Rangers Roll On, Take 2 Of 3 In Cleveland

In game 1 of the series, Texas looked like a team feeling the effect of a tough emotional series with the Angels. The offense was terrible, swinging wildly at pitches way out of the strike zone. Even when they managed some sort of contact with the ball, it was far from solid. Texas made Indians starter Aaron Laffey look like an ace, doing everything in their power to ensure the loss.

Dustin Nippert, making his first start since officially being named to the rotation, looked fine save for one bad inning. In the 3rd, it all came undone for Nippert as he allowed a couple of bloop base hits to snowball, surrendering five runs before the inning was done.

"That third inning was a disaster," Nippert said afterward. "I have no idea what happened."

To his credit, Nippert hung tough, remaining in the game, eating up six innings while spelling the bullpen. In the process, he struck out a career high 10 batters and at times looked dominant.



Omar Vizquel and Josh Hamilton were the lone bright spots for the Rangers offense. Each player had two base hits on the night but it was nowhere near enough to overcome the entire lineup hitting 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.

"We were just a flat team coming off an off-day," outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "We have an offense that can come back and score runs and negate that one inning, but tonight we didn't do it. Tomorrow we just have to come out focused and score early."

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Game two got off to a much better start as the emerging Tommy Hunter came out and set the tone on the mound for the night. After getting into a 1st inning jam, Hunter managed to get a double play to get out of the inning. He proceeded to toss another 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out five while not walking a single hitter.

"Tonight, Tommy Hunter was tough," manager Ron Washington said. "He had everything going for him. I don't think you expect him to throw 7 2/3 [innings of] scoreless ball every night, but you expect him to keep us in the game. He has shown the repertoire to keep hitters off-balance, and as long as he keeps it over the plate, he has a chance to keep us close."

"It's just fun going out there and winning," Hunter said. "It's fun going out there and being a part of something and know you had something to do with it."



Josh Hamilton continued his hot hitting by drilling a 2-run double in the gap in the top of the 3rd, giving Hunter all he would need to pick up his 5th career win.

C.J. Wilson came in to record the final five outs but all anyone, including Indians manager Eric Wedge, wanted to talk about was Tommy Hunter's performance.

"I thought he was real good. I was very impressed by him," Wedge said. "He threw his fastball where he wanted to. He worked both sides, he was down. He really worked his breaking ball early and mixed in his changeup as it wore on. We had a lot of quick outs and that was because of his command. Another thing that stuck out to me was his poise out there. He seemed very relaxed."

"It's the same thing he's done for us since he got up here," catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. "He battled for six or seven innings. We went with a lot of curveballs, but that's what was working. He got ahead of a lot of hitters and stayed ahead."

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Cleveland picked up a run early in the final game of the series but, much like he's done all season long, Scott Feldman simply regrouped and battled back to give the Rangers six innings of six strikeout, one run baseball.

"Their pitching the last couple days has been very good," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I was really impressed with their pitching this entire series. They've always hit, but the difference this year is their pitching. It has to start with the starting pitching. We were able to shut them down and score a couple runs the first night, and that's exactly what they did to us these last two days."

Neftali Feliz came in and unleashed his 100mph fastball on an Indians offense that had been hitting close to .300 since the All-Star break before Texas came into town. Feliz pitched two innings of shutout ball, striking out five of the six batter he faced.

"I go out there, pitch six innings and get five or six strikeouts," Feldman said. "He matches me in two innings. Pretty impressive."



Josh Hamilton continues to make huge strides in his attempt to shake off what had become a season-long slump. Hamilton went 4-for-4 on the day with a couple of doubles and two RBI. He is now 9 for his last 10.

"This was a good series," said Hamilton. "[The Indians] have been playing well. Hopefully we can go back with some fire under our tails against Boston."

Frank Francisco pitched a scoreless 9th to notch his 16th save of the season.

Texas will have Friday off as they head home for a 3-game series with Boston, followed by a big 4-game home series with the Minnesota Twins.

Omar Vizquel Becomes Venezuelan Hit King

On Thursday night, Omar Vizquel collected hit no. 2678, passing Hall of Famer and fellow countryman Luis Aparicio to become the all-time hits leader for a player born in Venezuela.

"Finally. ... Wow. I feel 100 pounds lighter," Vizquel said. "I can go out and enjoy the game again and forget about everything else."



With the hit, Vizquel may have put his final touches on a career that many believe will lead to his induction into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame.

Not only is Vizquel now a hit king, he is also a 3-time All-Star and an 11-time Gold Glove winner. He also broke Cal Ripken Jr.'s record for consecutive games at short stop without and error, has played more games at short stop than any other player in history and is the all-time leader in turned double plays.

