Game 1: Apr 5, 1999 (L: 11-5)[ Previous Game | Next Game ]
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Game 1: Apr 5, 1999 (L: 11-5)
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Game Commentary
Game Photos
Box/Line Score
Game Recap
Game Log
Rangers Media Notes
Commentary (by me)
I'm walking into the Ballpark today (I've been to the last three opening day
games), and I was running late. I thought I was going to miss the first inning.
I'm walking really fast, and my feet are hurting by the time I actually get into
the park. Anyways, I see the Rangers are on the field, and are about to throw the
first pitch. I stop walking to my seat, and stand next to the wall at the back of
Green's hill. There goes the first pitch.. and there goes
the first pitch!! Home run on the first pitch of the season.
Boy, if that wasn't an open for things to come, I don't know what was. I was
sitting in Section 10, which is right next to the left field foul pole. That means
one thing. The sun!! Ugh.. It was a nice spot,
I thought, but probably would have been better if I wasn't in the sun so much.
Who made the first error of the season? That's right - Todd Zeile. Dammit. I want Tatis back! The other two errors were by Clayton (4th) & Stevens (7th). Actually, I didn't think things were going all that bad until the fourth inning; I mean it was only 1-0. However, the floodgates opened in the fourth inning, the Tigers scored 7 runs, mostly on the longball (2 HR in the inning), helped by an atrocious outing by Helling & Loaiza (there's a shocker).
Actually, I felt that innings 7-9 weren't that bad, it's just
the 4th through 6th were so bad. We finally broke the no hitter in the 7th, as Raffy
doubled in Greer, who had been hit by a pitch. Mike Morgan & Mike Munoz
both pitched some shutout ball, which was nice to see, and we scored 5 runs from the 7th
to the 9th, one of which was a Stevens HR to left field. Juan Gonzalez had two
RBI's, and the rest were spead out over several other players. Overall, the game
stunk, and Helling better not pitch like this again much, or we're in big trouble.
One down, 161 to go. There goes the perfect season. 
To summarize.. I'm sunburnt. Section 10 isn't the best place to sit in the middle of the day. :)
Commentary (by Jim Meeks)
Finally, Opening Day arrives. The smell of precious, green, spring grass. The
wonderful smell of ballpark hot dogs. The nauseous fumes of bad pitching and defense. You
knew there would be a sour stench all day when leadoff hitter Juan Encarnacion hit the
first pitch of the game to the moon.
Rick Helling pitched as poorly as he can possibly pitch. In the first inning alone he
threw 24 pitches - and it went downhill from there. He hit 2 batters. He gave up 7 runs (5
earned). He gave up 7 hard hits, including 2 homers. He stunk.
Esteban Loaiza was no better. He was actually worse. I'll spare you the details. Trust me,
he stunk.
The defense stunk too. oh sure, Ivan Rodriguez threw out a couple of would-be base
thieves. Oh yeah, the infield made a couple of double plays. This only served the cause of
not letting the Tigers score 15 runs.
The bright spots were few and far between. Rafael Palmeiro drove a ball to right for a
double. Juan Gonzalez had 2 hits and a walk and a couple ribbies. But until the 7th
inning, the Rangers couldn't even collect a hit off Brian "Who is this guy, Nolan
Ryan?" Moehler, who threw ground ball after ground ball.
It was a long, lost, smelly Opening Day. The good news is...it can only get better.
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| About 5 seconds later, this baseball was in Home Run Porch (First Pitch) | Luis Alicea tags out Juan Encarcion on an attempted steal in the third | Todd Zeile running down Brad Ausmus | Bobby Higginson breaks up Luis Alicea's attempt at a double play | Bobby Higginson rounds third on his 3 run home run off Rick Helling in the fourth inning | Johnny Oates walks away from an argument with umpire Ken Kaiser | Texas Governor George W. Bush shakes hands with Cody Stillwell, who threw out the first pitch. | Tigers pitcher Brian Moehler |
Line Score
AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
DETROIT 1 0 0 7 0 3 0 0 0 11 13 0
TEXAS 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 1 5 5 3 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: DET - BRIAN MOEHLER, MASAO KIDA (8TH), CJ NITKOWSKI
(8TH), DOUG BROCAIL (9TH) AND BRAD AUSMUS
TEX - RICK HELLING, ESTEBAN LOAIZA (4TH), MIKE
MORGAN (6TH), MIKE MUNOZ (9TH) AND IVAN
RODRIGUEZ
WP - BRIAN MOEHLER (1-0)
LP - RICK HELLING (0-1)
SAVE - NONE
HOME RUNS: DET - JUAN ENCARNACION (1) OFF HELLING IN THE 1ST, 0 ON
BOBBY HIGGINSON (1) OFF HELLING IN THE 4TH, 2 ON
DAMION EASLEY (1) OFF LOAIZA IN THE 4TH, 2 ON
TEX - LEE STEVENS (1) OFF BROCAIL IN THE 9TH, 0 ON
TIME: 2:56 ATT: 46,650
PROBABLES: DET - JUSTIN THOMPSON (NR)
TEX - AARON SELE (NR)
Box Score
DETROIT (11) AT TEXAS (5) - FINAL
DETROIT ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
J Encarnacion lf 5 2 2 2 0 1 4 .400
Jefferies dh 3 0 1 1 1 0 2 .333
a-K Garcia ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
Easley 2b 5 1 2 3 0 0 2 .400
To Clark 1b 5 1 2 0 0 1 1 .400
Palmer 3b 4 1 2 0 1 1 0 .500
Higginson rf 4 1 1 3 0 0 4 .250
Kapler rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D Cruz ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 .500
L Garcia ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ausmus c 3 2 1 0 0 1 3 .333
Bl Hunter cf 2 2 0 0 1 0 2 .000
Totals 38 11 13 9 3 5 20
a-struck out for Jefferies in the 8th.
