Near no-hitter

The Rangers Rich Harden, Matt Hudson, Darren O'Day, and Neftali Feliz combined for a 1-hit shutout as the Rangers beat the Twins 4-0. Harden was pulled after 6.2 innings because he had thrown a lot of pitches, and he had walked 5 batters.

Feliz finished the game for the Rangers, and he got Denard Span to fly out. He walked Orlando Hudson, and then Joe Mauer came up to bat.

Mauer singled to shallow center, ending the no-hit bid. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch, but Feliz didn't allow anything else. The only Twins hit was by Mauer.

Harden, who was a great pitcher in Oakland and Chicago, had had struggles in 2010. Texas fans wanted a trade. They wanted another pitcher. They may rethink that now, but Harden will need to finish strong. And a no-hitter through 6 innings is a great way to start that.

After Harden came out. Matt Hudson and Darren O'Day got the Rangers through the 7th and 8th. O'Day struck out 2 to get the Rangers out of the eighth.

Harden improved to 5-4, and the Rangers improved to 70-54 and 8.5 games ahead of second place Oakland.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Script - That Is, the Revised Script - Had This Super Bowl Matchup All Along

Image
Screenwriter Goodell has done it again! It's admittedly not the script I saw written in the stars - or rather in the combination of the NFL's Super Bowl logo and a Memphis radio station's (now) false advertising. The best explanation is that not even Goodell could have foreseen the Taylor Swift effect - and called in the cast midseason to push the Chiefs' Super Bowl hangover back one more year at Baltimore's expense. When the Harbaugh family threatened to sue, he called in a favor to the NCAA - and Jalen Milroe - to have Jim pocket the family's due 2023 ring. And then, to give big bro the upper hand, inflicted Jim with the worst curse in all of sports - that of the LA Chargers. Equilibrium is restored. It looked like the revised script was about to bring the 49ers down too in favor of the bookended schedule Super Bowl that Jake Marsh wanted to see so badly - the same kickoff game and championship game matchup. The thought crossed my mind as a minor consolation i
Read more

Taking My Talents Back to Baily's Sports and Stuff...And My Thoughts on Al Davis vs the NFL

I've recently gotten captivated by the practice of journaling - generally on my own thoughts that I notice and how I feel at various moments. This has been a transformative practice in my personal life in enabling me to be more honest with myself (which is really hard!) - whether that be about discomfort I feel, what conditions provide a state of flow, or anything in between. The ability to document my life on paper - and go back and read what resonated with me at a particular point in time - has been a similarly great practice for me. Recently, the excitement of playoff football and midseason basketball has led to me pursuing a similar practice in my personal journal - airing out thoughts on sports ranging from stats I've tried to memorize to my (often unwanted) psychological analysis on a given athlete / situation. I love the process of putting pen to paper, and plan to continue this in my personal life.  But when it comes to sports, I had the thought that maybe there's n
Read more

A's Fall To White Sox On Walk-Off Home Run

Image
In late innings, the Oakland Athletics are almost unstoppable. However, Jordan Danks found a way to stop the A's. Danks hit a home run to right with two outs in the ninth to propel the White Sox to a 4-3 win over the A's. Both teams are competing in the AL Wild Card race, so the loss is crucial for the A's, who received a solid outing from Brandon McCarthy in his return from the DL. McCarthy allowed three earned runs in six-plus innings pitched, and the two teams were tied after seven innings. Both teams received solid efforts from the bullpen, but the White Sox triumphed at the end. Dayan Viciedo, A.J Pierzynski and Alexi Ramirez also homered, all taking advantage of mistakes by McCarthy. McCarthy gave Ramirez a meatball in the fourth, and he hit it deep to left field. Viciedo and Pierzynski both hit outside pitches into the seats for the White Sox. With the game tied at three, submariner Pat Neshek delivered a pitch. Catcher George Kottaras wanted it away, but Nes
Read more