Matt Harrison thrives in duel with Ivan Nova as New York Yankees fall to Texas Rangers 5-3
The Texas Rangers moved on to the first win of their series against the New York Yankees away from their home ground. The match, which pitched the two 2010 American League contenders yet again, translated into a hard hitting game that saw the visitors manage
a narrow 5-3 win. The critics were paying close attention to the two starting pitchers who have shown great promise for their teams.
Unfortunately, only one of the two hurlers could walk out with the win, and it was a surprise to see Matt Harrison to take the honours at Yankees Stadium as Ivan Nova had an erratic night.
Harrison pitched brilliantly to put the hosts out of contention with a 5–3 score line. The Rangers recorded their best double-play count of six, as the Texan hurler beat the Yanks with just one run allowed. The ball thrower walked off with three walks and
seven hits allowed.
Curtis Granderson, who smashed a solo home run off the pitcher, praised Harrison after the game. He said, "He kept the ball down. That's what you teach pitchers. When you go ahead and want to make ground-ball outs, you make pitches down in the zone. He did
a great job of that."
Granderson added, "It was amazing to watch pressure get put on him, but he made all of his pitches down, from his fastball to his slider to his changeup. You get guys to go ahead to swing at that pitch, you put it in play and it's hard to do something with."
Nova, on the other hand, looked out of sorts as he gave up five runs off four hits. Currently on an earning runs average of 7.36, the New York hurler has availed 17 hits in 14.2 innings of play.
Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz summed up Nova's performance by saying, "He was kind of wild. He had great stuff, but the weather affected all of the pitchers and their command. The goal was to be patient."
The Rangers will be bringing in Derek Holland against the Yankees Freddy Garcia for the next game of the series, which takes place on Saturday. The second contest will look to analyse the strengths in rotation for both teams.
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