After Matt Harrison got in his zone after a shaky first inning, it looked like the lefty might have a chance to finish the Texas Rangers' 3-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night, or at least pitch eight innings and give way to Joe Nathan for the ninth.
But Harrison instead allowed the first two hitters in the inning to reach base, and all the sudden the Mariners had three straight goes at having the winning run at the plate.
Enter Mike Adams. The guy the Rangers acquired at the trade deadline last year to be their stopper in the eighth inning and, compared to his San Diego Padres stats, kind of disappointed has been everything the Rangers could've wanted this year. He entered the game to get the next three batters and leave runners on first and second base with two strikeouts.
That, of course, gave way to Joe Nathan in the ninth. The same Joe Nathan that Rangers fans were ready to release after the season's first week when he blew a save and took a loss. Nathan hasn't allowed a hit or a walk in his last four outings (four innings) and has seven strikeouts over that same period of time, including two more on Tuesday night.
That doesn't even mention the fact that Alexi Ogando and Koji Uehara are both throwing great this year. Be very wary, rest of baseball. The Rangers are essentially playing six-inning games right now.
