Sure, Texas Rangers starting pitcher Alexi Ogando's first outing of the year looked good on the stat line, but you have to remember it was against the sad-sap Houston Astros and their Triple-A lineup.
On Wednesday in Oakland's O.co Coliseum, which hasn't been kind to the Rangers in recent times, Ogando shut down the A's en route to a 6-2 Rangers win and a series win over the A's, which now sit in second place in the AL West, seven games back of the first-place Rangers.
Before running into some trouble in the sixth inning, Ogando had a no-hitter going through five innings with just a lone walk as the only blemish on his line prior to the sixth. In that sixth inning, he was charged with two runs and had two more saved by a tremendous play in right field from Nelson Cruz leaving his final line at six innings pitched with three strikeouts while giving up four hits and two runs.
The start ranked right up there with his one-run outing against the Boston Red Sox back on May 4 and Ogando improved to 4-2 with a respectable 3.08 ERA in his return to the rotation after spending last year in the bullpen, after spending much of 2011 in the rotation and earning a spot on the AL all-star team.
