Post-Game Show: Twins 4, Rangers 1

D-tails
• Boxscore, Standings

Three Up
• RHP Scott Feldman recorded yet another quality start by going six innings and allowing three runs. Feldman has 11 quality outings in 16 starts this season. He has gone at least five innings, but less than seven innings in 18 consecutive starts to tie the longest such streak in the majors since 1954.
• Home plate Brian O’Nora valiantly worked after getting hit solidly in a sensitive area with a foul ball. He twice had to leave the field for brief delays, but managed to never miss a pitch.
• Did we mention Scott Feldman?

Three Down
• The Rangers did not advance a runner with a base hit all game. They were 0-for-16 with men on base and 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
• The offense has scored 68.5 percent of its runs over the last nine games via the homer. That wouldn’t be so bad if the team wasn’t averaging 3.9 runs per game over those games. The offense looks as one-dimensional as ever.
• C Jarrod Saltalamacchia struck out three times, including once for the last out of the game. Since May 1, Saltalamacchia is hitting .228 with 67 strikeouts in 180 at-bats.

The Depot: Texas Rangers-Minnesota Twins Live Game Blog, News, Notes And Pithy Commentary

5:45: Here are your pool activities for the day.

5:47: Just because he pitched well for the second day in a row on Friday, RHP Neftali Feliz’s callup is not necessarily imminent. Good problem to have: Bullpen is pitching so well, there is no room for a 21-year-old prospect. Feliz had a 1-2-3 inning for Oklahoma City on Friday. He allowed a hit in a scoreless inning Thursday.

7:32: Why is it funny when somebody else gets hit in a, um, sensitive area? Or is that just nervous laughter?

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Rangers Note: No Callup Just Yet For Neftali Feliz

ARLINGTON - Neftali Feliz seemed to easily clear the last hurdle of his transition from starter to reliever Friday night with a perfect inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City. It doesn’t necessarily mean his transition from minor leaguer to major leaguer is imminent.

“At some point this season he’s going to pitch up here,” manager Ron Washington said. “But it doesn’t have to be before the trading deadline. He threw well last night. He’s made the transition to the bullpen smoothly. It’s just a matter when we need him.”

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Pool Activities For Today

Decisions. Decisions. Should I enter again and press my luck or just walk away while I’m ahead?

I’ve had a good day so far, so why ruin it by wasting my perfect record. Besides, I really want to give this autographed ball away. It’s signed by Kevin Millwood, Tommy Hunter, Eddie Guardado and David Murphy.

Here is the lineup you have to work with against Minnesota RHP Scott Baker: 2B Ian Kinsler, 3B Michael Young, CF Josh Hamilton, RF Marlon Byrd, 1B Hank Blalock, DH Nelson Cruz, LF David Murphy, C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus and pitching for the Rangers … RHP Scott Feldman.

About Last Night: Rangers-Twins Odds And Ends

Jefff Miller covers Vicente Padilla’s outing. I’ve got a few little scribbles left around here:

• RHP Vicente Padilla has really impressed me since the whole waiver incident in early June. He has approached his job in a way I can’t recall at any point in his firs three years in Texas. In short, he is handling adversity. In a past life, Padilla would have shut down after Jason Kubel’s homer made it 5-2 in the third inning. He would have been done before the fifth. The bullpen would have had to work extra hard on its first night back from the All-Star break. And he might have hit somebody on the way out of the game, just for good measure.

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Texas Rangers Return From Break, And Vicente Padilla Can’t Get One In 5-3 Loss To Twins

• Box score • Standings • Evan’s in-game blog

ARLINGTON - Sympathetic figure isn’t a role that Vicente Padilla has played often in his four years as a member of the Rangers’ cast. More often stewing and stalling with an appetite for plunking, he has evoked ill will from opponents and occasionally teammates.

But in the wake of Friday night’s 5-3 Rangers loss to Minnesota, he could have gotten down on one knee and yelled, “Why me, Lord?” Or at least directed that plea to home plate umpire Jim Wolf.

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Road To Arlington: Rangers Farm Report (7/18)

One of the quirks I’ve developed through grinding out minor league recaps all of these years is that I really don’t care if the teams win or lose. But when I start the process of pulling up box scores every morning, I find myself hoping that a club that features mostly hitting prospects scored a lot of runs or that a club loaded with pitching prospects had a low scoring game.

Honestly, I don’t care if Hickory wins 9-1 or loses 1-0. And I generally don’t care if Oklahoma City wins 9-1 or loses 10-9. I just want to see OKC (Davis, Borbon, Smoak, MaxRam, etc.) put up the 9 and Hickory (Perez, Font, Neil Ramirez, Carlos Pimentel, Wieland, Boscan, Brigham, Castillo, Nam, etc. — good lord) keep the opposition to a run.

This morning, I got both. The OKC lineup exploded and Hickory’s young arms dominated. And for a little lagniappe, both clubs won. UPDATE: My friend Jason Cole from lonestardugout.com was in Round Rock last night and reports that Neftali was sitting 98-99 mph.

Good times. Anybody have any ideas about how I can trick my baseball-apathetic wife to take a family vacation to Hickory next month?

And not that it matters, but we’re tweaking the title of the Road (dropping “Minor League Report” for “Farm Report” to keep the title to one line.

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