Thoughts on an 11-3 loss

D-Backs 11, Rangers 3

• Well, so much for the sweep.
• When Elvis Andrus scored in the first inning on Adrian Beltre's two out RBI single, I felt pretty confident the Rangers were going to take this game and sweep the series. They'd won four of their last five, were playing well, seemed back in a groove. And then, in the second inning, Scott Feldman gave up a two run home run to Jason Kubel, and it is as if the air went out of the stadium. From that point on, the crowd was out of the game, the players seemed out of the game, and everything just went downhill. From an outsider's perspective, especially the last couple times Feldman has started, it almost seems as if no one, not even the Rangers, think they can win with Feldman on the mound.

• I got into this discussion in the game day thread, and to an extent on Twitter, but I don't think Scott Feldman pitched poorly today. Six strikeouts against no walks is good. Yes, he gave up 8 hits, but two of those were little infield singles of little import in terms of evaluating his performance. The Kubel homer was bad...as I said, it seemed to suck the life out of everyone. And then, in the third inning, with two outs, Feldman allowed a weakly hit infield single to Justin Upton, followed by a routine grounder that Mitch Moreland simply whiffed on for an error. Two balls, either or both of which should have been outs, but instead of being out of the inning, there are two on and two outs. Then Feldman gives up a blast to Lyle Overbay for a two run double, and at that point, it seemed like the writing was on the wall. It is like last Saturday's game all over again...Feldman wasn't particularly good, but he didn't pitch poorly, either. He didn't "suck," as so many Rangers fans have claimed tonight. But he does seem to be snakebit, and you definitely don't get the sense that he evokes a hell of a lot of confidence from his teammates.
• Despite Feldman being around 90 pitches after five innings, and even at his best being a guy who seemed to turn into a pumpkin at around 90 pitches, Ron Washington rolled him back out there to start the sixth, with the result being back-to-back doubles by Miguel Montero and Lyle Overbay to run the score to 5-1 and chase Feldman from the game. Tanner Scheppers then made sure there was no lingering doubt about the outcome of the game by going ground out, single, single, wild pitch, homer to make it a 9-1 blowout.
• Yoshinori Tateyama came into the game to pitch the ninth and gave up a pair of runs on a Miguel Montero two run homer. Montero is a lefty, and that was the 10th homer Tateyama has allowed to lefties in 105 major league plate appearances. Coming into tonight's game, Tateyama had allowed a 979 OPS to lefties in his major league career. There were some who argued for a while last season that Tateyama wasn't a specialist, that he could be effective against lefties as well, but I think that notion has been put to rest. Tateyama is a righty specialist. The problem is, he isn't used as a righty specialist. I don't know what his role in the bullpen is...it seems to be the last guy in the bullpen, asked to be either the long man or the garbage man, depending on the situation. Regardless, though, he's not being utilized in a way that helps the team or is going to lead him to be successful.
• The offense was, for the second night in a row, dreadful. Elvis Andrus had a pair of hits, Adrian Beltre had a pair of hits, David Murphy had a home run, and that was it. No walks and 7 Rangers struck out. Ian Kinsler got ejected for arguing after being called out on strikes after the game was over and the Rangers were ready to go home. Josh Hamilton threw his bat into the stands again, for the third straight game.
• Ugly game. But the D-Backs are going away, and the Astros are coming to town tomorrow.