After stingy streak ends, Chi Chi starts another

OAKLAND -- Rangers rookie right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez didn't seemed fazed by allowing his first run after 15 scoreless innings to start his career. He just started another streak.

Gonzalez (2-1) was the tough-luck loser in the Rangers' 7-0 setback to the Athletics on Thursday. When he left the game, he was trailing, 1-0.

"I'm happy. Whatever happens, happens. It's baseball," Gonzalez said. "It's been a great ride throwing up zeros. The first inning, I was only working one side of the plate, but when I got back to using both sides, it worked out."

Perhaps the most impressive part of his outing was the ability to make an in-game adjustment, something that led to throwing six scoreless innings and finishing with an eight-hitter over seven innings. He walked three and struck out four.

"I loved the way he competed," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "He made an adjustment and started getting the ball in on them. He picked that out on his own. Two walks early, but once he found the strike zone, he was good. He has tremendous composure; he's composed beyond his experience at this level."

Twice the A's got their first two hitters on leading off an inning, and he shut the door both times, once getting a nice double play from Delino DeShields.

Video: TEX@OAK: DeShields throws out Fuld at home plate

"Every time we got some traffic out there, he seemed to get better," A's manager Bob Melvin said.

Gonzalez became the fifth pitcher since 1990 to pitch 5 2/3 innings or more while allowing one run or less in each of his first three starts.

"You can't take anything away from him. He was in control out there," Banister said. "The more he does it, the more we'll expect him to do it. Any time a rookie comes to the bigs and does this type of stuff, you don't expect it three straight starts. We knew he was a good pitcher, and we loved what he's done."

Gonzalez said walking two hitters in the first inning got under his skin, and he wanted to minimize the damage.

"Once I had some traffic on the bases, I went back to the game plan, and it worked out," he said. "But every loss is tough, especially when we had a chance to win a series."

Video: TEX@KC: Gonzalez pitches shutout in win over Royals

After three Major League outings, Gonzalez owns an ERA of 0.42, which includes a three-hit shutout in his second start.