Niese (5-2) surrendered seven hits, an earned run and a walk over six innings in Friday's 9-1 victory over the Rangers. He struck out two.

EDGE Analysis

It was Niese's fourth straight quality start, and second consecutive where he only surrendered an earned run. He threw 62 of 93 pitches for strikes Friday, and notched first-pitch strikes on 15 of 26 batters. Niese has now given up only four earned runs over his last 19 innings, and has lowered his ERA from 5.94 to 4.42 since the calendar turned to May.