Game 8: Apr 13, 1999 (W: 15-6)[ Previous Game | Next Game ]
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Game 8: Apr 13, 1999 (W: 15-6)
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Game Commentary
Game Photos
Box/Line Score
Game Recap
Game Log
Commentary (by me)
Pudge Rodriguez beat the Seattle Mariners 9-6 last night (OK, the real score was
15-6, but 9 of the 15 were Pudge's). He whacked a third deck home run in the first
inning, scoring three runs. That was only the 21st person to hit a ball up there in
the history of the Kingdome. He then went on to hit a two run single in the
second, which possibly could have been more than just a single if Jay Buhner didn't make a
really awesome sliding stop of the ball headed to the wall. That put Pudge's RBI
total at 5 for the first two innings. Then comes the third. With the
bases loaded, Pudge fouls off a really good pitch for him to hit - if you were watching
this on TV, they showed a closeup of Pudge after he fouled off the ball, and he knew it.
Then a couple of pitches later came what Bill Jones described as "The ultimate
hanging curve ball" that Pudge almost put into the third deck again in left field.
It was Pudge's first ever grand slam, and boy did he know it. When the ball went, he started running down the first base line, and most of that time was spent looking in the dugout smiling. As he was going around the bases, he was bursting with smiles. It's funny, as my wife Lynn had just commented not 2 minutes before that you hardly ever see Pudge smile at all during the game. That gave Pudge 9 RBI's. He had a chance the next at bat to tie the AL record at 11, but he popped out. He was then taken out for Zaun in a complete rout. What a night for Pudge! Check out the pics below for some of the smiling. :)
As great as this was, it wasn't all that happened tonight that was good. Mike Morgan was really good through the first 6 innings he pitched. The first three innings were perfect - as was the fifth inning. He had only allowed three hits through the end of the sixth inning - although two of them were solo home runs. He was also really economical with his pitching - he had only thrown 24 pitches through the first 3 innings, and a total of 48 through the first 5. Not sure what his final pitch count was, though. He did seem to run out of gas in the 7th, allowing two doubles, and then a home run to bring the run count to 5. Still - it was the best starting pitching performance this season outside of Aaron Sele (who wears glasses - I didn't know that. Sele was shown in the dugout wearing glasses). One other thing about Morgan. Grieve said this was the first time that Mike Morgan had beaten the Mariners since 1979(!). They also joked that if Mike Morgan is still pitching next season, he'll be the first pitcher ever to pitch in four decades, and 2 centuries. :) When you look at him, he doesn't seem like he's been around quite that long.
After Morgan, we brought in Jeff Zimmerman, who made his major league pitching debut and pitched for 1 2/3 innings, striking out 4 batters of the 6 he faced (one of which was former Ranger Domingo Cedeno & Edgar Martinez). Zimmerman looked VERY impressive. After Zimmerman, Danny Patterson came in for the ninth, and allowed one run (total of 6). Patterson seemed just "OK". He wasn't bad, but wasn't great, either.
One bad thing, though - Raffy came out in the first inning after an RBI single to right with a slightly pulled hamstring. He's listed as day to day, but it doesn't have anything to do with the knee surgery - but anytime you hear the word "hamstring", you worry.
In unbaseball remarks, there were two VERY funny Ranger commercials on TV last night. The first was one about Nolan Ryan and the Hall of Fame, and the other was one of the regular Ranger commercials with John Wetteland. I'm going to try and get them on tape in the next few days - when I do, I'll have 'em here as downloads. One final thing. The final batter for the Mariners popped up, and when he did, you could quite clearly hear someone screaming "FUCK". Not sure who it was for sure, but after the out, Danny Patterson was quite clearly shown going "SHIT" & "FUCK" (if you could read lips, that is). :)
Commentary (by Jim Meeks)
It looks like Rodriguez is back in Seattle. Future Hall of Famer Ivan
"Pudge" Rodriguez, that is.
Pudge set a new Texas Rangers' individual record by bustin' out the whoopin' stick and
driving in nine runs as the Rangers proved they weren't the only team with
pitching problems - as they destroyed the Mariners, 15 to 6. The 9 RBI's break a record
set by Jose Canseco which was later tied by Juan Gonzalez at 8.