Pudge Sets A Record, Vizquel Ties A Record, Rangers Win In Extra Innings

History was made Wednesday night as Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez caught his 2,227th game, setting a new record which was previously held by Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk.



When Rodriguez stepped to the plate for his first at-bat, he recieved a standing ovation from the more than 32,000 fans in attendance.

"It was awesome," Rodriguez said. "What happened today out there was unbelievable. A standing ovation my first time up, it was awesome. I got some goose bumps when that happened. The video that they did in the third inning was unbelievable. I want to say thanks to the Rangers organization for what they did here for me and the Houston Astros also about these days. It was nice. It was an unbelievable moment."

Omar Vizquel also made a move on history, picking up his 2,677th career base hit, tying fellow countryman and Hall of Fameer Luis Aparicio for the most hits ever by a player from Venezuela.



"I never thought I'd be involved in a situation like that," Vizquel said. "So many good players have come from our country."

While the game seemed secondary to all the added intrigue, it still managed to deliver a few fireworks of its own. Both teams went back and forth for the entire game, niether ever able to fully gain any sort of advantage.

There were five total lead changes in the game, the last coming in the bottom of the 10th as David Murphy went opposite field for an RBI single to give Texas the 5-4 victory.

"It just felt great," Murphy said. "I really do believe that the walk-off is the best moment in baseball. The team gets to celebrate on the field, it brings everybody together and gives you a little momentum going into tomorrow."

Matt Harrison, just back from the DL pitched well enough, giving Texas five innings, allowing three runs.

"My arm felt really good," Harrison said. "It was frustrating falling behind a lot of hitters, but I made pitches when I had to. Overall I felt pretty good, but I wish I could have gone out there at least another inning.

C.J. Wilson pitched very effectively, giving Texas two shutout innings. Since his early season struggles, Wilson has been much more consistent on the mound.

While Texas' offense remains a bit of an inconsistent mystery, they did manufacture some runs, stealing three bases on the night, all of which resulted in runs coming across the plate.

Manager Ron Washington seemed proud of the sustained effort given by his team.

"We kept battling and finding ways," Washington said. "When it was all over, these guys found a way to pull it off."

Both Nelson Cruz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit solo homeruns for Texas.

Nelson Cruz Homers Texas To Win In Houston

Looks like Nelson Cruz has found his stroke.

After drilling the game-winning homerun Friday night, Cruz came back and hit two more on Saturday, pacing Texas to the 6-3 victory.

"My swing is there," Cruz said. "I don't worry about home runs, they'll come. I just worry about being consistent and getting my knocks. It doesn't matter where I hit, I've got to do my job."



Hank Blalock added a solo homerun giving Scott Feldman, who went a season high 6 2/3 innings, more than enough to work with as he picked up his third win of the year.

"He was good," Astros catcher Ivan Rodriguez said. "He was pitching great. He wasn't missing his spots -- good breaking ball, good fastball, good sinker. I was having a good at-bat in the second at-bat, fouled off some tough pitches and he ended up striking me out. "

"I feel like I'm going out there with more and more confidence and throwing all my pitches effectively," Feldman said. "My confidence in all my pitches is getting better and it makes it a lot easier to pitch when you're ahead in the count."

Both Michael Young (who had sprained his ankle in yesterday's game) and Ian Kinler sat out the game. Their replacements, Hank Blalock and Omar Vizquel, went a combined 5 for 9 with a run scored and one RBI.

C.J. Wilson closed the game out, picking of his 3rd save of the year.

Harrison Throws A Gem, Shuts Out Chi Sox

It looks as though Matt Harrison has figured it out. Crediting a decision to waste less time in between pitches, Harrison has been ace-like ever since with Friday's game in Chicago being the best of the bunch.

Harrison threw a complete game shutout against an offense stacked with All-Star caliber talent, striking out five and walking only one batter. Harrison has now thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings.

"I just kept pounding the fastballs in and out and using my changeup," Harrison said. "If they made an adjustment, I would make one, but they didn't, so I just kept doing the same thing I did last start."



Harrison's offense helped him out early, spotting him a run in the first and two more in the second. Ian Kinsler and Omar Vizquel both had 2 RBI nights, pacing Texas for 6 runs on 11 hits.

If Harrison can keep pounding the strike zone the way he has his last three starts, Ron Washington thinks his best may still be yet to come.

"Harry's got good stuff. He's always had good stuff. He'll tell you [that] he played on the edges. [He's] stopped playing on the edges and [started] making them swing the bat and put the ball in play."