Texas Ranger's pitcher Matt Harrison rebounded after a rough start, retiring 16 batters in a row and 17 out of 18 after the second inning, for his 1st victory of the season.
The first 2 innings of the ballgame took almost an hour to complete (55 minutes) as the Rangers hitters displayed their patience and Matt Harrison struggled.
In the top of the first, the Ranger's hitters forced Baltimore Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie to throw 37 pitches. The Ranger's didn't score any runs, but this long inning would benefit them later in the game. Matt Harrison took the mound and after getting a ground out to begin the inning, he allowed 3 straight singles to the Orioles 2-4 hitters which allowed Baltimore to take the lead 1-0. Harrison threw 22 pitches in that inning.
The Rangers got a hit in the top of the second, but that was all as Guthrie cruised through the inning. The bottom of the second was Matt Harrison's worst inning as he threw 28 more pitches (50 pitches through 2 innings). He allowed Baltimore DH Luke Scott to begin the inning with a 5 pitch walk. Lou Montanez doubled to left field which put Scott at third. Slumping catcher Gregg Zaun lined out to second then the ninth place hitter, SS Robert Andino, singled to right field which scored another run (Luke Scott) and put Montanez at third base. After Andino stole second, 2nd baseman Brian Roberts singled which scored both Montanez and Andino; bringing the score to 4-0 in the second. Harrison got a weird fielder's choice on a routine fly ball that was dropped by Rangers LF David Murphy, but he managed to throw the ball quickly to second getting the force out. This was the last base runner Harrison would allow until the 7th inning. Nick Markakis grounded out to end the inning.
The Rangers finally got to Guthrie in the top of the 4th as he had already thrown 61 pitches. After Andruw Jones lined out to center field, Hank Blalock crushed a pitch to deep left field off of the scoreboard for a double. Marlon Byrd immediately followed with a single to left field which scored Blalock, making the score 4-1. Guthrie then got 2 strikeouts to end the inning on long at-bats which sent his pitch count to near 90 for the game through 4 innings.
After a second consecutive 1-2-3 inning by Harrison, the Rangers were ready to score again in the 5th. After a ground out by Omar Vizquel and a fly out from Ian Kinsler, David Murphy got his 2nd hit of the season with a single to left field. Then Mr.Clutch came up to bat. After fouling off the first pitch he saw, Michael Young was ready to do some damage. Young hit the 2nd pitch that he saw to deep right field for a 2-run home run which made the score 3-4 and gave the Rangers some momentum. This was his 7th of the season and the Ranger's major league leading 39th in through 19 games. Andruw Jones struck out to end the inning.
Another 3 up 3 down inning from Harrison, and now the Ranger's were going to be rewarded for their patience at the plate in the top of the 6th. Matt Albers came in to relieve Jeremy Guthrie, after 5 innings and 101 pitches, but didn't provide much relief for the Orioles. Blalock started off the inning with another hard hit ball to the right field scoreboard, but this time he only got a single after Nick Markakis made a perfect throw to 2nd. Marlon Byrd flied out to center field and then Chris Davis walked on four pitches. Rarely used catcher Taylor Teagarden came up big with an RBI single to left field which scored Blaloack from 2nd making it 4-4. Omar Vizquel popped out and then Ian Kinsler walked which set things up for David Murphy. With his 3rd hit of the entire season Da Murph singled to center, scoring Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden and also putting the Rangers ahead for good at 6-4. Orioles "relief" pitcher Matt Albers was yanked after allowing 3 hits, 3 runs, and 2 walks in 2/3 of an inning. Michael Young grounded out to second to end the inning.
The bottom of the 6th looked the same as the last 3 innings did for Matt Harrison as he got a ground out, a fly out, and a strikeout for another 1-2-3 inning. The 7th inning started out the same as Harrison got the first two batters he faced on consecutive ground outs. After his horrific start he was one out away from having retired 17 batters straight and earning a ticket out of the game after 7 innings. Unfortunately for Harrison, 9th place hitter Robert Andino struck again, getting a bloop single to center to end his streak. Fortunately for the Rangers, no damage done as he got the next batter and finished the day retiring 17 of the last 18 batters he faced after that rough second inning.
Darren O'Day and C.J. Wilson did their jobs in the 8th, retiring all three Baltimore batters without any issue.
After retiring the first 2 batters he faced, Frank Francisco began to struggle in the 9th inning. He started out by hitting Lou Montanez with a pitch, and then allowed .102 hitter Gregg Zaun to hit a line shot to right field. Luckily for the Rangers, Francisco regained his composure to strike out 9th place hitter (and Matt Harrison killer) Robert Andino to close out the game. This was his 5th save of the year and he has not allowed a run through the first 19 games of this young season.
The Rangers concluded their 7 game road trip with a 4-3 record. They are now 9-10 through the first 19 games of the season. Oakland comes to town for 3 games starting tomorrow night at 7:05 pm central time.
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