Bad news for the rest of baseball: The Rangers -- who entered Friday night an MLB-best 43-27 -- just added a healthy and rested Roy Oswalt to their rotation.
The 34-year-old three-time All-Star was stellar through six innings against the Rockies Friday night in his 2012 debut. In those six shutout innings, he gave up only six hits and one walk while striking out six. The Rangers attempted to get him through the seventh inning, where Oswalt would allow three hits -- including a double and triple -- and one earned run. He was removed after a Marco Scutaro RBI double with two outs.
Even with Oswalt losing steam in the seventh, his final line (6 2/3 innings, nine hits, one run, one walk, six strikeouts and 109 pitches) is very good. It leaves him with a 1.35 ERA. The Rangers would go on to win 4-1.
The only mitigating factor here is that Oswalt was facing the Rockies, who are missing Troy Tulowitzki and have one of the worst records in baseball.
Still, Oswalt was facing a major-league club and he looked very solid Friday night. Remember, this is a guy who finished sixth in NL Cy Young voting in 2010 before back injuries hampered his performance last season.
Score another win for the Rangers.
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