Rangers manager Ron Washington says he isn't worried about what's happened in the past when big left-hander Matt Harrison pitched against the Tigers. And with good reason.
Harrison's history with Detroit isn't pretty -- a 1-4 record with a 6.89 ERA in seven games. But the worst of those losses, an 8-1 setback last June, comes with a fairly large asterisk.
Or at least a very small kidney stone.
Harrison, who will pitch Game 4 of the American League Championship Series on Wednesday at 3:19 p.m. CT on FOX against the Tigers, said Tuesday he passed a stubborn kidney stone later that night in June after giving up eight hits and four runs (three earned) in a four-inning outing.
"I had the kidney stone like three days before," said Harrison, who was taken to a hospital in Cleveland to deal with the issue before his start against the Tigers. "I thought I passed it. But I ended up passing it after that game. So it definitely took a lot of energy out of me before that start."
Harrison wasn't making excuses, however, and only brought up the incident when asked on Tuesday.
"I still should have gone out there and made some better pitches and at least given us a chance to win," said the 26-year-old North Carolina native. "It was a little bit of a rough month right there. Luckily I was able to manage to get through it and keep going."
Harrison also got knocked out of a start in Minnesota by a line drive and battled a blister issue early in the season as well. But he's been a rock in the Rangers' rotation for the past month, going 5-0 with a 2.78 ERA in his past six starts. That includes a five-inning, two-run outing that earned him the win in last week's AL Division Series-clinching 4-3 win over Tampa Bay.
"He found his legs in August," Washington said. "He's been strong since then."
Harrison's other start against Detroit this season was a 5-4 loss on Aug. 3, when he went six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits. He recalls that as a pretty solid outing, marred by a home run to Alex Avila in the sixth inning off a changeup.
"It was a bad pitch," he said. "Other than that, I thought I threw pretty good. They're a tough lineup. They have a lot of righties and it's especially tough against left-handers. The big thing is you have to keep them uncomfortable at the plate."
Harrison's own comfort level figures to have grown by leaps and bounds with his first playoff start now under his belt. The youngster was left off the playoff roster last season during the Rangers' run to the World Series and he's relishing his opportunity this time around.
"Once I got out there, after the first two batters my nerves were calm and it seemed like another game," he said of his ALDS win. "It's been a great experience so far and I'm looking forward to more [on Wednesday].
"After missing the playoffs last year, it meant a lot to me to be able to start in a playoff game and be in the game that we clinched to go on the ALCS."
Now Harrison has a chance to get the Rangers back on track after Detroit rallied for a 5-2 victory on Tuesday that cut Texas' series lead to 2-1. But he will have to deal better with a team that had his number even before the kidney stone. In his seven career games against the Tigers, they've hit .364 with a 1.045 OPS in 31 1/3 innings.
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