Pudge went nuts in this game, hitting a three-run homer, a grand slam and he hit a couple
of singles. The Rangers' offense thrived off Seattle starter Ken Cloude, who was making
his 1999 debut. After this outing, his ERA sits at 37.80. If he could give up a few more
earned runs, maybe Doug Melvin will try and make a trade for him...tongue firmly
implanted in cheek.
The Rangers literally hate playing in Seattle. In the mid-1990's, Rangers' radio announcer
Eric Nadel appropriately nicknamed the dome the "House of Horrors" and for good
reason - they rarely win there. But they had no problems Tuesday. Just about every Ranger
went goo-goo with the bat, (Rusty Greer had 4 hits and a walk, for example). The score was
13-0 before 3 innings were up. End of ball game, time for bed...yawn.
We've bitched and moaned the first week of the season about the Rangers' pitching, but
look at Seattle's pitching, which is touted to be much better than the Rangers' staff.
Going into the game, the Rangers weren't even close to being the worst pitching
team in the American League. Now just try and imagine two worse pitching teams.
Along with the Detroit Tigers, the Seattle Mariners reside statistically. The Mariners now
have a team ERA of 7.38. That's 1/100ths of a run lower than the Tigers.
Ranger Mike Morgan became the first pitcher other than Aaron Sele to even pitch long
enough to qualify for a win. Morgan wasn't perfect, but pitching in the Mariners'
Pinball Arena, at least he survived, despite giving up 3 home runs in 6.1 innings.
Jeff Zimmerman, just called up to provide relief in the bullpen, pitched superbly. He
struck out 4 in 1.1 scoreless innings. He's a welcome addition to this staff.
I may still complain about bad pitching in future columns, but I have come to realize that
the grass is not always greener on the other side, folks. Especially, in this case, when
the grass is artificial.
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| Mariners pitcher Ken Cloude in the first inning | Rangers starter Mike Morgan | Pudge rounding the bases after his first home run | Ken Griffey Jr. throwing his helmet after striking out | Mariners |
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| Mighty Pudge at bat | Pudge being congratulated after his first ever Grand Slam | More congratulations for Pudge |
Line Score
AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TEXAS 5 2 6 0 0 2 0 0 0 15 19 0
SEATTLE 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 1 6 10 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: TEX - MIKE MORGAN, JEFF ZIMMERMAN (7TH), DANNY
PATTERSON (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ, GREG ZAUN
(8TH)
SEA - KEN CLOUDE, MAC SUZUKI (2ND), BRETT HINCHLIFFE
(7TH) AND DAN WILSON, RAUL IBANEZ (6TH)
WP - MIKE MORGAN (2-0)
LP - KEN CLOUDE (0-1)
SAVE - NONE
HOME RUNS: TEX - IVAN RODRIGUEZ (2) OFF CLOUDE IN THE 1ST, 2 ON
IVAN RODRIGUEZ (3) OFF SUZUKI IN THE 3RD, 3 ON
SEA - DAVID BELL (2) OFF MORGAN IN THE 4TH, 0 ON
DAVID SEGUI (1) OFF MORGAN IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
JAY BUHNER (1) OFF MORGAN IN THE 7TH, 1 ON
TIME: 2:54 ATT: 20,710
PROBABLES: TEX - JOHN BURKETT (0-1, 16.85)
SEA - BUTCH HENRY (1-0, 0.00)
Box Score
TEXAS (15) AT SEATTLE (6) - FINAL
TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
T Goodwin cf 5 3 2 1 1 2 0 .222
Mclemore 2b 6 2 3 0 0 0 1 .348
Greer lf 5 3 4 2 1 0 1 .355
J Gonzalez rf 3 1 1 2 1 0 4 .313
R Kelly rf 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .625
R Palmeiro dh 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .280
Alicea pr-dh 4 2 1 0 1 2 5 .133
I Rodriguez c 5 2 4 9 0 0 2 .393
Zaun c 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000
Zeile 3b 4 0 0 0 2 1 8 .379
L Stevens 1b 5 2 2 0 0 2 2 .276
Clayton ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 3 .077
Totals 44 15 19 15 7 8 26
BATTING: 2B - Greer (3, Cloude); J Gonzalez (3, Suzuki); L Stevens
(3, Suzuki); Mclemore (2, Suzuki). HR - I Rodriguez 2 (3, 1st inning
off Cloude 2 on, 1 out, 3rd inning off Suzuki 3 on, 2 out). SF -
J Gonzalez. RBI - J Gonzalez 2 (6), R Palmeiro (4), I Rodriguez 9 (11),
Greer 2 (8), T Goodwin (1). 2-out RBI - I Rodriguez 6, Greer,
J Gonzalez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Zeile 4,
J Gonzalez 1. GIDP - Zeile. Team LOB - 10.
