ARLINGTON, Texas _ Scott Feldman had the honor Wednesday of pulling another day off the Games Remaining countdown in left field. There are four games remaining at Globe Life Park.
Feldman broke into the majors with the Texas Rangers and was their Pitcher of the Year in 2009. He did his best pitching after he left them after the 2012 season, signing with the Chicago Cubs and going to the Baltimore Orioles in a July trade that involved Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop.
Those names should ring a bell.
Feldman retired after the 2017 season at the ripe age of 34 with career earnings, according to Baseball-Reference, of $52,776,883.
Good for him.
As for the Rangers, Wednesday was nearly as good.
Here's some Rangers Reaction to a 10-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox.
Things didn't start remotely well for Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello, who allowed three first-inning runs after the Rangers opened double (Shin-Soo Choo), single (Elvis Andrus), hit by pitch (Willie Calhoun), double (Rougned Odor).
Ronald Guzman had the fourth Rangers hit of the inning, an RBI single off of third baseman Rafael Devers.
Porcello then proceeded to allow only two hits over the next five innings while the Red Sox erased a 3-0 deficit for a 7-3 lead when Porcello excited what was the final start of the worst season of his career.
"He made a lot of quality pitches after the first," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said.
Porcello is a free agent of the season, and the Rangers are in need of a proven right-hander for their rotation next season. He looked like a fit Wednesday, albeit against a watered-down Rangers lineup.
Porcello is finishing his 11th big-league season, which is very impressive and surprising considering he's 30 years old. He has been great at times in his career, as he was in winning the 2016 Cy Young over Justin Verlander and ticking off Kate Upton.
But he's likely in the tier of starters the Rangers will be looking to add from, the Not Gerrit Cole Tier. There are other righties in there, namely Zack Wheeler, and could be more depending on who opts out of what or which teams decline options.
The Rangers could do better than Porcello, but they could do worse. Shelby Miller and Drew Smyly are proof of that.
X-rays were negative, which is always a good thing, but Calhoun has a bone bruise on his left forearm after getting hit by Porcello pitch.
(Also of concern, though less so: How the heck does plate umpire John Libka call that a foul ball?)
More will be known about the bruise Thursday, but it sure looked like the hit by pitch that broke Andrus' right arm in 2018. Calhoun appeared to be in plenty of pain, though he stayed into the game to run and was thrown out at home for the first out of what turned out to be a three-run inning.
The Rangers play a day game Thursday in the series finale against the Red Sox, so that might not be enough time for Calhoun to feel good enough to play. The Rangers end the season with a three-game weekend series against the New York Yankees.
Calhoun expects to play in the final series, perhaps as soon as Friday. He has 20 home runs and an .850 OPS this season in 295 at-bats and is likely never headed back to the minors unless he needs a rehab assignment.
Of the many players the Rangers needed answers on this season, they received the right answer on Calhoun.
Left-hander Kolby Allard made his first career start against the Red Sox, who did to him what they have been doing to all pitchers for more than a decade now.
They worked counts, they hit his mistakes hard, the hit good pitches well enough to find a hole. Allard, who was sick Tuesday, had to work just to get nine outs, throwing 80 pitches, in what will be his final start of the season.
"Kolby's done a good job," Woodward said. "He's impressed us. I know it's a short amount of time, but his competitiveness, the pitch selection he has and his stuff, it plays. His confidence on the mound, the way he attacks hitters, I think it plays."
Allard will head into the off-season in a group of young pitchers who will attempt to win a rotation spot in spring training. The Rangers like the way he competes and his ability to pitch, which wasn't always evident as he posted a 4.96 ERA in nine starts and 45 1/3 innings.
"All in all I left it between the lines every time this season," he said. "I got a pretty good sample size under my belt, so I think there are a few things I do need to clean up going into next year. Going into this off-season I have a few things I think I need to improve on so I can have a great year next year."
Allard will finish his season with 160 1/3 innings overall, which will only help his chances at the rotation. The Rangers would have to worry less about his workload than fellow lefties Brock Burke and Joe Palumbo, who dealt with injuries this season and won't reach 100 innings.
Woodward said late Wednesday that Burke is being shut down with some shoulder discomfort.
Depending on how the off-season unfolds, the Rangers could have two rotation spots available. Allard should get one of them.
