RANGERS 101

The Texas Rangers busted out the lumber Sunday against Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants with 11 hits on their way to a 5-0 win at AT&T Ballpark. The Rangers bullpen was used early when starter Alexi Ogando suffered a strained right groin legging out a bunt in the top of the fourth inning.

The 6’4 Rangers starter took the bump in his first starting appearance since September 2011 retiring the first nine Giants batters on just 39 pitches before giving way to Robbie Ross (6-0) for the Giants home half of the fourth.

Ranger shortstop Elvis Andrus opened the top of the third connecting on a laser to the right-center field gap that rolled all the way to the wall for a stand-up triple followed by a double past the outstretched arms of third baseman Pablo Sandoval for a double scoring Andrus from third for the early 1-0 lead.

Mitch Moreland jump started the Rangers offense in the top of the fourth taking a 91 MPH fastball from Lincecum for a single to left field. Moreland went to second on a dribbler off the bat of Craig Gentry handcuffed Sandoval putting runners on first and second with Ogando coming to the plate.

Texas hurler Mat Harrison ran his record to an impressive 8-3 mark shutting out the San Francisco Giants 5-0 Friday night at AT&T Park.

Harrison tossed his third career shutout, and his first since 2009.
“He had a great night,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “He stayed ahead of hitters all night, pounded the strike zone and the defense was outstanding. They were picking the ball up all night.”

Harrison (8-3) dominated hitters with an arsenal of off-speed pitches that seemed to have Giants hitters baffled and frustrated all night. His sinker was especially effective allowing only five singles and no walks while striking out four.

“It felt good,” Harrison said. “A lot of games I’ve run into trouble in the sixth and seventh innings, bad walks, and it’s knocked me out of the game. Tonight I was able to pitch through it.

“That’s the best stuff I’ve had this year, considering throughout the game everything felt right. My fastball was down, my sinker was moving and my changeup was really good. I can’t say enough about the job [catcher] Yorvit Torrealba did. We were on the same page all night and the defense was outstanding. It was unbelievable how great they were behind me.”

The Texas Rangers took it on the chin again Thursday night losing three of four to the Oakland A’s with Texas phenom Yu Darvish on the mound suffering his fourth road loss of the season against seven wins at home.

Darvish lasted just 5 1/3 innings giving up six runs on just six hits and walking four while fanning just four in the loss. Texas manager Ron Washington relieved Darvish after throwing 110 pitches on the night.

“It was walks that hurt Darvish, and we didn’t supply enough runs,” manager Ron Washington said after the game.
“Oakland’s pitching staff did a good job this series,” Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton said.

“But it was a little bit of both, us being in a slump, or not hitting, or hitting the ball right at people, them making good plays, us not getting any broken bats. There are a whole lot of things we can talk about.

“Looking over the last three years … this is out of the ordinary. What makes us so good is that it’s usually two, three guys who are getting it done, and it’s different people all the time. Right now, nobody is doing it.”

The Texas Rangers suffered their first shutout of the season Wednesday night falling 2-0 at the hands of Bartolo Colon and the Oakland A’s.

Wednesday’s loss was the sixth in the team’s last eight games. Colby Lewis took the loss surrendering two runs while pitching his way to the second complete game of the season for the Rangers.

“That was an amazing pitching performance and we wasted it because we couldn’t put any runs on the board,” said manager Ron Washington after the game. “We still have some guys who are not playing up to their offensive capability right now. We’re a little inconsistent on the offensive side. We’ve got to keep grinding it out and we’ll get it together. There are nights we put it together and nights where we don’t put it together. I guess you could say we’re inconsistent.”

Lewis gave up the first run of the game in the bottom of the second when Yoenis Cespedes lined his eight double of the season down the left field line off a 3-1 slider that David Murphy chased down in the corner.

Brandon Inge laced a single up the middle scoring Cespedes from second for the 1-0 A’s lead.