Pittsburgh @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 23, 2010 ) Pittsburgh 3, Texas 13

The Texas Rangers haven't been to the playoffs in 11 years – but if their recent hot streak is any indication, that drought might be over in a few months.

The Rangers, whose last taste of postseason action came in 1999, are the hottest team in baseball after rolling to a 13-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates for their 10th win in a row. Texas goes for its third consecutive sweep Thursday night in the series finale against Pittsburgh.

The Rangers will send right-hander Scott Feldman to the mound, while the Pirates will counter with right-hander Jeff Karstens.

Feldman will make his 15th start of the season after leading the Rangers to a 9-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday. Feldman went seven innings, allowing three runs on nine hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Feldman opened the game with five scoreless innings before giving up all three runs in the sixth.

Feldman has now won four of his past six starts, going 4-2 with a 4.35 ERA. In his two Interleague starts so far this season, Feldman is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA.

Backing up Feldman, the Rangers bullpen has been equally impressive, posting a 1.37 ERA over the last 14 games. Reliever Alexi Ogando continued his unbelievable run Wednesday – he won his third game in his third career appearance, becoming the first relief pitcher to do that since Detroit’s Jon Warden in 1968.

Offensively, the Rangers scored 13 runs for the third time this season. Michael Young had three hits, including a two-run home run. Julio Borbon had two infield singles and has now hit safely in 16 of his last 18 games. Nelson Cruz, in his second game since returning from the disabled list, came through with three hits and three RBIs.

The Pirates, meanwhile, simply can’t find a way to win away from Pittsburgh. Wednesday’s loss marked the team’s 13th straight road loss, including a 0-8 mark in June.

Karstens, who moved into the rotation at the beginning of June, should give the Pirates a chance to salvage the series finale.

In his last start against Cleveland, Karstens went 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts for the victory. His only mistake was giving up a three-run home run to Austin Kearns in the sixth inning.

Karstens has never faced the Rangers.

Offensively, the Pirates managed three runs on six hits Thursday night. Delwyn Young had an RBI double, Pedro Alvarez had an RBI single and Neil Walker had a sacrifice fly.