Rangers' Harrison handles Twins' with ease

MINNEAPOLIS Yu Darvish is drawing all the attention in Texas these days, but there's another member of the Rangers' rotation who should be getting a slice of it.With an eight-inning, one-run performance Friday against the Minnesota Twins, Texas left-hander Matt Harrison improved to 2-0 on the season. Combined with his six scoreless innings in his season debut against the Chicago White Sox, Harrison has allowed just one run in 14 innings this season for the 6-2 Rangers.Texas has had a formidable rotation in recent years with the likes of C.J. Wilson (now with the Angels), Colby Lewis and Derek Holland. But Harrison is quietly asserting himself as one of the Rangers' go-to arms, and he showed that again Friday against a Twins lineup that scored 10 runs on 20 hits one game earlier."Harrison was outstanding," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said after his team's 4-1 loss at Target Field. "As expected, they come over here with a great pitching staff. It was a tough night for us offensively."Left-handers or right-handers, it didn't seem to matter who Harrison faced Friday. In his eight innings of work, he scattered seven hits five singles while striking out four. But he was particularly tough on Minnesota's lefties. Denard Span and Joe Mauer were both 1-for-4 with a strikeout against Harrison; designated hitter Justin Morneau was 0-for-4 and didn't hit the ball out of the infield the four times he faced the Rangers' starter. Harrison's sinker moved in hard on left-handers, and his changeup baffled righties. But his manager felt it was a different pitch that made the difference Friday."I think his curveball has really been a good equalizer with some lefties because he hasn't been hanging them," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "They've been very sharp, and he's been keeping them in the right place. He left none inside to Morneau. He left none inside to Mauer. They had to reach for them. And then he'd throw them sinkers."Mauer and Morneau, who both homered in Thursday's win over the Angels, were handcuffed by Harrison all night. Mauer reached on a single through the hole to left field but grounded out to second base twice, including once for a double play in the eighth inning. Morneau also grounded out twice to second and popped up to first base."I thought he handled Mauer and Morneau pretty good tonight," Washington said. "He threw a pretty good pitch to Mauer when he got his base hit, but he's such a good hitter. He just stayed on the ball and hit it to the left side and got him a base hit. But I thought he made the pitches on those guys, kept the ball down, didn't give them much to hit."Added Harrison: "I know they can swing the bat. I think it's just a matter of making sure, hitting my spots with those guys."The Twins have faced Harrison before he was 1-2 with a 4.76 ERA in seven career games (three starts) against Minnesota prior to Friday. But the 26-year-old lefty hadn't turned in a performance against the Twins like the one he put together for the series opener in chilly Minneapolis. He faced the minimum number of batters four times in eight innings and was helped out by two double plays from his defense."He was real good tonight," Span said. "I faced him in the past, and I don't remember him being as good as he was today. Whatever he's done the last two starts is definitely working for him."With wins in his first two starts of 2012, Harrison is starting to build on his strong 2011 season. A year ago, he was 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA to help the Rangers return to the World Series. But he's not the only threat in Texas' rotation, as the Twins are about to find out. Minnesota will face Japanese sensation Yu Darvish on Saturday, while Neftali Feliz will pitch the series finale on Sunday."There's a reason why they've been to the World Series the last two years," said Twins shortstop Jamey Carroll, who had one of the Twins' seven hits off Harrison. "They've got good starting pitching. Obviously you saw (Harrison) tonight, following it up with (Darvish) tomorrow, then Feliz. It doesn't get any easier."Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter.

Source: http://network.yardbarker.com/mlb/article_external/rangers_harrison_handles_twins_with_ease/10554418

Oakland Raiders Cincinnati Bengals