BATTING: 2B - D Cruz (1, Helling). HR - J Encarnacion (1, 1st inning
off Helling 0 on, 0 out); Higginson (1, 4th inning off Helling 2 on,
0 out); Easley (1, 4th inning off Loaiza 2 on, 2 out). RBI -
J Encarnacion 2 (2), Higginson 3 (3), Easley 3 (3), Jefferies (1).
2-out RBI - Easley 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Higginson 1, Bl Hunter 1. GIDP - Ausmus, Easley. Team LOB - 5.
BASERUNNING: CS - Jefferies (1, 2nd base by Helling/I Rodriguez);
J Encarnacion (1, 2nd base by Helling/I Rodriguez).
FIELDING: PB - Ausmus. DP: 1 (Moehler-D Cruz-To Clark).
TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
T Goodwin cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000
Alicea 2b 3 1 0 0 1 1 0 .000
Greer lf 3 1 0 1 0 1 0 .000
J Gonzalez rf 3 0 2 2 1 1 0 .667
Palmeiro dh 3 0 1 1 1 0 1 .333
I Rodriguez c 4 0 0 0 0 2 3 .000
L Stevens 1b 4 1 1 1 0 0 3 .250
Zeile 3b 4 1 1 0 0 2 0 .250
Clayton ss 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 .000
Totals 31 5 5 5 4 8 9
BATTING: 2B - Palmeiro (1, Moehler). HR - L Stevens (1, 9th inning
off Brocail 0 on, 1 out). RBI - Palmeiro (1), Greer (1), J Gonzalez 2 (2),
L Stevens (1). 2-out RBI - J Gonzalez 2. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - L Stevens 3. GIDP - I Rodriguez. Team LOB - 4.
FIELDING: E - Zeile (1, throw); Clayton (1, throw); L Stevens
(1, bobble). DP: 2 (Helling-Clayton-L Stevens, Clayton-Alicea-L Stevens).
DETROIT ip h r er bb so hr era
Moehler (W, 1-0) 7 2 1 1 2 6 0 1.29
Kida 2/3 2 3 3 2 0 0 40.50
Nitkowski 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Brocail 1 1 1 1 0 2 1 9.00
TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
Helling (L, 0-1) 3 7 7 5 2 0 2 15.00
Loaiza 2 4 4 4 1 2 1 18.00
Morgan 3 2 0 0 0 3 0 0.00
Munoz 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Helling pitched to 6 batters in the 4th.
Loaiza pitched to 4 batters in the 6th.
HBP - Ausmus (by Helling); Bl Hunter (by Helling); Greer (by
Moehler). Pitches-strikes: Helling 68-39; Loaiza 38-23; Morgan
42-27; Munoz 6-4; Moehler 102-55; Kida 19-8; Nitkowski 4-3;
Brocail 28-21. Ground balls-fly balls: Helling 2-5; Loaiza 3-1;
Morgan 4-2; Munoz 0-3; Moehler 10-5; Kida 1-1; Nitkowski 1-0;
Brocail 1-0. Batters faced: Helling 18; Loaiza 11; Morgan 11;
Munoz 3; Moehler 25; Kida 6; Nitkowski 1; Brocail 4.
UMPIRES: HP--Jim Mckean. 1B--Ken Kaiser. 2B--Jim Joyce.
3B--Terry Craft.
T--2:56. Att--46,650. Weather: 73 degrees, sunny. Wind: 25 mph,
right to left.
AL DETROIT AT TEXAS
NOTE: THE HOME RUN BY DETROIT'S JUAN ENCARNACION LED OFF THE
GAME.
