Seattle Mariners (69-75) at Texas Rangers (85-58) RHP Hisashi Iwakuma (6-4, 3.39) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (14-9, 4.14) Game #144 • Home #72 (45-26) • Fri., Sept. 14, 2012 • Rangers Ballpark in Arlington • 7:05 p.m. (CDT) • FSSW / 103.3 FM / 1540 AM WINS AND LOSSES: The Rangers lost to the Indians last night 5-4 and are IF I HAD A MILLION: The Rangers surpassed the 3 million mark in attendance 2-1 on this 6-game, 6-day homestand with Cleveland (2-1) and Seattle (3 for the first time in club history last night…Rangers have drawn 3,003,143 fans games)…went 6-4 on the 10-game road trip that preceded this in 71 home dates in 2012…club has set single-season home attendance homestand…Texas is 7-1-0 last 8 series and 10-2-0 in last 12 series…have records (1972-2012) for sellouts (32) and crowds of 40,000-or-more not lost consecutive games since 3 in a row Aug. 13-15…team has won 2 of (49)…team has seen 3 separate streaks of at least 5 straight sellouts after 3, 3 of 5, 5 of 8, 7 of 11, and 18 of 27…are 26-15 (.634) since the start of never having more than 4 in a row prior to 2012. August, 3rd-best in the A.L. (behind BAL & OAK) and T5th-best in majors…Texas is 33-24 since the All-Star break and has won 52 of 85 begin- DARVISH ON VERGE OF 200 K’S: Yu Darvish enters tonight needing 4 ning June 8…club is 70-54 since a 15-4 start…the Rangers’ .594 winning per- strikeouts to reach 200 for the season…according to Elias Sports Bureau, he centage is best in the A.L. and 3rd-best in majors (see chart below)…also would be just the 16th rookie overall, and only the 6th American League rook- lead A.L. with 85 wins, already T12th-most in team history…have had A.L.’s ie, with 200 K’s in one campaign since 1900. best record for 23 straight days…current record matches best in club ROOKIES WITH 200 STRIKEOUTS IN A SEASON SINCE 1900 history thru 143 games…Texas was a season-high 28 games above .500 (Chronological order) after win on Wednesday, just 3rd season in club history to reach at least 28- Year/Tm Player SO Year/Tm Player SO over (also 1999 and 2011), seeking to reach 28-over again with a win 1901 ChC "Long" Tom Hughes 225 1970 KC Bob Johnson 206 tonight…Texas has already secured a club-record 4th consecutive winning 1901 NYG Christy Mathewson 221 1975 SF John Montefusco 215 season (previously 3 straight twice)…the Rangers own majors’ best winning 1910 NYY Russ Ford 209 1984 NYM Dwight Gooden 276 1911 Phi Grover Cleveland Alexander 227 1984 Sea Mark Langston 204 pct. since 2011 All-Star break at .610 (130-83), and also have best record over- 1955 Cle Herb Score 245 1995 LA Hideo Nomo 236 all since start of 2011 (.593, 181-124). 1966 LA Don Sutton 209 1998 ChC Kerry Wood 233 RANGERS’ BEST RANGERS’ BEST 1967 Cin Gary Nolan 206 2007 Bos Daisuke Matsuzaka 201 143-GAME RECORDS 144-GAME RECORDS 1969 Hou Tom Griffin 200 Rk W-L Year(s) Rk W-L Year(s) 1 85-58 1999, 2012 1 85-59 1999 HAVE WE MET?: Tonight’s game features starters who are both natives of 2 82-61 1996 2 83-61 1996 Japan…it will be just the 8th time in major league history for Japanese starters 3 81-62 2011 3 81-63 2010, 2011 to pitch against each other in a game, 2nd this season…Yu Darvish becomes the 5th pitcher to participate in these games multiple times, joining Mac Suzuki BEST RECORDS IN MAJORS IN 2012 (3), Tomo Ohka (2), Daisuke Matsuzaka (2), and Hiroki Kuroda (2)…he is try- Win Pct. Team W-L G ing to become the first pitcher with multiple wins in these contests…today’s .622 Washington 89-54 143 duo faced each other 6 times while playing in Nippon Professional Baseball, .604 Cincinnati 87-57 144 the last on May 10, 2011, when Darvish (W, CG SHO) started for the Fighters .594 Texas 85-58 143 against Iwakuma (L, 8.2 IP, 2 R-ER) in a 2-0 win over the Golden Eagles at .573 Oakland 82-61 143 Kleenex Stadium in Sendai City, Miyagi…in the 6 career matchups with .566 Bal / NYY / SF 81-62 143 Iwakuma, Darvish went 