August 3: Texas 4, Houston 2
There were nearly twice as many walks in the game as their were hits. Juan Gone and I-Rod tagged J.R. Richard with big flies and Yu Darvish, when avoiding walks, struck out everyone in the stadium to lead the Rangers to victory.
Darvish is striking out 9.9 per nine innings pitched which puts him in a tie for second place with his rotation-mate Nolan Ryan. ( They are behind Randy Johnson at 11.7).
R H BB TEX 020 002 000 - 4 4 9 HOU 000 011 000 - 2 5 7 HR: J. Gonzalez (16), I. Rodriguez (12), J. Wynn (7) starters IP R ER HR BB SO Y. Darvish 7.0 2 2 1 6 11 J.R. Richard 7.0 4 4 2 7 6 TEX 47-60, HOU 48-58
August 4: Texas 8, Houston 3
The Rangers unleashed a 15-hit barrage to bury the Astros. Julio Franco, A-Rod, Josh Hamilton, and Rafael Palmeiro all had three hits apiece.
Gerald Perry yielded three runs in the first two innings before settling in and cruising through the rest of the game without giving up another run.
R H BB TEX 023 020 100 - 8 15 3 HOU 120 000 000 - 3 5 3 HR: A. Rodriguez (24), J. Hamilton (12), A. Beltre (11) starters IP R ER HR BB SO G. Perry 9.0 3 3 0 3 6 M. Cuellar 4.2 7 7 2 3 1 TEX 48-60, HOU 48-59
August 5: Texas 2, Houston 0
The Nolan Ryans of both Texas teams went head-to-head for the first time all season, and they both seemed fired up to face themselves. They hurled complete games, a rare feat for both. The Texas version was just a bit better though and put together his first nine-inning shutout of the season while walking three and whiffing 10.
The only runs of the game were scored in the top of the first. Mike Hargrove started the game with a walk, and Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez both singled to load the bases. A-Rod drove in Hargrove and Palmeiro with a single before the two Ryans dug in and gave up no more.
The teams have almost identical records so far, but you wouldn’t believe it if you only saw the games they’ve played against each other. For some reason the Rangers have dominated the season series, winning 11 of 14.
R H BB TEX 200 000 000 - 2 5 4 HOU 000 000 000 - 0 3 3 HR: none starters IP R ER HR BB SO N. Ryan 9.0 0 0 0 3 10 N. Ryan 9.0 2 2 0 4 7 TEX 49-60, HOU 48-60
alrhubarb.wordpress.com 