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Mimicking a tactic they used two nights earlier against another rookie starting pitcher, the Rangers took Nolan McLean’s first 18 pitches Sunday.

It may have caught the right-hander by surprise, but it didn’t derail him.

McLean allowed only a walk in that first inning and by the time his outing concluded he had fired six scoreless, in just his latest superb performance.

“I wasn’t too competitive with first and second pitches, I was getting behind in counts, so I would like to do a little better with that going forward,” McLean said of his first inning, which still included two strikeouts.

Nolan McL

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