ARLINGTON, Texas — The Rangers flirted with the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season. Joe Mauer turned it into another near no-hitter.
Mauer became the fifth player this season to spoil a no-hit bid in the ninth inning, ruining the effort of starter Rich Harden and three relievers with a clean single off all-star closer Neftali Feliz in the Rangers’ 4-0 victory over the Twins on Monday night.
Rangers president Nolan Ryan threw two of his record seven no-hitters for Texas, and he was in the owner’s box rooting for another one. Then he saw Mauer, hitting .330, in the batter’s box.
“When I looked at who was hitting in the ninth I worried about Mauer because he’s a good hitter and with Feliz’s fastball you feel like if he leaves a ball in the hitting zone that he’s going to have a shot at it,” Ryan said.
Harden, who was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, went 6 2/3 innings before being lifted after throwing 111 pitches. Matt Harrison got the final out of the seventh. Darren O’Day pitched the eighth and Feliz got one in the ninth before Mauer broke through.
“I felt like I made a great pitch, but he was able to make the adjustment and hit it,” Feliz said.
Harden (5-4) had the longest no-hit outing in Rangers history among starters who didn’t finish the game. Afterward, he was philosophical rather than angry.
“That’s baseball,” he said. “We had Feliz, who’s one of the best closers in the game facing Mauer, who’s one of the best hitters in the game. That’s the way it goes.”
Texas fell two outs shy of its first no-hitter since Kenny Rogers’ perfect game against California on July 28, 1994.
