Coming to you from the flooded city of Houston...I don't like flooding...
Matt Harrison was the story last night...after being on the ropes in the early going, and with the specter of Derek Holland looming in the bullpen, Harrison picked himself up and blew through the Oriole lineup over the last five innings. Evan Grant says that the Harrison worked with Mike Maddux between starts on speeding up his tempo on the mound, and after the second inning, made an adjustment so that he wouldn't be leaving his pitches up in the zone.
Mike Hindman thinks Harrison showed last night what he can do when he trusts his fastball, and also thinks Taylor Teagarden was a factor in getting Harrison back on track.
Jeff Wilson notes that Harrison and Teagarden, along with David Murphy, have all been struggling early on this season, and all came up big in yesterday's game.
If Harrison hadn't rebounded, there would probably be a lot of talk this morning about when Derek Holland is joining the rotation...but Holland says he's adjusting to life in the bullpen, and there are apparently some loose "Holland Rules" in effect:
Manager Ron Washington, though, said he plans to use extra caution with Holland, whom he deemed unavailable for the series finale at Baltimore.
The goal is to only use Holland when he is rested and in a position to be successful.
"He’s young and trying to figure his way out," Washington said. "I’m not going to put him out there and hurt him in a situation that he’s never been involved in. We’re going to use him when he’s at his best and he can add positive reinforcement."
Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz both sat yesterday. Cruz was just getting a day off, but Hamilton is still dealing with rib soreness, and after being a late scratch, is set to be re-evaluated today, and apparently could conceivably end up on the d.l., depending on the results of today's evaluation.
Richard Durrett has some quick-hit thoughts on the Rangers and a few guys who showed something last night.
And the S-T has a story up about the Rangers' effort to get fans out to TBIA.