AL DETROIT AT TEXAS
NOTE: DETROIT PITCHER BRIAN MOEHLER HAS A NO-HITTER THROUGH SIX
INNINGS, INCLUDING FOUR STRIKEOUTS.
AL DETROIT AT TEXAS
NOTE: TEXAS' MIKE MORGAN HAS SET A PROFESSIONAL SPORTS RECORD
BY APPEARING WITH HIS 11TH DIFFERENT TEAM.
AL DETROIT AT TEXAS
NOTE: TEXAS' JUAN GONZALEZ SINGLED WITH ONE OUT IN THE SEVENTH
INNING TO BREAK UP BRIAN MOEHLER'S NO-HITTER.
Game Recap
ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- After a season where everything went wrong, the
Detroit Tigers enjoyed an Opening Day in which things seemed to go just right.
Brian Moehler took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Juan Encarnacion homered on the
first pitch of the game and Bobby Higginson and Damion Easley hit three-run shots to power
the Tigers to an 11-5 victory over the Texas Rangers.
The Tigers won only 65 games in 1998 and endured the firing of manager Buddy Bell in favor
of Larry Parrish, who began his first full season as Tigers skipper by watching his team
build an 8-0 lead after four innings and coast past the defending American League West
champions. Most of the damage was off 20-game winner Rick Helling, who was tagged for
seven runs -- five earned -- and seven hits in three-plus innings.
Making his first career Opening Day start, Moehler did not allow a hit until Juan Gonzalez
lined a clean single to center with one out in the seventh. Rafael Palmeiro ended the
quest for a shutout by delivering a run-scoring double off the wall in left-center.
Moehler said he was uncomfortable with the bullpen at The Ballpark in Arlington, but
settled down once he made it to the field.
"I don't like the bullpen here. It feels like the plate is a mile away," Moehler
said. "The first inning, I felt all right and the second inning, I got
comfortable."
Moehler retired 15 straight batters at one point before hitting Rusty Greer with a pitch
immediately before Gonzalez's single. He left after seven innings, walking two and
striking out six.
"I was beginning to tire a little bit, but by the time the sixth or seventh came
around I didn't think I could have gone much farther," Moehler said.
The Rangers, who led the AL in hitting last season, made the score somewhat respectable by
scoring three times in the eighth against Japanase rookie Masao Kida and once more in the
ninth.
"It's just one game, the beginning of a long season," Texas manager Johnny Oates
said. "We've got plenty of games left to play."
Encarnacion homered to right field on the first pitch of the game from Helling, and
Detroit added seven runs in the fourth.
"They've got a good lineup. I didn't pitch well enough to get the job done,"
Helling said. "We just have to keep working."
Tony Clark singled, Dean Palmer walked and Higginson homered to right, increasing the lead
to 4-0.
Deivi Cruz doubled and Helling exited after hitting Brad Ausmus and Brian Hunter, the
eighth and ninth hitters in the lineup, to load the bases.
Encarnacion lined out to right field off Esteban Loaiza and Ausmus strolled off second and
was caught in a rundown. Ausmus stayed alive for several throws before a toss by shortstop
Royce Clayton hit him in the back and another run scored.
After Gregg Jefferies grounded out, Easley homered down the left-field line for an 8-0
cushion.
Detroit tacked on three runs in the sixth. Encarnacion and Jefferies had RBI singles and
Easley bounced into a run-scoring double play.
Mike Morgan of the Rangers set a professional sports record when he relieved in the sixth.
The 39-year-old righthander appeared for his 11th team, breaking the baseball mark of 10
he shared with Bob Miller, Tommy Davis and Ken Brett.
Detroit collected 13 hits, including two by free agent signee Dean Palmer in his Tigers
debut.
Kida became the first Tokyo-born citizen to play in the majors and allowed a two-run
single to Gonzalez in the eighth. Lee Stevens homered in the ninth off Doug Brocail.
The Tigers opened on the road for the seventh straight season, winning for the third time.
"We feel like pulling into this season we have a good unit," Parrish said.
"We feel up and down the lineup we can run the bases and hit the ball."
Texas lost for only the ninth time in its last 24 openers.
Palmeiro, making his return to the Rangers after five seasons in Baltimore, was the
designated hitter and went 1-for-3.
Game Log
Detroit Starting Lineups -- Juan Encarnacion LF, Gregg Jefferies DH, Damion Easley
2B, Tony Clark 1B, Dean Palmer 3B, Bob Higginson RF, Deivi Cruz SS, Brad Ausmus C, Brian L
Hunter CF, Brian Moehler RHP.
Texas Starting Lineups -- Tom Goodwin CF, Luis Alicea 2B, Rusty Greer LF, Juan Gonzalez
RF, Rafael Palmeiro DH, Ivan Rodriguez C, Lee Stevens 1B, Todd Zeile 3B, Royce Clayton SS,
Rick Helling RHP.
