When this happens in the 1st, you don't expect the pitcher to go until the 8th... Maddux is Magic. (Photo via Keith Allison)

Matt Harrison, who has really struggled his last few starts, took the mound against the Mariners.  It seemed, in the 1st, that we were getting that guy again tonight.  Walk. Single. Single. Walk.  And somehow the Mariners only scored 1 run, taking the lead early.  Oh, and Matt was already at 36 pitches.

Thankfully, that version of Matt Harrison didn’t stay long, and Harry cruised through 6 more innings before being replaced in the 8th by Mike Adams who pitched a perfect frame in relief.

I like to think me threatening Harrison via Twitter caused the turnaround.

You’re welcome, Rangers.

So, how did they score?  Well, Nelson Cruz walked to start the 3rd inning, followed by a Mitch Moreland walk.  Then Elvis Andrus spanked a triple, scoring both runners and giving the Rangers the lead.  Josh Hamilton would then follow with a double, scoring Elvis Andrus.

If you stayed up to watch the whole game, I’m sorry since nothing really happened after the 3rd inning.

FINAL: Rangers 3, Mariners 1

A few other notes:

• Josh Hamilton made a pretty great catch in the 3rd, running into and busting up the outfield wall at Safeco.  Not only did his spikes tear off the padding on the wall, but he literally left an imprint of his body in the ball.  I could officially consider this awesome once I knew that his fragile bones hadn’t shattered during the play.
• Mike Napoli continued his play full of suck, going 0-3, all 3 being strike outs.  Nap is now batting .120 in his last 8 games and hasn’t homered since April 25.  I’m pretending that he’s just trying to make it cheaper for the Rangers to resign him.  Because that makes sense.
• Joe Nathan recorded his 10th save of the season, his 271st career save.

The Rangers will finsh out the series against the Mariners today at 2:40pm CT with Scott Feldman, who has replaced the now DL-occupying Neftali Feliz in the rotation, going against Kevin Millwood.