Texas Rangers’ Matt Harrison dominates after battling Seattle Mariners for 14th win of the season
Texas Rangers’ Matt Harrison went 14-9 on Friday, September 23 when he out-performed Anthony Vasquez for an important 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners at Rangers Ballpark that got his team to the coveted playoffs.
The game saw the Texas Rangers pull an impressive victory over the Seattle Mariners and it sent the right message to the other teams in the playoffs.
Harrison pitched five scoreless innings before he threw the sixth inning at a cost of three runs. The hurler walked out of the game with three runs from three hits and two walks. His season earned runs average is now at 3.46 and he has a chance to reach
the 15-wins mark in his last outing against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.
The player’s bad outing in the sixth inning would have worried many managers but Ron Washington allowed the speedster to continue after he was approached by the coach. The ball thrower allowed a walk to Alex Liddi and he scored the first Seattle run through
Ichiro Suzuki’s single. He then walked Trayvon Robinson to load the bases up.
Mariners managed two runs from sacrifice flies but beyond that, their initiative reached a dead end as the pitcher retired Mike Carp to end the inning and his stint on the mound.
"He was really good," Manager Ron Washington said of Matt Harrison. "He just lost his command a little bit."
"I was just trying to go out there and keep making pitches, and keep making them swing the bat, and try to keep them off the bases by not giving them any free passes," Harrison said. "I had some stuff working early in the game, and then I ran into trouble
in the sixth."
Harrison may not look strong in the later innings of his spell but the Rangers know he is an incredible asset for the early start. Backed with strong relief pitchers, Harrison is a force to be reckoned with as the Texas Rangers take on the top teams in the
playoffs.
Tags: