PEORIA, Ariz. -- The line didn't look very good, but Colby Lewis shrugged it off in the clubhouse after the Rangers' 17-5 loss to the Padres on Tuesday at Peoria Stadium.
"I got my pitch-count up and overall I felt pretty good," Lewis said. "I'm not concerned with results and never have been. Sometimes you pitch well and get results, sometimes you pitch well and don't get results."
Lewis didn't get good results, allowing nine runs in 4 2/3 innings. He also allowed 11 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out one.
"They got him early in the count and he couldn't quite find his rhythm," manager Jeff Banister said. "It seems like he was pitching with runners on base all the time. We didn't make some plays behind him."
Lewis, taking the mound with the wind blowing 20-25 mph toward the outfield, gave up home runs to outfielder Jabari Blash and Derek Norris, and four doubles, including one to Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner.
"Especially with the wind blowing, you know balls are going to leave the park," Lewis said. "I'm trying to keep the ball down. I'm not a big velocity guy anymore so I have to keep the ball down."
Banister said he isn't worried about Lewis.
"If it was another pitcher I would get concerned," Banister said.
There is enough to be concerned about. In 22 Cactus League games, Rangers starting pitchers have a 7.57 ERA with opponents hitting .354 against them. In 63 innings, they have allowed 97 hits and 25 walks while striking out 40. Their collective ERA over the past eight games is 11.38 and the Rangers have lost six of those eight.
The front-four starters -- Lewis, Cole Hamels, Derek Holland and Martin Perez -- have started 10 of those 22 games. Chi Chi Gonzalez has started three, A.J. Griffin, Nick Martinez and Nick Tepesch have started two each and Jeremy Guthrie, Victor Payano and Phil Klein have started one each.
DeShields leaves game
Rangers center fielder Delino DeShields left the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with biceps tendinitis. It is considered to be a mild case and DeShields will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
"It's just been a little bit sore and we thought it was a good idea to come out and be cautious, give it a little break," DeShields said. "It has happened before and it goes away, but today it lingered a little bit longer."
DeShields batted ninth on Tuesday with Shin-Soo Choo in the leadoff spot. Banister said he wanted to give Choo and second baseman Rougned Odor extra at-bats because they missed time with minor injuries. DeShields entered the game with 31 at-bats while Choo had 21 and Odor 18 this spring.
Worth noting
•Left-hander Sam Freeman pitched two scoreless innings in a Minor League game.
• The Rangers will host the Cubs for their second annual Futures Game on Wednesday in Surprise. The Cactus League game will start at 3:05 p.m. CT and the Futures Game will start 30 minutes afterwards. The Rangers won, 5-1, last year in Mesa.
• The Cubs are bringing two former notable Rangers pitching prospects to Surprise on Wednesday. Kyle Hendricks is pitching in the Cactus League game for the Cubs against the Rangers and C.J. Edwards is starting in the Futures Game immediately after. The Rangers traded Hendricks to the Cubs in the Ryan Dempster deal in 2012 and Edwards in the swap for Matt Garza in '13.
• Holland will start the Cactus League game and Dillon Tate, last year's No. 1 Draft pick, will start the Futures Game for Texas.