The Texas Rangers completed their first five games of the season on April 10, 2012, and that means that fans had a chance to see the entire Rangers' rotation in action. With Texas coming out of that opening stretch with a 4-1 record, it seems like the starting rotation did a great job. Since that one loss was at the hands of closer Joe Nathan, the starting staff looks to be on the right track.
Colby Lewis - 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 9 Ks
The Rangers named Lewis the starter for Opening Day 2012 and he looked pretty good in his first start of the season. Lewis pitched six innings and gave up seven hits and two runs. Lewis was perfect until he gave up a two run homer to Adam Dunn in the sixth. That is a little concerning since the long ball is Lewis' biggest problem area. However, he also struck out nine and looked really good out there for most of the game.
Derek Holland - 0-0, 4.50 ERA, 5 Ks
Derek Holland got the second start of the season but was the hard luck loser when Joe Nathan came in and blew a hold in the ninth to cost Texas the game. In his first start since his shutout performance against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series last year, Holland went six innings, giving up three hits and three runs in the game, while striking out five. Paul Konerko was the kryptonite for Holland, scoring three RBIs on a single and a double.
Matt Harrison - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 Ks
Matt Harrison pitched the first perfect performance of the year for the Rangers as Texas shutout the White Sox in the third game of their series. Harrison went six innings, gave up four hits and no runs while striking out three and walking two. He finished the game with a 1.00 WHIP and picked up the first Texas shutout win of the season.
Yu Darvish - 1-0, 7.94 ERA, 5 Ks
The biggest game of the opening series of five was when Yu Darvish led the Rangers in his first American start against Ichiro and the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro had a great game against Darvish, going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Darvish struggled early, giving up five runs in the first two innings. However, he settled down and Seattle never scored another run in the game. Darvish gave up eight hits and five runs while striking out five.
Neftali Feliz - 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4 Ks
Everyone was excited about Yu Darvish but seemed worried about converted closer Neftali Feliz. In response, Feliz did nothing more than give Texas their second shutout of the season. Feliz pitched longer than any other Rangers' starter, going seven innings, while only giving up four hits and no runs, while striking out four. Like Harrison, he has a perfect ERA but also has the best WHIP on the team, with 0.86.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and awaits the year they finally win the big one.
Source: MLB.COM
Other articles by Shawn S. Lealos:
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