SEATTLE ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
Da Bell 2b 5 1 1 1 0 0 2 .148
Segui 1b 3 1 1 1 0 1 0 .281
Mabry 1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .286
Griffey cf 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .407
Mieske cf-rf 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .333
E Martinez dh 4 1 1 0 0 1 2 .310
B Huskey lf 4 2 2 1 0 0 1 .474
Buhner rf 3 1 1 2 0 0 0 .222
Gipson cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .400
R Davis 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .310
G Guevara ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .400
D Wilson c 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300
Ibanez c 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 .667
D Cedeno ss-3b 4 0 1 1 0 2 0 .286
Totals 37 6 10 6 0 8 7
BATTING: 2B - E Martinez (3, Morgan); B Huskey (4, Morgan). HR -
Da Bell (2, 4th inning off Morgan 0 on, 0 out); Segui (1, 6th inning
off Morgan 0 on, 2 out); Buhner (1, 7th inning off Morgan 1 on, 0 out).
RBI - Da Bell (4), Segui (2), B Huskey (4), Buhner 2 (4), D Cedeno (3).
2-out RBI - Segui, D Cedeno. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Da Bell 1. Team LOB - 4.
FIELDING: DP: 1 (D Cedeno-Da Bell-Segui).
TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
Morgan (W, 2-0) 6 1/3 6 5 5 0 3 3 4.05
Zimmerman 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 4 0 0.00
D Patterson 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 5.40
SEATTLE ip h r er bb so hr era
Cloude (L, 0-1) 1 2/3 6 7 7 4 2 1 37.80
Suzuki 4 1/3 10 8 8 2 2 1 10.38
Hinchliffe 3 3 0 0 1 4 0 5.68
WP - Cloude. IBB - J Gonzalez (by Cloude). Pitches-strikes:
Cloude 60-31; Suzuki 87-54; Hinchliffe 48-32; Morgan 76-49;
Zimmerman 26-18; D Patterson 24-17. Ground balls-fly balls:
Cloude 1-2; Suzuki 3-8; Hinchliffe 4-1; Morgan 10-6; Zimmerman
0-1; D Patterson 1-1. Batters faced: Cloude 15; Suzuki 25;
Hinchliffe 12; Morgan 25; Zimmerman 6; D Patterson 6.
UMPIRES: HP--Greg Kosc. 1B--Dan Morrison. 2B--Ed Hickox.
3B--Larry Barnett.
T--2:54. Att--20,710. Indoors.
AL TEXAS AT SEATTLE
NOTE: TEXAS' RAFAEL PALMEIRO LEFT THE GAME IN THE TOP OF THE
FIRST INNING WITH AN UNDISCLOSED INJURY.
AL TEXAS AT SEATTLE
NOTE: TEXAS' RAFAEL PALMEIRO LEFT THE GAME IN THE TOP OF THE
FIRST INNING WITH TIGHTNESS IN HIS RIGHT HAMSTRING. HE IS
LISTED AS DAY-TO-DAY.
AL TEXAS AT SEATTLE
NOTE: TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ HAS ESTABLISHED A NEW CLUB RECORD
WITH NINE RUNS BATTED IN IN ONE GAME. THE PREVIOUS RECORD
OF EIGHT WAS SET BY JUAN GONZALEZ ON JUNE 17, 1993 AND
EQUALED BY JOSE CANSECO ON JUNE 13, 1994.
Game Recap
SEATTLE (TICKER) -- Ivan Rodriguez established a team record with nine RBI -- all
by the third inning -- as the Texas Rangers raced to a 13-run lead and clobbered the
Seattle Mariners, 15-6.