3-2, 1.19 (7 ER/53.0 IP). GAMES WITH TWO JAPANESE-BORN STARTERS, IN THE LEAD: The Rangers have a 3.0-game lead over Oakland in the A.L. MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY West for a 4th straight day, matching smallest lead in the division since the All- Date Road Starter (Team) Home Starter (Team) Result Star break (7th day overall), still the largest lead in any A.L. division…club has 5/7/99 Mac Suzuki (Sea) Hideki Irabu (NYY) NYY 10, Sea 1 not had a lead smaller than 3.0 games since June 11 (+2.5), and has not led 7/2/00 Hideo Nomo (Det) Mac Suzuki (KC) Det 2, KC 0 by less than 2.5 games since April 13 (+2.0)…Rangers’ 159 days in first place 6/19/02 Mac Suzuki (KC) Tomo Ohka (Mon) Mon 6, KC 3 lead majors in 2012…season’s biggest advantage has been 6.5 games on 6 5/9/07 Daisuke Matsuzaka (Bos) Tomo Ohka (Tor) Bos 9, Tor 3 days, last thru games of August 12…club has led by at least 3.5 games for 138 6/19/09 Kenshin Kawakami (Atl) Daisuke Matsuzaka (Bos) Atl 8, Bos 2 of last 150 days beginning April 17…have had outright possession of A.L. 7/22/10 Hisanori Takahashi (NYM) Hiroki Kuroda (LAD) LAD 2, NYM 0 West lead for last 158 days and have held at least a share of the West lead for 4/24/12 Hiroki Kuroda (NYY) Yu Darvish (Tex) Tex 2, NYY 0 159 of 161 days in 2012 and 295 of last 297 days beginning May 16, 9/14/12 Hisashi Iwakuma (Sea) Yu Darvish (Tex) TBD 2011…beg. June 8, 2010, Texas has held 1st place for 445 of 461 days. HOW THE WEST WAS WON: Tonight begins a season-ending stretch in ABOUT LAST NIGHT: Texas took a 4-2 lead into the 9th inning last night and which Texas plays its final 19 games against A.L. West opponents, meeting lost, just the club’s 2nd loss this season when leading after 8 frames…the each of the division’s other 3 teams in home and road series…the team hasn’t other was April 11 vs. Seattle, when club also had a multi-run lead (3-1) head- played against another A.L. West club since Aug. 2 vs. LAA…the Rangers ing into the 9th…those 2 games have involved the only blown saves by Joe have gone 19-19 against the West this year, including 12-8 at home…Texas is Nathan all year…despite last night, he still ranks 3rd in the majors with a 94.3 within a game of .500 against each of the other 3 clubs in the division…A.L. save pct. (33-for-35) behind only San Diego’s Huston Street (21-for-21) and West: Rangers are 18-19 vs. West in 2012, 11-8 at home…the 19 losses are Tampa Bay’s Fernando Rodney (95.5%, 42-for-44)…some other notes: already 2 more in the division than all of last season (40-17), and 8 home loss- • Nathan converted a career-high and Rangers-record 31 consecutive save es are more than ‘11 as well (20-7)…club has lost 14 of 25, 15 of 27, and 17 chances from April 15-Sept. 12, the longest such streak in the majors in of last 30 to West opponents overall…in Arlington, have won 19 of 27, 21 of 30, 2012…it was also just the 17th single-season save streak of 30+ games in the and 25 of last 37 vs. West foes…Texas is 10-2-3 in home series vs. A.L. majors since 1969 (when save became official stat). West clubs since start of last year, only series losses April 18-20, 2011 vs. • Rangers still have a .974 (75-2) winning pct. when leading after 8 innings, LAA and May 28-30, 2012 vs. SEA. 2nd-best in the A.L. to only Baltimore (.985, 66-1). • Club is 0-6 in last 6 chances when attempting to complete a series sweep. ROTATION REBOUND: Over the club’s last 11 games beginning Sept. 2, • The Indians’ 3-run 9th matched the most runs allowed by Texas in an inning Texas starters have issued 3 earned runs-or-less 10 times, posting a 3.28 ERA that late (9th or later) in 2012, just the 4th time it has happened…the others: (25 ER/68.2 IP) and .223 opp. avg. (57-256) in that span to drop season ERA 4/11 vs. SEA (3-run 9th), 7/27 vs. CWS (3-run 9th), and 8/1 vs. LAA (3-run from 4.23 to 4.16…the current rotation ERA is lowest since July 31 10th - still won game).