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Boggs has career night as Rangers post third straight shutout

May 10, 2008 - 4:15 AM By John Tranchina PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Rookie Brandon Boggs certainly has made an impression on the Texas Rangers.

After appearing to be done for the night when he hurt his right knee chasing down a foul ball on the game's second batter, Boggs remained in the game and delivered three hits - including his second career home run - and three RBI to lead the Rangers to a 4-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday.

Texas (17-20) now has won four in a row and eight of its last 10, while Oakland (22-15) had a four-game winning streak snapped and remained tied with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (22-15) for the American League West lead.

It was the third consecutive shutout for the Rangers, the first time a major league club achieved that since the Florida Marlins did it in August 2005.

"Everything is going great and those guys in the clubhouse deserve all the credit, along with my coaches," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "If we pitch and catch the ball the way we are now, our offense will put enough up there for us to be successful."

Texas' scoreless streak now stands at 31 innings, the second-longest span in franchise history, trailing a 39-inning stretch from April 27-30, 1981.

Rangers starter Scott Feldman (1-1) carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Ryan Sweeney singled to left with one out. In just his second start of the season, Feldman surrendered just two hits and four walks over six impressive innings.

"I thought I had pretty good stuff," Feldman said. "My command was a little shaky in the second and third innings, but after that, I went out there and tried to get ground balls. You're not worried about breaking the streak, but it is contagious. You see other guys going out there, how they pitch, how they attack the hitters, and try and do the same thing."

"He hung in there," Washington said of Feldman. "He got in trouble early putting men on the bag but he made pitches when he had to. Sometimes that's what pitching is about, making pitches when you have to."

The victory was just the second in Feldman's career and his first in a start. He did not allowed a runner to reach third base on Friday.

"I've been trying to be real aggressive and try and make them hit the ball," Feldman said. "I know they're a patient team, so I've tried to get ahead. It didn't always work, but I made some good pitches when I had to."

"He's got late life on his fastball," said Oakland outfielder Jack Cust, who had two hits. "He throws a cutter and a sinker that just really runs. He throws them both the same speed, most guys don't throw their cutter at the same speed as their sinker. He was throwing both sides of the plate pretty well today."

Jamey Wright and Joaquin Benoit each tossed a perfect frame before C.J. Wilson pitched around a pair of hits in a scoreless ninth.

Boggs made it 2-0 with a solo home run in the second, booming a 3-2 offering from Oakland starter Greg Smith (2-2) over the left-field wall.

"It was a 3-2 fastball over the middle of the plate," Smith said. "He was a good hitter tonight. I just made mistakes and he took advantage. He waited for the mistake and he hit it."

The blast came one inning after Boggs seemed to injure his right knee sliding into the side wall in left as he chased down a foul ball by Daric Barton. Despite staying down for several minutes, Boggs remained in the game.

"It was probably one of the hardest crashes I've had into a wall," said Boggs, who never considered coming out. "I'm not afraid to run into any wall. Luckily I got up with no injury. It's just a little sore, but it's something I can play through. It's feeling good. I can run, and as long as I can run, I can play."

"I asked him if he'd be able to stay in there," Washington said, "but before he could answer, Michael Young answered for him. He said, 'He's not coming out.' That was enough for Boggs to say, 'I'm good.'"

Boggs' two-out double into the gap in left-center in the sixth inning scored Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley and extended the Rangers' lead to 4-0.

"It's just another high I've got being up here in the big leagues," said Boggs, who is now 7-for-11 (.636) with five RBI in his last three games.

"After he hit the home run, I told him when you hit a homer off a guy in your first at-bat, he has to be in your pocket the rest of the day," Washington said of Boggs. "You can't let him off, and I'll be darned if he didn't finish it off."

Oakland threatened in the ninth, as Cust and Frank Thomas each singled, but Wilson got Emil Brown to ground into a double play and then struck out Bobby Crosby to end it.

"We got a little something there in the ninth, and then C.J. Wilson made a really nice pitch on Emil," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "You like to see that situation, Emil up like that, usually good things are going to happen. He just made a really good pitch on him."

Texas jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Ian Kinsler led off the first inning with a double that one-hopped the wall in left field. He later stole third and then scored on Hamilton's ground-out, giving Hamilton his major league-leading 37th RBI of the season.

Smith pitched six innings, allowing four runs and six hits while striking out four and walking two.

"I put the team in a hole early, giving them a 2-0 deficit like that," Smith said. "And in the sixth, I just didn't make pitches. The one to Hamilton on the double, the ball was up - and the one to Boggs, I kind of hung a changeup."

"He pitched pretty well, he pitched well enough to win, especially at this ballpark," Geren said of Smith. "Usually that performance is well enough to win, but Feldman was just better. He had a really good run on a fastball on one side of the plate, and he cut it on the other side, made some really good pitches on our guys."