Arlington, TX – Matt Harrison took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Adrian Beltre continued to thrive at the plate by notching the second cycle of his career, as the Texas Rangers blew out the Minnesota Twins, 8-0, Friday night.
Beltre stroked an RBI triple in the first inning, added a run-scoring double to left field in the second and then led off the fifth with his 24th homer of the year, a blast to left field. He completed the sixth cycle in Rangers history by grounding a single into right field with one out in the seventh inning.
This is the second cycle in Beltre's career. His first came Sept. 1, 2008 at Rangers Ballpark when he played for the Seattle Mariners.
"It's nice to be able to swing the bat well and give our pitching staff some run support," Beltre said.
Over his last three contests, Beltre is 10-for-14 with five homers and nine RBI.
"Obviously, we don't have that formula, because we didn't slow him down tonight," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's on the ball. They have about three or four guys that are killing the ball now."
Harrison (15-7), who was the starting pitcher for the Rangers the night Beltre had his first cycle, established a career-high for victories in a season by allowing two hits and fanning five over eight innings.
Harrison walked Darin Mastroianni in the first inning and Jamey Carroll ion the fifth. Minnesota's only other baserunner prior to the seventh was when Harrison committed an error on a ball hit by Ben Revere in the third inning.
David Murphy made a diving catch in left field to take a hit away from Ryan Doumit in the seventh inning, but Trevor Plouffe ended the no-hit bid with a clean single to left field. Carroll followed with a base hit to right, and Harrison escaped by retiring Alexi Casilla on a groundout.
The Rangers built an early lead on Samuel Deduno (4-2), who gave up 11 hits and seven runs over five innings, as the Twins lost their fourth straight and ninth in their last 10 games.
The AL West leaders, winners of three in a row and six of their last seven, scored five times in the second inning for a 6-0 lead.
Mitch Moreland singled in Murphy, who doubled. After Luis Martinez was hit by a pitch, Craig Gentry bunted to the third-base side of the mound. Deduno threw wild to first base to raise the margin to 3-0. Ian Kinsler bounced a two-run single up the middle and Beltre added a run-scoring double to left field to cap the rally.
Beltre led off the fifth inning with his fifth homer in his last three games, and Elvis Andrus stroked an RBI single in the eighth frame.
Game Notes
Before the game, Twins starting pitcher Scott Diamond was suspended six games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball for throwing a pitch at the head of Josh Hamilton Thursday night. Diamond was due to begin his suspension Friday night, but he elected to file an appeal. His suspension won't begin until the appeal process is complete ... The Rangers have won seven of eight against the Twins this season.
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