Matt Harrison pitched a complete game shutout and the Texas Ranger hitters manufactured runs tonight against the Chicago White Sox. Harrison allowed only 4 hits for the game, all singles, and had 5 strikeouts in the 2nd complete game shutout of his career. Rangers starting pitcher Matt Harrison came into the game with 10 straight innings without allowing a run, dating back to April 27th against the Baltimore Orioles. Harrison's streak is now at 19 innings after his 4 hitter tonight. In the third inning of that game in Baltimore, Harrison's ERA had risen to 10.37 for the season; after this game it is 4.79. A key component to his renewed efficiency and effectiveness is his increased sense of urgency on the mound. Instead of wasting time after pitches, Matt Harrison and the rest of the Rangers pitching staff as a whole have been getting into their delivery more quickly which has helped the staff as a whole.
Harrison did get into a bit of trouble in the eighth inning after White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko led off the inning with a routine fly ball that Ian Kinsler dropped (4th error of the season), putting Konerko on first. Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski followed with a pop up near Kinsler that first baseman Chris Davis called for and caught. Harrison then threw his worst pitch of the night as Chicago 2nd baseman Jayson Nix crushed a hanging slider to deep left field that David Murphy caught at the wall. After a single from White Sox center fielder Brent Lillibridge, Harrison settled down and got 2nd baseman Chris Getz to ground out to end the inning.
Even though he was over 100 pitches in the ninth inning, Harrison continued to pitch quickly and had great velocity on his fastball as it was consistently hitting 93 mph on the radar gun throughout the inning. He got a strikeout and consecutive groundouts on Chicago's 2-4 hitters (J.Fields, C.Quintin, J.Thome) to end the inning. Harrison is now 3-2 on the season with the win.
The Chicago White Sox started former 15 game winner Jose Contreras and he continued to struggle with his control as he allowed 2 walks, threw 2 wild pitches, and hit a batter in only 3.2 innings. Contreras allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits in this brief outing and received the loss (0-5). The Chicago crowd cheered loudly as White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen went out to the mound to end Contreras' night and wildly booed him as he walked to the bench. Chicago's bullpen pitched well and only allowed 1 run the rest of the game (4.1 innings) and got the Rangers to strike out 8 times.
The Ranger hitters didn't rely on the long ball to score runs in this game, they relied on small ball. The first inning was a prime example: Ian Kinsler led of the game with a walk and immediately stole second. Omar Vizquel followed with a single up the middle that scored Kinsler from second. This was the only run scored in the inning but was a precursor to the way the Rangers would manufacture runs on the evening.
The Rangers second inning began with a Nelson Cruz strikeout. Cruz had 4 strikeouts on the game for only the second time in his career. The next hitter, David Murphy, hit a grounder to Chicago third baseman Josh Fields but was safe at first after Fields threw too high for the first baseman Paul Konerko who was pulled off the bag. Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden followed with back-to-back singles which loaded the bases for Ian Kinsler. Kinsler knocked a hard-hit ground ball to the shortstop (former Ranger Lance Nix younger brother) Jayson Nix who threw to second on a fielder's choice and David Murphy scored from third. Jose Contreras followed this up with a wild pitch that allowed Chris Davis to score from third, giving the Rangers a 3-0 lead. Omar Vizquel fouled out to end the inning.
The Rangers' fourth inning began with a double by David Murphy. Contreras threw yet another wild pitch (this time to Chris Davis) that allowed Murphy to advance to third. Davis struck out on the next pitch. Jose Contreras followed this up by hitting the next batter Taylor Teagarden, which gave the Rangers runners at first and third with only 1 out. Ian Kinsler stepped up to the plate and caught everyone off guard by dropping a bunt down the 3rd base line. It will go down as a sacrifice bunt because Ian was thrown out at first but he was going for a single on that one. The sacrifice scored Murphy from third and brought Texas' lead to 4-0. Omar Vizquel followed with a double to right field that scored Teagarden and increased the Rangers' lead to 5-0. Michael Young ended the inning with a strike out.
David Murphy led off the top of the 6th inning with a single to right field. Murphy had a good game and went 2-4 on the night with 3 runs scored. The next batter, Chris Davis, struck out swinging but Murphy was able to move to 2nd on a wild pitch during the at-bat. Taylor Teagarden scored Murphy from 2nd with a double to left field giving the Rangers' a 6-0 lead. After an Ian Kinsler single, Omar Vizquel popped out and then Elvis Andrus grounded out to second to end the inning.
The Rangers win 6-0, are now 16-13 on the season, and have won 6 of their past 7 games.
News and Notes:
- Michael Young's 11 game hitting streak came to an end as he had to leave the game in the 5th inning. Word from the Rangers' trainers is that Young tweaked his back, but will be ok for tomorrow's game.
- 42 year old Omar Vizquel replaced Young at 3rd and made an amazing play in the bottom of the 6th as he caught a ball that was smoked his way and managed to throw to second to begin a double-play that got Matt Harrison out of a mini-jam to end the inning. Vizquel has played 5 innings total at 3rd base his entire career. Elvis Andrus replaced Vizquel at second.
- Seattle lost tonight 11-0 to the Twins and have lost 5 straight games going back to Monday against the Rangers'.
- The Rangers are 5th in the American League in steals with 21. Individually, Ian Kinsler (who had another tonight) leads the team with 8 steals and is 5th in the American League.
- Kinsler also leads the Rangers' in RBI's with 27 and is 7th in the American League in that category. Ian also leads the team in Home Runs with 9 which is tied for 3rd. Chris Davis is 10th with 7.
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