Umpires -- Mckean (HP), Kaiser (1B), Joyce (2B), T Craft (3B).
Gametime Weather: 73 degrees, Sunny, wind right to left at 25 mph.
DETROIT 1ST: J Encarnacion homered to right. Jefferies walked. Easley flied out to shallow
center. Jefferies caught stealing, catcher to shortstop. To Clark singled to right center.
Palmer singled to left, To Clark to second. Higginson flied out to center. (1 Run, 3 Hits,
0 Errors) DETROIT 1, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin grounded out to second. Alicea flied out to center. Greer struck out
swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 1, TEXAS 0.
DETROIT 2ND: D Cruz singled to center. Ausmus grounded into double play, pitcher to
shortstop to first, D Cruz out at second. Bl Hunter flied out to shallow center. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) DETROIT 1, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 2ND: J Gonzalez walked. Palmeiro walked, J Gonzalez to second. I Rodriguez grounded
into double play, pitcher to shortstop to first, Palmeiro out at second, J Gonzalez to
third. L Stevens popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 1, TEXAS 0.
DETROIT 3RD: J Encarnacion safe at first on 3rd baseman Zeile's throwing error. J
Encarnacion caught stealing, catcher to second. Jefferies flied out to center. Easley
fouled out to catcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) DETROIT 1, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 3RD: Zeile struck out swinging. Clayton grounded out to shortstop. T Goodwin struck
out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 1, TEXAS 0.
DETROIT 4TH: To Clark singled to right. Palmer walked, To Clark to second. Higginson
homered to right, To Clark and Palmer scored. D Cruz doubled to right center. Ausmus hit
by pitch. Bl Hunter hit by pitch, D Cruz to third, Ausmus to second. Esteban Loaiza
relieved Rick Helling. J Encarnacion lined out to right. D Cruz scored, Ausmus to third,
Bl Hunter to second on shortstop Clayton's throwing error. Jefferies grounded out to
shortstop. Easley homered to left, Ausmus and Bl Hunter scored. To Clark struck out
swinging. (7 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error) DETROIT 8, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 4TH: Alicea lined out to left. Greer grounded out to second. J Gonzalez struck out
looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 8, TEXAS 0.
DETROIT 5TH: Palmer struck out swinging. Higginson grounded out to first. D Cruz grounded
out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 8, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 5TH: Palmeiro grounded out to first. I Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. L
Stevens fouled out to catcher. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 8, TEXAS 0.
DETROIT 6TH: Ausmus reached on infield single. Bl Hunter walked, Ausmus to second. J
Encarnacion singled to center, Ausmus scored, Bl Hunter to third. Jefferies singled to
right, Bl Hunter scored, J Encarnacion to third. Mike Morgan relieved Esteban Loaiza.
Easley grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Jefferies out at second, J
Encarnacion scored. To Clark grounded out to second. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT
11, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 6TH: Zeile grounded out to shortstop. Clayton lined out to shortstop. T Goodwin
grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 11, TEXAS 0.
DETROIT 7TH: Palmer singled to right. Higginson safe at first on 1st baseman L Stevens'
fielding error, Palmer to second. D Cruz grounded into fielder's choice to third, Palmer
to third, Higginson out at second. Ausmus struck out swinging. Bl Hunter lined out to
second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error) DETROIT 11, TEXAS 0.
TEXAS 7TH: Alicea struck out looking. Greer hit by pitch. J Gonzalez singled to center,
Greer to second. Palmeiro doubled to deep left center, Greer scored, J Gonzalez to third.
I Rodriguez struck out swinging. L Stevens grounded out to first. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0
Errors) DETROIT 11, TEXAS 1.
DETROIT 8TH: J Encarnacion struck out looking. K Garcia hit for Jefferies. K Garcia struck
out swinging. Easley reached on infield single. To Clark flied out to deep left. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) DETROIT 11, TEXAS 1.
TEXAS 8TH: Masao Kida relieved Brian Moehler. Kapler in right. L Garcia at short. Zeile
singled to center. Zeile to second on Ausmus passed ball. Clayton walked. T Goodwin lined
out to center. Alicea walked, Zeile to third, Clayton to second. Greer grounded out to
first, Zeile scored, Clayton to third, Alicea to second. J Gonzalez singled to left,
Clayton and Alicea scored. Cj Nitkowski relieved Masao Kida. Palmeiro grounded out to
third. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 11, TEXAS 4.
DETROIT 9TH: Mike Munoz relieved Mike Morgan. Palmer flied out to right. Kapler flied out
to deep center. L Garcia popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 11,
TEXAS 4.
TEXAS 9TH: Doug Brocail relieved Cj Nitkowski. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. L Stevens
homered to left. Zeile struck out swinging. Clayton grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) DETROIT 11, TEXAS 5.