Derek Holland was pleading to stay in for one more batter.
Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington had already decided that the rookie left-hander, who allowed only two hits while getting within one out of his first complete game, had done enough.
"It was just me begging out there, `Come on, let me get this one guy, I've got it,"' Holland said, describing the conversation on the mound.
Holland had to settle for being the first Rangers rookie lefty with 10 strikeouts and leading Texas to a 7-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.
"We got a real good look at what Derek Holland is capable of doing," Washington said. "His future gets brighter."
Holland took a one-hit shutout into the ninth, retiring 24 of his first 25 batters. The only hits he allowed were Jack Hannahan's broken-bat single with two outs in the fifth and Franklin Gutierrez's two-out single in the ninth on his 118the and final pitch.
When Washington came out of the dugout after Gutierrez reached, fans booed. The manager emphatically shook his head "No" as the 22-year-old pitcher asked to stay in, but the two were laughing before Holland left the mound to a loud ovation.
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"It was an awesome feeling and put chills in my spine," Holland said.
Holland had already thrown 103 pitches, eight more than his previous high, when he started the ninth with his only walk.
"We had him limited to 120, he wasn't going any further than that," Washington said. "He'd taken us as far as we needed him to take us."
