Harden no-hits Twins for 6 2/3 innings

What has been a nightmarish season for Rich Harden turned to pure joy for the Canadian pitcher on Monday night.

The Texas Rangers right-hander no-hit the American League Central-leading Minnesota Twins for 6 2/3 innings in Arlington, Texas, before turning the game over to the bullpen.

Matt Harrison and Darren O'Day kept the no-hit bid intact for the next 1 1/3 innings until closer Neftali Felix took over in the ninth. After Denard Span flied out and Orlando Hudson walked, Joe Mauer lined a single to centre field, the fifth time this season a no-hitter has been broken up in the ninth inning.

"I felt like I made a great pitch but he was able to make the adjustment and hit it," Feliz said through an interpreter.

Hudson and Mauer then moved up a base on a Feliz wild pitch before the hard-throwing stopper struck out Jason Kubel and induced Michael Cuddyer to ground out to cement a 4-0 Rangers victory.

"When I looked at who was hitting in the ninth I worried about Mauer because he's a good hitter and with Feliz's fastball you feel like if he leaves a ball in the hitting zone that he's going to have a shot at it," said Rangers president Nolan Ryan, who was in the owner's box Monday night.

Ryan threw two of his record seven no-hitters for Texas.

Mauer the spoiler

Mauer broke up a no-hit bid by Gavin Floyd of the Chicago White Sox on May 6, 2008 with a one-out double in the ninth.

"We had some opportunities where Harden walked a couple guys and we just couldn't get that hit to get a couple runs across the board," Mauer said. "But you definitely don't want to get no-hit. It's nice to get a hit up there but we want runs."

Harden had the longest no-hit outing in Rangers history among starters who didn't finish the game.

Afterward, he was philosophical rather than angry.

"That's baseball," he said. "We had Feliz, who's one of the best closers in the game facing Mauer, who's one of the best hitters in the game. That's the way it goes."

The Rangers, who began the night leading the AL West by eight games over the Los Angeles Angels, fell two outs shy of its first no-hitter since Kenny Rogers' perfect game against California on July 28, 1994.

There have been five no-hitters this season, including perfect games by Oakland's Dallas Braden and Philadelphia's Roy Halladay. The last no-hitter was Matt Garza of Tampa Bay against Detroit on July 26.

Joyce behind plate

The home plate umpire Monday night was Jim Joyce. He was the first base umpire who made the incorrect call with two outs in the ninth inning that cost Detroit Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Earlier Monday, Harden was activated from the 15-day disabled list for the second time this season.

The Victoria native most recently battled right shoulder tendinitis but made it through Monday's start unscathed.

Harden retired the first nine batters he faced before walking Span to open the fourth inning, one of the Texas hurler's five free passes on the night.

Harden didn't allow a runner past second base during his 111-pitch outing and was backed by a strong defence that turned two double plays. He walked the lead-off hitters in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but struck out six for his fifth win of the season against four losses in 16 starts and lowered his earned-run average to 5.00.

Harden's last major league start was Aug. 7 at Oakland, taking the loss while allowing three runs in 2 1/3 innings. He showed he was ready to be activated when he allowed one run and struck out 10 in a six-inning minor league rehab start for AAA Oklahoma City on Wednesday.

He has been mostly a disappointment for the Rangers after signing as a free agent last winter for a guaranteed $7.5 million US. That includes a $1-million buyout if an $11.5-million mutual option for next season isn't exercised.

Harden has been on the DL nine times in six seasons. He was sidelined from June 12 to July 30 with a left gluteal muscle strain and made only two starts after that before going on the DL again.