Wow! Just when I thought things were looking to cave in on the season (suspensions, Soriano gone, didn’t gain any ground on Oakland), this happens. A 7 pitcher 6 hit shutout of the Angels in their stadium. The best thing I can do is to copy the pitching line here:
TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era J Benoit 4 2 0 0 3 6 0 5.83 E Ramirez (W, 5-3) 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.41 J Nelson (H, 8) 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 5.48 R Mahay (H, 13) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.67 D Brocail (H, 3) 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 4.87 B Shouse (H, 9) 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.50 F Cordero (S, 45) 2 2 0 0 1 3 0 1.83
The best part is that Benoit came in and gave 4+ innings of two hit shutout ball, something I wouldn’t have expected from him. This wasn’t as great as that 6 pitch no hitter the Astros had against the Yankees recently, but this was great! I was at the office at the time, but I did get to listen to a good portion of it. Was really nice – wish I was home to watch it on TV. There may yet be a road to the playoffs, but time is definitely running out. We need to step up and stop treading water like we’ve been if we want to get to the dance in 2004.