Decimated by illness, unable to generate much of anything against Royals ace Zack Greinke, the Texas Rangers got just what they needed from Scott Feldman.
Feldman outpitched Greinke with eight scoreless innings and the Rangers extended their winning streak to five games with a 2-0 victory over the slumping Kansas City Royals on Friday night
The illness-depleted Rangers learned before the game that pitcher Vicente Padilla has swine flu and didn't put up much of a fight against the Royals, managing four hits. They didn't need more the way Feldman (9-3) was pitching.
The right-hander pitched beyond the seventh inning for the first time, allowing four hits for his career-high ninth win. Marlon Byrd's homer in the fourth inning and Hank Blalock's run-scoring single in the eighth was all Feldman needed.
"He outpitched the best pitcher in baseball," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.
"You don't have much margin for error when you're throwing against those guys' (aces), but I didn't change anything I was doing," said Feldman, who's reached the fifth inning in all 17 starts this season. "I tried to do what I usually do. This time I was able to keep my pitch count lower and go a little deeper in the game."
Greinke (10-6) matched Feldman almost pitch for pitch. Almost.
He threw a first pitch strike the first 11 batters he faced and breezed through the first three innings. Greinke made one mistake in the fourth, leaving a curveball up to Byrd, who hit it out to left for a solo homer, his ninth.
Turned out to be his only mistake. The right-hander lasted seven innings, allowing one run and three hits to lower his major league-best ERA to 2.04. In other words, he was good enough to win.