Rodriguez tied a career high with four hits and homered twice, including his first career
grand slam. He broke by one the club mark for RBI in a game, set by Juan Gonzalez on June
17, 1993 and equaled on June 13, 1994 by Jose Canseco.
Rodriguez had two shots at the American League record of 11, held by Tony Lazzeri, and the
major league mark of 12, shared by Jim Bottomley and Mark Whiten.
"I felt happy with the game that I had. I'm not looking for that," Rodriguez
insisted. "I'm just looking for a win by our team. It was a great night, I guess. I'm
very happy for today. I'm going to enjoy this night, and tomorrow I'm going to forget
today's day. It's not easy to get nine RBI in one game. Sometimes, you don't get nine RBI
in one week."
"To have nine RBI in the first three innings of a game, I know there's some
ex-catchers who would take nine RBI in a year let alone three innings," said Texas
manager Johnny Oates, a former catcher.
The record-setting night started early for Rodriguez, who hit a three-run homer off Ken
Cloude to highlight a five-run first inning. He added a two-run single in the second and
deposited a 2-2 pitch from reliever Mac Suzuki into the second deck in left field for his
third homer of the season.
Rodriguez, who left for a defensive replacement in the eighth
inning, became only the 12th player to homer into the second deck in Kingdome history.
Mike Morgan (2-0) benefited from the Rangers' 19-hit assault, winning in his first start
of the season. He gave up all five runs and six hits, including three home runs, in 6 1/3
innings with three strikeouts.
"Unbelievable night. I've never seen anything like it in my 21 years," Morgan
said. "It was a phenomenal night for our catcher, for our ballclub, too. To pick up
15 runs quick like that, it's a tough night to pitch. I was coming up the tunnel in
between innings, throwing balls into the net, trying to stay loose."
Jeff Zimmerman, a 26-year-old righthander, struck out four over 1 2/3 innings in his major
league debut for Texas.
Cloude (0-1) proved his rough spring was no fluke, lasting only 1 2/3 innings and
surrendering seven runs and six hits with four walks and two strikeouts. Suzuki fared no
better, giving up eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
"Disappointing. We were expecting better," Mariners manager Lou Piniella said of
Cloude, who was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma on Saturday. "He pitched a real good
ballgame in Albuquerque. His control was very good. We thought he would come up here and
give us a good effort. ... He just didn't get out of the second inning."
Mark McLemore had three hits and scored twice for Texas, which had been outscored 34-15 in
losing three of four to Anaheim over the weekend.
Rusty Greer had four hits, two RBI and three runs scored as the top three batters in the
Rangers' lineup combined to go 9-for-16 with three RBI and eight runs. Rafael Palmeiro had
an RBI single in the first but left with tightness in his right hamstring.
David Bell and David Segui hit solo homers and Jay Buhner added a two-run blast for the
Mariners, who have given up at least 11 runs in three of eight games this season.
Game Log
Texas Starting Lineups -- Tom Goodwin CF, Mark Mclemore 2B, Rusty Greer LF, Juan
Gonzalez RF, Rafael Palmeiro DH, Ivan Rodriguez C, Todd Zeile 3B, Lee Stevens 1B, Royce
Clayton SS, Mike Morgan RHP.
Seattle Starting Lineups -- David Bell 2B, David Segui 1B, Ken Griffey Jr CF, Edgar
Martinez DH, Butch Huskey LF, Jay Buhner RF, Russ Davis 3B, Dan Wilson C, Domingo Cedeno
SS, Ken Cloude RHP.
Umpires -- Kosc (HP), Morrison (1B), Hickox (2B), L Barnett (3B).
Gametime Weather: Indoors
TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin walked. Mclemore singled to right, T Goodwin to second. T Goodwin to
third, Mclemore to second on Cloude wild pitch. Greer walked. J Gonzalez hit sacrifice fly
to left, T Goodwin scored. R Palmeiro singled to deep right, Mclemore scored, Greer to
third. Alicea ran for R Palmeiro. I Rodriguez homered to left, Greer and Alicea scored.
