Rangers Avoid Sweep- Leave Philly With a Win

It was another low scoring game between the Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies. Despite another poor performance with runners in scoring position (1 for 9) the Rangers were able to come out on top. Roy Oswalt took the mound for Philly and Matt Harrison threw for the Rangers.

Harrison was excellent tonight, and could have finished the game for the Rangers. This was a great sign considering the last Harrison win came against New York on April 15^th. Harry was two outs shy of a complete game, and only allowed five hits with no runs. It’s hard to explain how good his afternoon was, his breaking ball and off-speed pitches really made him a complete pitcher. I’m anxious to see his next start to see if this will carry over. Harry allowed a base-runner in the ninth and Wash went to Neftali Feliz. Surprisingly after two blown saves in a row, Feliz earned the save with little drama.

The offense was still sparse in the game, but they did just enough to win. In the top of the sixth Michael Young hit a single, and Adrian Beltre grounded out but moved the runner over to scoring position. Mitch Moreland hit a double to left, just barely missing a home run and scored Young. In the eighth Beltre hit a double to left, and Moreland grounded out to move the runner to third. In an impressive move the squeeze was called and Craig Gentry laid down the bunt. The pitch went pretty far inside and knocked Gentry down; Beltre had a solid lead and scored easily.

Surprisingly the Rangers sit just one game over .500 at 24 and 23. Depending on how today’s Angels/Braves game turns out, the Rangers will either have sole-possession of first or be tied with the Angels. As we reported earlier Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton both had good weekends in Round Rock. According to Rangers brass both will rejoin the team tomorrow.

-Jonathan