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Ron Washington's decision to send Yu Darvish to the mound for the eighth inning Thursday night and how he would handle a situation like that if he were still a GM.
Play Podcast Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the latest Rangers news, including the Yu Darvish-Justin Verlander matchup.
TEAM LEADERS
| WINS LEADER | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Yu Darvish
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| OTHER LEADERS | ||||||||||||
| BA | I. Kinsler | .302 | ||||||||||
| HR | N. Cruz | 11 | ||||||||||
| RBI | N. Cruz | 33 | ||||||||||
| R | E. Andrus | 29 | ||||||||||
| OPS | M. Moreland | .905 | ||||||||||
| ERA | Y. Darvish | 2.84 | ||||||||||
| SO | Y. Darvish | 91 | ||||||||||
- There are no games scheduled for today.





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