Final
Rangers-Twins Preview
Aug 29, 2009 - 5:22 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior WriterTexas (71-55) at Minnesota (63-64), 7:10 p.m. EDT
Scott Feldman wasn't particularly sharp against the Minnesota Twins last week, but with the way he has been pitching on the road, there's reason to believe he could have better success at the Metrodome.
Feldman looks to win his sixth consecutive road start when he takes the ball for the Texas Rangers on Saturday against the surging Twins, who seek their seventh victory in eight games.
After taking two of three from AL East-leading New York to become the first team to win a series at Yankee Stadium since mid-June, Texas (71-56) came out a bit flat in Friday's 3-2 loss to Minnesota.
The Rangers, who fell 2 1/2 games back of wild card-leading Boston, were limited to five singles until Ivan Rodriguez and David Murphy hit back-to-back doubles in the ninth.
Texas fell to 4-10 at the Metrodome since 2007, but Feldman (13-4, 3.87 ERA) should give the team a good chance to even this three-game series.
Feldman allowed four hits with a career-high 11 strikeouts - the most by a Texas pitcher since Matt Perisho had 12 on Oct. 3, 1999, against the Angels - in seven innings of Sunday's 4-0 win over Tampa Bay.
The right-hander improved to 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA in five starts this month, striking out 32 in 31 2-3 innings. The only start in that span Feldman didn't get a decision came against the Twins on Aug. 18, when he yielded five runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings of a 9-6 loss.
That outing, however, came at home, which is not his favorite place to pitch.
Feldman has posted a 1.87 ERA in winning his last five starts away from Rangers Ballpark and is 9-1 with a 2.97 ERA in 11 road starts on the season. The franchise record for road wins in a single season is 11, set in 1998 by Rick Helling and matched by Vicente Padilla last year.
"I don't do anything different," Feldman told the Rangers' official Web site. "I don't know. I don't know why I have such a different line on the road than at home."
While Feldman is outstanding on the road, he struggled in his only career start at the Metrodome on May 19, 2008, allowing five runs and seven hits in six innings of a 7-6, 12-inning loss.
He'll also have to try and slow down a Twins team that has won eight of 10 to pull within four games of AL Central-leading Detroit.
Minnesota (64-64) came out with a sense of urgency Friday, as Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer had run-scoring hits in the first inning.
Carl Pavano (11-9, 5.20) takes the ball for the Twins after giving up two runs in seven innings of Sunday's 10-3 win over Kansas City.
Since being acquired from Cleveland on Aug. 7, Pavano has allowed two runs over 14 innings in a pair of wins while giving up 10 runs in 11 innings in his other two starts.
One of those poor outings came against Texas and Feldman 11 days ago, as he permitted five runs, seven hits and three walks in four innings without receiving a decision.
- ** CONFIRMED **
AL
TEXAS 3
MINNESOTA 0 FINAL
Aug 29 10:07 PM - AL
AT MINNESOTA - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY IVAN RODRIGUEZ (1) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 9TH OFF JOSE MIJARES.
CURRENT SCORE: TEXAS 3, MINNESOTA 0
DUE UP FOR TEXAS: C DAVIS (.206, 0-FOR-3)
Rangers 3, Twins 0 Top 9, 0 OutsAug 29 9:53 PM - AL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TEXAS 2 2 3 0
MINNESOTA 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: TEX - SCOTT FELDMAN
MIN - CARL PAVANO
DUE UP FOR MINNESOTA: D SPAN (.308, 6 HR, 52 RBI)
O CABRERA (.277, 5 HR, 54 RBI)
J MAUER (.372, 25 HR, 79 RBI)
Rangers 2, Twins 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsAug 29 7:23 PM
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