Rich Harden threw 6.2 no-hit innings for the Rangers on his return to the mound following injury, but was pulled to save him from another potential trip to the disabled list. Relievers Matt Harrison and Darren O`Day pushed the no-hit bid into the ninth inning, but a one-out Joe Mauer single off of closer Neftali Feliz broke up the Twins zeroes in the scoreline. Feliz and the Texas staff had to settle for a shutout.
TwinkieTown: Rangers Staff Nearly No-Hits Twins
Twins blog TwinkieTown isn’t disturbed by Minnesota’s performance, they know it just wasn’t their night:
From a Twins perspective, what can you say? It was all Rangers on this night, and given that many Twins fans had viewed this series as a potential playoff preview, to go all the way to the ninth without a hit is rather disconcerting. Six Twins batters walked, but Minnesota just couldn’t move those hitters along, and that’s obviously frustrating.
This one, though, belongs to Harden, and to the Rangers staff. It was nearly a great answer to a trivia question: Harden, Harrison, O’Day, Feliz. If not for Mauer, those are four names that would have been linked in Rangers lore forever.
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