Another Bullpen Meltdown - Rangers Lose 7-6 In 10th

For the second straight game the Rangers bullpen screwed the pooch. This time, closer Neftali Feliz (above, middle) allowed four runs in the ninth inning to allow the Orioles to send it into extras. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

This is what happens when a tired, overworked bullpen is constantly forced into spot duty by starting pitchers who can't seem to last more than six innings on a good day. This time, at least, the Texas Rangers (50-36) got seven solid innings of two-run baseball from starter Scott Feldman and held a four-run lead in the ninth inning before everything went to hell in a hand basket.

The Baltimore Orioles (27-59), trailing 6-2 going into the ninth, hit up Feliz for three hits, culminating in a line-drive upper-deck grand slam from outfielder Corey Patterson. I mean this ball was absolutely crushed, an 89 mph fastball left right in the center of the plate for Patterson to feast on. Pedro Strop came in for Feliz and immediately loaded the bases again, allowing a double, single and walk to the first three hitters he faced. Luckily for Texas, strop was able to induce a ground-out and the game was safe for about one more inning. Another line-drive home-run in the 10th, this time it was designated hitter Jake Fox's turn to tee off on the Rangers' bullpen, sealed for the Orioles.

It's the first time all season that the Orioles have won a game trailing on the road after the seventh inning - and they've done it twice in a row now.

"Losing is no fun, but losing like that is terrible," said David Murphy, who reached base three times on the night.

Offensively, Texas was solid as usual. Vladimir Guerrero hit a three-run homer to get things crack-a-lac-kin for the Rangers and a couple of sac flys and a walk accounted for the other three Texas runs.

While losing two straight games after leading in the seventh inning against the worst team is extremely demoralizing in itself, I feel worse for the Rangers' fans that braved the weather to cheer on their team after a two-and-a-half hour rain delay. Staying at the Ballpark in Arlington into the wee hours of the morning and then having to deal with this shit just isn't right.

Luckily for Texas, Cliff Lee (8-3, 2.34 ERA) will start Saturday's game as the Rangers try to right the ship. The scheduled start time is 7:05 p.m. and Chris Tillman (0-3, 8.40) will get the start for the Orioles.

News and Notes:

• Josh Hamilton went 3 for 5 in Friday night's game and is now first in Major League Baseball in batting average (.349).
• In it's last six innings pitched), the Rangers' bullpen has given up an embarrassing total of seven runs on nine hits.
  

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)