(Sports Network) - The Texas Rangers have been rather inconsistent in recent weeks, except in games when Scott Feldman has pitched on the road.

The surprising pitcher will attempt to extend his club-record winning streak in away games when he takes the mound for the Rangers in this afternoon's matchup with the Oakland Athletics at the Coliseum.

Feldman has been one of the American League's most successful hurlers this season, as the converted reliever's 17 victories are just one short of the New York Yankees' CC Sabathia and St. Louis' Adam Wainwright for the most in the majors. Most of his accomplishments have taken place on the road, where the right-hander has gone an astounding 12-1 with a 2.43 earned run average in 14 starts.

In his most recent appearance in a visiting park, Feldman spun seven shutout innings to defeat Cleveland on September 9 to notch his eighth straight winning decision on the road. The 26-year-old's only blemish away from home took place at San Francisco's AT&T Park on June 19.

Feldman has made two starts since that triumph, with mixed results. He was tagged for six runs in six innings during a home loss to the Athletics on September 14, but rebounded to throw 6 2/3 frames of two-run ball in the Rangers' 3-2 win over the rival Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim this past Saturday.

Feldman did beat Oakland twice previously this season, including a May 6 victory at the Coliseum in which he allowed two runs and just four hits over six solid innings, and is 3-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 12 lifetime games (7 starts) against the A's.

He'll be trying to keep the Rangers' fading playoff chances alive in today's finale of this four-game series. Texas has won two of the first three bouts, but has lost seven of its last 10 overall to fall behind in both the AL West and Wild Card chases.

The Rangers did close to within 6 1/2 games of the first-place Angels in the division following yesterday's 9-8 edging of the A's, with Anaheim losing to the New York Yankees on Wednesday. Texas is seven games back of Boston for the lead in the Wild Card standings.

Hank Blalock led the way in last night's win by going 3-for-4 with a homer, two doubles and four RBI, while Marlon Byrd and David Murphy each knocked in a pair of runs for the Rangers.

Starting pitcher Tommy Hunter was reached for seven runs and nine hits over the first 5 2/3 innings, but was still able to claim the win thanks to his offense and a strong effort from the Texas bullpen, which held Oakland to one run over the final 3 1/3 frames.

Athletics starter Clayton Mortensen gave up seven runs in a 4 2/3-inning stint, although only three were earned due to a pair of Oakland errors.

Cliff Pennington had a two-run single for the A's, who lost for only the fourth time in their last 17 games. Rajai Davis finished 2-for-5 with an RBI in the loss and is batting .413 (19-for-46) with 10 runs scored and 10 batted in during an 11-game hit streak.

Oakland will hand the ball to Brett Anderson today in hopes of evening this series. The highly-regarded rookie has won his last three starts to improve to 10-10 in his debut campaign and is coming off a sensational performance in his most recent outing.

Against Cleveland this past Friday, Anderson yielded just four hits and struck out a career-high 10 batters over six shutout innings in a 2-1 victory at the Coliseum. The young lefty has posted a 2.50 ERA and fanned 20 over 18 innings during his winning streak.

Anderson has yet to defeat the Rangers in three previous starts this season, however, having recorded a loss and two no-decisions in those games while surrendering 11 runs (9 earned) over a span of 16 2/3 innings.

Oakland has won 10 of 18 clashes with the Rangers so far in 2009, including five of nine games held at the Coliseum.













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