Rangers 8, Twins 0: Harrison Shuts Down Minnesota Offense, Beltre Hits for the Cycle

In what was a decidedly not-fun game to watch, the Texas Rangers completely owned the Minnesota Twins tonight, as Matt Harrison gave up just two hits and two walks in 8 innings pitched against the Twins. Harrison only struck out five, but utilized the solid defense behind him to hold the rather sad Minnesota offense at bay.

The starting pitching, once again, left a lot to be desired as well. By the end of the second inning, it was already 6-0, and it was painfully clear that whatever weird strategy Deduno had been using to not let runners score was long gone. The Rangers hit him hard particularly in the bottom of the second, as he allowed 4 hits and actually hit two batters. Adrian Beltre began his personal offensive assault against Twins pitchers in the bottom of the first, with a triple to left field. This was followed by a double in the second inning, a home run in the fifth inning, and a single in the seventh inning. Tonight marked the second time Beltre has hit for the cycle in his career, both having taken place at Rangers Ballpark. He is just the 6th Ranger to ever hit for the cycle as well.

The rest of the recap, notes, and studs & duds after the jump.

While Beltre had himself a good night at the plate, there is not one single Twins player that got more than one hit tonight, and the only player on the bases more than once was Jamey Carroll, whose hit and walk were the highlight of the Twins offense. Ryan Doumit and Trevor Plouffe were the only other Twins to get a hit tonight. Harrison was just on tonight, and it looked like the Twins never had a chance.

The bullpen in the form of one pitcher came in to relieve Deduno after 5 innings. Kyle Waldrop pitched the remaining three innings of the game, giving up 4 hits, but only one earned run. He didn't walk anyone either, which is always a good sign from the bullpen. From the looks of his first inning of relief, it seemed as though things would go pretty smoothly, after striking out Craig Gentry, getting Ian Kinsler to pop out, and forcing Elvis Andrus to ground out to third base, but Waldrop was unable to face the minimum after that. Considering the start of the game, however, Waldrop's night didn't look too bad. For the most part, he kept his composure and didn't implode--too much.

Final Lines
Samuel Deduno: 5 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 1 HR, 2 HBP (Deduno threw 85 pitches, 52 of which were for strikes)
Kyle Waldrop: 3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR, 0 HBP (Waldrop threw 36 pitches, 29 of which were for strikes)
Twins offense: 31 AB, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 8 LOB
Team RISP: 0-for-2

Studs
-Umm...Jamey Carroll? Sure, why not.
-Adrian Beltre. Gotta tip your cap, folks.
-Kyle Waldrop. Nice performance in a forgettable game.

Duds
-Everyone else. Booo!
-Samuel Deduno. A special dud spot. Ouch.

Tomorrow, the Twins (51-74) face the Rangers (74-51) again in Arlington at 3:05 pm CST. Brian Duensing will be throwing for Minnesota, and Texas will have Ryan Dempster pitching.