The Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies kick off their interleague schedule Friday night in the opening contest of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park

Texas Rangers at Philadelphia Phillies

Texas closer Neftali Feliz blew his second save opportunity in two nights in allowing Kansas City to rally for a 2-1 victory in 10 innings Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium.  Entering the series, Feliz had blown only four saves in his career and had never blown consecutive chances.  “I thought he came out and attacked,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said.  “They made him work.  He was one pitch away.”  The club now switches gears and moves into interleague play, which may be a good thing, considering its 44-28 record the past four seasons versus the National League.  Texas owns a 56-68 all-time mark during interleague play, but possesses a current eight-game road win streak.  The team is 8-12 on the road during the 2011 campaign.

Rangers starting pitcher C.J. Wilson is scheduled to make his 10th start of the season and enters with a 4-2 record and 3.38 ERA.  The club has alternated wins and losses over his last five outings, picking up a 5-4 home win over the Angels last time out.  He picked up a no-decision in the effort, giving up four runs (two earned) and six hits over five frames.  The left-hander will be making his fourth road start of the year, registering an even 1-1 mark and 2.78 ERA, as he’s yet to allow a home run in 22 2/3 innings.  In two previous appearances versus the Phillies, Wilson has allowed a single run and three hits over two frames.

Philadelphia scored just a single run for the third time in four games last night, falling 7-1 to Colorado.  The Phillies have lost five of their last six games and the offense has managed to plate just 10 runs over that span.  To make matters worse, the club has likely lost outfielder Shane Victorino to the disabled list with a hamstring injury.  “We’re losing people every day and it’s got to stop sometime,” said manager Charlie Manuel.  “We’ve got guys playing who when the season started were on the bench.”  Since posting a franchise-best 18-8 record in April, the Phillies are just 8-9 through their first 17 games of May.  Manuel can only hope that playing the next eight games at Citizens Bank Park can turn around the team’s play, as they are 14-8 at the venue this season.

Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay is 5-3 with a 2.21 ERA in nine starts and is looking to snap his first losing streak of the season.  The right-hander enters having lost his last two outings despite giving up just five runs (four earned) and 13 hits over 16 strong innings.  Halladay has registered a solid 3-1 record and 2.52 ERA in five home outings, issuing just four walks and compiling 34 strikeouts.  In 20 previous appearances (19 starts) versus the Rangers, he has posted an even 7-7 mark and 5.36 ERA.

Bettors will likely back the Rangers due to their 31-13 record in Wilson’s last 44 starts, while the Phillies are 0-6 in their last six interleague home games versus a southpaw