ARLINGTON, Texas — No one has doubts about either
Matt Harrison or Alexi Ogando's abilities to help the Texas Rangers down the
stretch and into what they hope is a long postseason run.
But in a results-oriented business, they haven't been pitching up to their
standards lately.
They did Tuesday night, however, as the Rangers opened a six-game homestand
with a 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Harrison, who had lost his last two starts and was pushed back two days for
extra rest after his last one, pitched 5-2/3 innings and picked up his 16th
victory of the season. Ogando, a huge piece in the Texas bullpen, relieved
Harrison and worked 1-1/3 hitless innings to get the Rangers to the back of
their bullpen.
It was the first appearance by Ogando since last Wednesday as the Rangers
haven't used him because of a sore right bicep. He needed just 21 pitches to
get his four outs Tuesday.
While the victory wasn't pretty against the lowly Tribe, it did allow Texas to
drop its magic number in the American League West to 19. It also left Texas
manager Ron Washington feeling good about his starter, especially after he
retired the first nine batters in order.
"The first three innings he was as sharp as he could possibly be,"
Washington said. "Then in the fourth, fifth and sixth he started to get
the ball up. I wasn't taking any more chances. He could have got out of rhythm.
I guess mechanics goes into rhythm. It's just all of the sudden he wasn't as
crisp as he was, and it was three innings in a row."
Harrison (16-9) had allowed 12 runs on 20 hits in his last two starts.
Cleveland scored two off him Tuesday as he struggled with his control, walking
three batters after the third inning. But by then the Rangers had scored four
runs for him.
Despite getting the win, Harrison knows he's still got some work to do to get
back to the form that earned him a trip to the All-Star Game and earned him the
American League June pitcher of the month honors.
"My approach was the same," Harrison said of the extra rest.
"Unfortunately I led off with two walks in the fourth. Other than that, I
feel like I stayed the same. I fell behind those two guys and I guess maybe
relaxed a little bit after we got that four-run lead and started pitching to
contact instead of staying aggressive like I was those first three
innings."
The good news for Harrison was that when he did run into trouble after just 87
pitches, Ogando was healthy and able to bail him out. He came on with after a
Matt LaPorta RBI double in the sixth and got a groundout to preserve the 5-2
lead. He then worked a perfect seventh after the Rangers had added a run.
It was a solid outing for Ogando, who allowed two runs in an inning in his last
outing.
"I felt good," Ogando said. "My arm was good and I think it was
healthy, absolutely. I was very focused on the job I had to do out there on the
mound. I've been working hard every day and when you do good, you feel
better."
The solid outings were needed as the Rangers had to use six pitchers to close
out a Cleveland team that's won just nine of its last 43 games. The Indians
closed to within 6-4 in the eighth inning and had the go-ahead run at the
plate. But Tanner Scheppers, the third pitcher the Rangers used in the inning,
struck out Michael Brantley to end the threat.
Joe Nathan then worked a perfect ninth which allowed Washington to breathe
easier.
"They (the Indians) don't have anything to lose, so they're out there
playing relaxed," he said. "We just have to stay on top of our game.
When the opportunity presents itself we have to do what the game asks us to do
and get those easy runs and cash in RBIs when they're out there against these
teams, because they keep fighting as you saw tonight."
