KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Josh Hamilton drove in two runs, Scott Feldman won his sixth straight decision and the Texas Rangers defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Saturday night.
Feldman (6-6) worked into the eighth inning and became the first pitcher in 29 years to win six consecutive decisions after starting the season 0-6. Doyle Alexander did it in 1983 with the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.
Hamilton, who leads the majors with 90 RBIs, hit an opposite-field single in the third inning to score Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Kinsler singled with one out and went to third on Andrus' double.
Mike Olt, called up Thursday from Double-A, added two RBIs for the AL West leaders.
With closer Joe Nathan unavailable, Alexi Ogando worked around two singles in the ninth to earn his third save.
Feldman, who was 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in July, held Kansas City to six hits and two runs over 7 2-3 innings. The Royals, who lost for the 23rd time in 32 games, scored twice in the fifth on groundouts by Chris Getz and Alex Gordon.
Olt, who had 28 home runs and 82 RBIs with Double-A Frisco before his promotion, hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI single with two outs in the sixth.
Royals rookie Will Smith (2-4) gave up four runs and eight hits over 5 2-3 innings in losing his third straight start.
The Rangers could have scored more runs in the third if not for a gaffe on the bases.
Hamilton stopped at second on Adrian Beltre's single before Nelson Cruz's grounder caromed off the glove of shortstop Alcides Escobar for an error. The Royals, however, converted that into a double play when Beltre was caught between second and third and tagged out. Cruz attempted to go to second on the play and was out to end the inning.
NOTES: The Royals fired first base coach Doug Sisson and replaced him with Rusty Kuntz, who served in that capacity from 2008-10. "We felt a change was needed," manager Ned Yost said. ... Nathan was unavailable again Saturday after throwing 62 pitches in two innings on Wednesday and Thursday. "That's a lot of pitches," he said. "I'm trying to get rid of some normal tightness and get back to throwing more free and easy. Two nights of breather will loosen me up." ... LF David Murphy remained in the Texas lineup, although the Royals started a left-hander. "He's hot," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "I'm going to ride him. At some point you have to take advantage of what guys are doing when they're hot." The left-handed hitting Murphy entered batting.378 against left-handers. ... Feldman has not pitched a complete game in 93 career starts, the third-longest active streak in the majors. ... LHP Derek Holland will make his sixth start Sunday for the Rangers since coming off the disabled list from shoulder fatigue. The Royals will start RHP Luke Hochevar, who is 2-0 with a 3.08 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers.
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