Another Day, Another Shutout – Rangers Win 4 – 0

Almost a complete game shutout again tonight for the Rangers starter, this time it was Colby Lewis. Against the Seattle Mariners Lewis threw for eight and two/thirds innings, just an out shy of the complete game. The offense was almost held in check by a great Mariners pitching effort, but was able to dink and dunk their way through.

Lewis went 8.2 innings, and only gave up four hits and two walks. He had his strikeouts back as well, earning eight of them in the game. This was one of the most impressive outings I’ve seen from Lewis, he had excellent command and control, and most importantly was able to make bats miss. I’m not sure what happened to this Rangers’ pitching staff at the break, but hopefully they can harness it and spread it around.

The offense wasn’t amazing – but got the job done. Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, Michael Young, and Endy Chavez all had an RBI a piece on the game. Ian Kinsler was two-for-four with a double. They were held back by a talented Doug Fister, who was almost as good as Colby. Fister is the exact reason Pitching Wins should not be a factor in determining how good a pitcher is. Fister is 3 and 11 this year now with an ERA of 3.18, and a 1.17 WHIP. A little run support could have put him into the top tier of pitchers this year.

Lastly we have Neftali Feliz, who picked up his 19^th save of the season on one out. After two outs and two singles off of Lewis – Ron Washington went to the closer. Neftali promptly forces Jack Cust to ground out, and game over.

Another late night affair in Seattle tonight, keep the train moving!

-Jonathan