Zeile walked. L Stevens flied out to deep center. Clayton grounded into fielder's choice
to shortstop, Zeile out at second. (5 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, SEATTLE 0.
SEATTLE 1ST: Da Bell grounded out to shortstop. Segui grounded out to second. Griffey
struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, SEATTLE 0.
TEXAS 2ND: T Goodwin struck out swinging. Mclemore singled to center. Greer doubled to
deep right, Mclemore to third. J Gonzalez intentionally walked. Alicea struck out
swinging. I Rodriguez singled to right center, Mclemore and Greer scored, J Gonzalez to
third. Mac Suzuki relieved Ken Cloude. Zeile grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop,
I Rodriguez out at second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 7, SEATTLE 0.
SEATTLE 2ND: E Martinez grounded out to third. B Huskey grounded out to pitcher. Buhner
flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 7, SEATTLE 0.
TEXAS 3RD: L Stevens reached on infield single. Clayton flied out to shallow right. T
Goodwin singled to center, L Stevens to second. Mclemore flied out to right center, L
Stevens to third. Greer singled to center, L Stevens scored, T Goodwin to second. J
Gonzalez doubled to left, T Goodwin scored, Greer to third. Alicea walked. I Rodriguez
homered to left, Greer, J Gonzalez and Alicea scored. Zeile walked. L Stevens struck out
swinging. (6 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 13, SEATTLE 0.
SEATTLE 3RD: R Davis grounded out to shortstop. D Wilson fouled out to first. D Cedeno
grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 13, SEATTLE 0.
TEXAS 4TH: Clayton popped out to shallow right. T Goodwin popped out to shallow left.
Mclemore grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 13, SEATTLE 0.
SEATTLE 4TH: Da Bell homered to left. Segui struck out looking. Griffey singled to right.
E Martinez grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Griffey out at second. B Huskey
flied out to right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 13, SEATTLE 1.
TEXAS 5TH: Mieske in center. Greer singled to center. J Gonzalez flied out to right.
Alicea singled to center, Greer to second. I Rodriguez flied out to center. Zeile struck
out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 13, SEATTLE 1.
SEATTLE 5TH: Buhner flied out to center. R Davis flied out to center. D Wilson grounded
out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 13, SEATTLE 1.
TEXAS 6TH: Ibanez catching. L Stevens doubled to deep left center. Clayton flied out to
deep left. T Goodwin singled to center, L Stevens scored. Mclemore doubled to right, T
Goodwin to third. Greer grounded out to first, T Goodwin scored. J Gonzalez lined out to
left. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 1.
SEATTLE 6TH: R Kelly in right. D Cedeno struck out swinging. Da Bell grounded out to
shortstop. Segui homered to right. Mieske popped out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 2.
TEXAS 7TH: Brett Hinchliffe relieved Mac Suzuki. Alicea struck out swinging. I Rodriguez
singled to left. Zeile grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, I
Rodriguez out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 2.
SEATTLE 7TH: E Martinez doubled to deep right. B Huskey doubled to left, E Martinez
scored. Buhner homered to left center, B Huskey scored. R Davis grounded out to shortstop.
Jeff Zimmerman relieved Mike Morgan. Ibanez struck out swinging. D Cedeno struck out
swinging. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 5.
TEXAS 8TH: Mieske in right. D Cedeno at third. Mabry at first. Gipson in center. G Guevara
at short. L Stevens struck out swinging. Clayton struck out swinging. T Goodwin struck out
swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 5.
SEATTLE 8TH: Zaun catching. Da Bell flied out to center. Mabry singled to center. Mieske
struck out swinging. E Martinez struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15,
SEATTLE 5.
TEXAS 9TH: Mclemore grounded out to first. Greer singled to center. R Kelly singled to
left, Greer to second. Alicea flied out to center. Zaun walked, Greer to third, R Kelly to
second. Zeile grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 5.
SEATTLE 9TH: Danny Patterson relieved Jeff Zimmerman. B Huskey singled to left. Gipson
struck out swinging. G Guevara grounded out to first, B Huskey to second. Ibanez reached
on infield single, B Huskey to third. D Cedeno singled to center, B Huskey scored, Ibanez
to third. Da Bell flied out to right. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 15, SEATTLE 6.