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ARLINGTON, Texas(AP)
Matt Harrison
walked off the mound after 102 pitches with another complete game, though his shutout streak was over and the Rangers still
hadn't scored.
A few batters later, the left-hander was leaping over the dugout railing with the rest of his teammates to celebrate Texas'
latest victory in its final at-bat.
Chris Davis
hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, after
Hank Blalock
led off the inning against closer
Brandon Morrow
(0-3) with his 10th homer, and the Rangers beat the
Seattle Mariners
3-2 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.
''We're waiting a little bit too long to get the bats going, but we got them going just in time,''
Ian Kinsler
said. ''The way Matt threw the ball, it was just incredible. We feel great for him.''
Harrison (4-2) threw a five-hitter to win his fourth consecutive start. He retired 16 of the last 18 batters after Seattle
scored twice in the fourth to end his scoreless innings streak at 22 in a row.
''It was great that Chris did it but I was more happy for (Harrison), because Harry hung in there, kept us in there,'' Rangers
manager
Ron Washington
said.
Harrison struck out seven with no walks in his second complete game in a week, the third of his career. He had a four-hit
shutout against the
Chicago White Sox
last Friday.
It was the 13th victory for Harrison in 22 major league games, the most for a left-hander starting a career since
Vean Gregg
won 16 of his first 22 games for Cleveland in 1911.
The AL West-leading Rangers (20-14) got their 10th win in 12 games to reach six games over .500, matching their best mark
in Washington's three seasons.
Felix Hernandez
pitched seven shutout innings for Seattle and
David Aardsma
had a 1-2-3 eighth against the top of the Texas order. Morrow has six saves and hadn't blown a chance until Wednesday night,
when Blalock hit a two-run double with one out in the 11th for a 6-5 victory.
''It was a tough two days. We should have won the series, but because of two-thirds of an inning ... it's tough to swallow,''
Morrow said. ''I've got to start mixing pitches. I'm acting like a pitching machine out there.''
Blalock struck out all three times against Hernandez, but hit a full-count pitch off Morrow into the second deck of right-field
stands.
David Murphy
had a two-out double before Davis homered to center.
''It's unfortunate to give it up like that,'' Mariners manager
Don Wakamatsu
said. ''There's nobody on this planet who feels worse than Brandon right now. It's part of the learning curve.''
Harrison hadn't given up a run since April 27 at Baltimore, when the Orioles scored four times in the first two innings. He
finished that game with five scoreless innings, then didn't allow runs in consecutive appearances against the
White Sox
.
Jose Lopez
led off the Seattle fourth with a single and moved to third on
Adrian Beltre
's double.
Russell Branyan
drove home a run with a groundout before
Wladimir Balentien
had an RBI double.
''I can't say I didn't get kind of mad when it happened and I gave up the run,'' Harrison said. ''I made an adjustment early
enough to hold them off the rest of the game.''
Harrison's 22-inning scoreless streak matched the one Hernandez had earlier this year, which was two innings shy of the major
league season high set by Kansas City's
Zack Greinke
.
But Hernandez allowed 12 runs over 10 innings in his previous two starts. Texas scored six runs in six innings against him
last week to end his scoreless streak.
After
Michael Young
singled and
Josh Hamilton
walked in the first, Hernandez retired 15 of the next 16 batters until Young singled again in the sixth. The right-hander
left after 110 pitches with six strikeouts.
''Felix pitched outstanding,'' Wakamatsu said. ''It was what we were looking for.''
Notes: Harrison's scoreless streak was the longest for a Texas pitcher since
Kenny Rogers
tossed 31 consecutive shutout innings in 2005. ... The Mariners finished a 1-7 road trip. They play their next 10 games at
home. ... The last time Texas won consecutive games in its final at-bat was May 5-6, 2000.
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