The Rangers finished up interleague play for 2012 with a nice 4-2 win over the Rockies. While the final score was 4-2 the Rangers were actually pretty much out in front this entire game. And fact, the only two runs the Rockies got both came in the ninth inning and not off of starter Matt Harrison.
Matt only pitched five innings for total 74 pitches. However, it was enough to get the win. He allowed five hits, no runs, while walking two and striking out three. The official Rangers recap refers to Matt’s start as “strong”. However, if it was strong, he would’ve lasted more than 74 pitches in five innings. Still, he didn’t allow any runs and he did get the win. You can’t really argue with that too much I suppose. Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers, and Mike Adams all followed Matt out of the bullpen and did not allow any runs either.
Joe Nathan, however wasn’t as clean. He allowed to hits, one walk, and two earned runs in his one inning. Made it a bit dicey for sure. Was again harnessing his inner John Wetteland. However, just like John Wetteland, he got the job done when it counted and got the win for the team.
Offensively, the two big names were Elvis Andrus and Leonys Martin. Andrus went three for four, however didn’t score any runs and had just one RBI. The remainder of the offense was Martin. He went two for four with three RBIs. The hits were a double and a triple, so that’s where mostly all of the offense came from. It was a good game for the kid, who he came up with huge expectations and so far has been fairly underwhelming in his attempts to break through in the major leagues.
The Rangers and interleague play with a 14-4 record in 2012. It was the best record against the other league by any team. Gotta love that!