ARLINGTON, Texas -- The White Sox couldnt solve Scott Feldman on Sunday night.
The Texas Rangers right-hander wasnt dominant, but did enough good things to help his team avoid a White Sox sweep with a 2-0 victory in front of 46,744 at Rangers Ballpark.
Feldman and Joe Nathan combined on a seven-hit shutout to beat the White Sox, who had won five in a row overall and against the Rangers. Gavin Floyd (8-9) took the loss as the White Sox lead over the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central was trimmed to 1 12 games.
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Feldman wasnt overpowering. He allowed all seven of the White Sox hits. But he was efficient and got 13 outs on ground balls to slow the Sox, who had scored 40 runs and hit .305 with 12 home runs in their previous five games. Only twice in eight innings did Feldman, a 17-game winner in 2009, allow two runners to reach in a frame.
He allowed two singles in the second inning but got Kevin Youkilis to pop out to third and Adam Dunn flew out to right. Then in the seventh, Feldman, who needed only 88 pitches to complete eight innings, erased a leadoff single by Alexei Ramirez with a first-pitch double play off the bat of Dayan Viciedo. Feldman struck out five.
Floyd wasnt nearly as efficient but managed to be effective. He let 13 runners reach base in 6 23 innings pitched, including five walks and a hit batsmen.
But Floyd also skillfully danced in and out of trouble. He loaded the bases in the first two innings, but retired Michael Young on a grounder to end one and Adrian Beltre on a pop up to finish the next.
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Floyd wouldnt get as lucky in the third inning as Ramirez bobbled a potential inning-ending slow grounder with runners on the corners to give Texas a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers added a second run in the fifth inning when Nelson Cruz alertly scored from third base on Youngs one-out comebacker after Floyd threw to first base. Cruz, who was two steps off the bag, waited until Floyd turned his back and took off, scoring well ahead of Dunns bouncing throw home.