AL West: Short-handed Rangers looking to create separation

Baseball Betting Lines

05/20/2011 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their disabled list still quite crowded, the Texas Rangers have been able to maintain a slim hold of first place in the American League West by playing .500 ball.

Texas (23-21) has split its last 14 games and entered Friday with a one-game lead over the Oakland Athletics (22-22) and a 1 1/2-game edge over the fading Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. At the moment, the Rangers are merely trying to tread water until they can get some guys back healthy and, they hope, start stringing together some victories.

Already playing with a short deck, closer Neftali Feliz threw another log onto the fire by blowing back-to-back save opportunities this week for the first time in his career. Feliz, normally rock-solid in the final inning, had his streak of 19 consecutive saves come to an end on Wednesday night as he allowed a game-tying leadoff home run to Royals rookie Eric Hosmer in the ninth inning. Teammate Adrian Beltre later bailed him out with a game-winning single in the 11th inning.

After throwing 26 pitches on Wednesday, Feliz was given the ball again Thursday night and allowed a game-tying single to Kansas City's Mike Aviles. His pitch count this time got up to 32, which is cause for concern considering Feliz spent time on the DL from April 21 to May 6 with shoulder inflammation. Still, he informed manager Ron Washington before Thursday's game that he was fine, and the skipper shrugged off his closer's recent struggles as nothing more than a blip on the radar. Feliz gave a similar assessment after the game.

"I feel bad because we lost the game," Feliz said. "But I'm going to try to not go crazy over it, put it behind me and do the best I can the next time I go out there."

Remarkably, Feliz had never even blown a save on the road until the last two nights. Although Feliz has only recently become the culprit, the Rangers have had their share of late-game problems that have spoiled would-be victories. They have lost nine games this season during their opponent's final at-bat, four of which ended in walk-off fashion.

All the while, the Angels have fallen to third place thanks to losses in five straight games and eight of their last 10. The Rangers could certainly use a few healthy bodies to try and create some separation. One of those guys is reigning league MVP Josh Hamilton, who began a minor league rehab assignment this week after suffering a hairline fracture of his right humerus bone on April 12. He will resume his rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock Friday night, with a possible reactivation sometime next week.

Right fielder Nelson Cruz (strained right quad) is also in Round Rock this weekend and is nearing a return. Cruz had seven homers through just 30 games this year but has not played a big league game since May 3. A return of Hamilton and Cruz to the lineup would certainly restore some pop, which the Rangers have sorely missed. Their outfield has been sorely depleted with center fielder Julio Borbon also landing on the DL this past weekend with a left hamstring strain. Right fielder Endy Chavez, who entered Thursday with three consecutive multi-hit games, had to exit with tightness in his right hamstring. Chavez was recently called up from Triple-A Round Rock to provide relief for the walking wounded.

With their lineup a moving target from day to day, the Rangers will wrap up their road trip in Philadelphia this weekend before returning to Arlington for a six-game homestand next week. If all goes well on the injury front, the team hopes to have most of its Opening Day starting outfield back in the fold by the end of that homestand.

A'S RIDE SUPERB PITCHING INTO INTERLEAGUE PLAY

When the Oakland Athletics (22-22) begin Interleague play Friday night against the Bay Area-rival San Francisco Giants, they'll send young staff ace Trevor Cahill to the mound for the opener.

Cahill burst onto the scene to earn his first All-Star nod last year as a 22- year-old, and he brings a 6-1 record and a 1.82 ERA into Friday's game. He has been the anchor of an Oakland pitching staff that leads the majors with a collective 2.86 ERA. The A's will face off against the equally pitching- privileged San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park, meaning the pitchers will have to don a bat and helmet and step into the batter's box.

Cahill has one big-league hit on his resume, which puts him one hit above the rest of the rotation.

"He hit a seeing-eye single through the (second base) hole," fellow starter Brett Anderson quipped of his teammate's lone hit, which came back in 2009. "It's weird because he's got the ugliest swing. But he got a hit, so whatever works."

Not having a designated hitter also means Hideki Matsui will likely come off the bench rather than start in the outfield, according to manager Bob Geren. Considering the offense is hitting just .239 as a team even with the DH, the onus is once again on the A's stellar pitching staff to continue putting up zeroes.

ANGELS STUCK IN FREEFALL, LACKING PRODUCTION FROM STARS

For the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (22-23), seemingly everything that could have gone wrong has over this past week. The team has dropped five in a row and eight of its last 10 to lose its grip on first place in the AL West.

The Halos lost to the Seattle Mariners by a 2-1 final Thursday afternoon after a routine fly ball was blotted by the sun and dropped in front of nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter in the ninth inning, scoring the winning run from third base. Those are the kinds of breaks the team has endured lately, and with each loss the mishaps become magnified.

There are some obvious black holes on the roster, most notably the absence of top run producer Kendrys Morales for the season. Hunter is in the midst of a 1-for-24 slump and has seen his average dip to .218. Leading hitter Howard Kendrick (.322) had to leave in the ninth inning of Thursday's game with cramping in his right hamstring. Kendrick accounted for three of the team's seven hits and broke a 24-inning scoreless streak with a fourth-inning solo home run.

"This is one of the toughest spells I think we've all seen with situational hitting, with hitting with runners in scoring position, with moving runners over," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It takes nine guys for an offense. It's not going to be on two or three guys.

"We're just missing in some of those areas. We have a talented club and we're obviously not bringing it the way we need to, and we're going to look at it closely."

A couple of the team's highest-paid players have contributed next to nothing. Vernon Wells is being paid $26 million this year to hit .183, and he'll make $24 million per year over the next three seasons. Scott Kazmir is earning $12 million this year and has pitched just one full inning due to lower back stiffness. He is still in extended spring training in Arizona, and according to Scioscia, looks to be a long way from rejoining the rotation.

The roster has certainly not come together anywhere near what was intended. Still, starter Dan Haren remained positive after coming away with yet another no-decision on Thursday.

"It feels like we've lost 20 in a row, but we're only a game or so out of first place," Dan Haren told the OC Register. "We're lucky in that respect - no one has really pulled away (in the division). We still play each other 15 times. There's a long, long way to go. We just need to keep pitching like we've been pitching. The offense will come around."

MARINERS' STARTERS GETTING THE JOB DONE

The Seattle Mariners (19-24) have their starting pitching to thank for the fact that they entered Friday just 3 1/2 games off the pace in the AL West despite little to no hitting.

Seattle's offense ranks last in the AL with a .226 team batting average. The starting pitching, on the other hand, trails only Oakland with a collective 3.27 ERA. Reigning Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez has been solid (4-4, 3.23) with two complete games and a team-high 64 strikeouts, but fellow starters Doug Fister (2-4, 2.93) and rookie Michael Pineda (5-2, 2.45) have better ERAs. Then there is Justin Vargas (3-2, 3.39), who is 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA in three May starts and has not allowed a run in his last 16 innings.

"They've been outstanding," Mariners manager Eric Wedge said. "They've stayed humble, stayed consistent. They respect the game. They haven't given in to our offensive struggles. That's all you can ask."

One of the tradeoffs has been a lighter workload for the bullpen. M's starters have gone at least seven innings in 10 of 14 games this month. Oddly enough, closer Brandon League has had a horrid month of May, blowing three saves to go along with a 12.86 ERA. Still, the starting rotation has kept the team afloat while the offense has consistently failed to put runs across the plate. And if the relief corps can hold its weight, Seattle could remain in the thick of things in the tightly-contested AL West.