Scott Feldman pitched six shutout innings and Greg Smith gave up 4 ER for the first time, as the Rangers blanked the A's. Final Score: Rangers 4, A's 0.
After six starts against six different teams, for the first time Greg Smith faced a team that had seen him before - just five days before. And for the first time, Smith struggled in multiple innings, surrendering a run in the 1st, a Brandon Boggs HR in the 2nd, and a two-run double by Boggs in the 6th. Boggs, who just missed the disabled list when he crashed knee-first into the wall chasing a first-inning foul ball, just missed the cycle by singling, doubling, and homering off of Smith. Hopefully there's no direct connection between "second time through the league" and Smith struggling, but only time will tell.
Feldman was outstanding, if a bit wild, walking four before he gave up his first hit - a Ryan Sweeney single in the 5th. Feldman, with good velocity and great movement, appears to be as tough as any starter the Rangers will put out there - including tomorrow's starter, supposed ace Kevin Millwood. Feldman might be good enough that the Rangers will be compelled to trade him to the National League, where he can join Chris Young and Edinson Volquez among the league's ERA leaders.
So the A's drop to 1-3 against Texas, 1-3 against Boston, and 20-8 against everybody else. And the Rangers haven't given up an earned run for 31 innings - 31 also then being the number of degrees of today's high in Hell. Who do these guys think they are, Chris Codiroli, Steve McCatty, Gorman Heimueller, and Mike Warren? I'll leave you to discern the significance of those names.
