Game 19: Apr 25, 1999 (W: 9-5)[ Previous Game | Next Game ]
[ Schedule Menu | Main Page ]
Game 19: Apr 25, 1999 (W: 9-5)
[ Previous Game | Next Game ]
[ Schedule Menu | Main Page ]
Game Commentary
Game Recap
Game Photos
Box/Line Score
Game Log
Commentary (by me)
As I put this page together on Monday morning, I've had only 5 hours sleep in the
last two days - my recall of the game is next to nothing. We'll have to rely on
Jim's commentary today. :)
I can say this. The Rangers pitching (in particular Danny Patterson) let the Twins get much closer than they should have been in the 9th inning. This was a very well pitched game until the 9th.
Commentary (by Jim Meeks)
The Rangers coasted Sunday and swept the Minnesota Twins 9-5, behind the pitching
of Rick Helling and from solid support from the bottom of the batting order.
Helling, who gave up just 2 earned runs in 7 innings, was very sharp again and looks to be
back to form, after his terrible start of the season.
Helling found all the help he needed from the six, seven and eight batters in the lineup.
Todd Zeile, Lee Stevens and Gregg Zahn - who was filling in so that Ivan Rodriguez could
get a needed two-day rest, combined to go 6-14, with a double, 3 homers and 7 runs batted
in. Zeile had a homer in the second to give Helling a lead he would never relinquish,
while Stevens added 2 solo shots, the first being a tremendous blow.
The Rangers have now finished their longest road trip in team history in terms of mileage
and I'm sure they'll be smiling on their way back to the Metroplex. The team sandwiched
two lousy series with two series sweeps; sweeping the Mariners at the Kingdome and now the
Twinkies at the Baggiedome.
Game Recap
MINNEAPOLIS (TICKER) -- Todd Zeile drove in three runs and Rick Helling pitched
seven strong innings as the Texas Rangers completed their first four-game sweep of the
Minnesota Twins in 12 years with a 6-2 victory.
Lee Stevens homered twice for the Rangers, who have captured five in a row against the
Twins and are 10-4 at the Metrodome over the last three seasons. The Rangers last swept
four games from the Twins June 26-28, 1987 in Texas.
Zeile snapped an 0-for-10 slump when he connected in the second off Dan Perkins, who was
making his first major league start. Perkins (0-1) gave up six runs, six hits and five
walks in 5 1/3 innings and has allowed 15 runs in 14 1/3 innings.
Helling (1-3), a 20-game winner a year ago, allowed two runs and seven hits with one walk
and three strikeouts to gain the win in his fifth start of the year. He improved to 4-1
lifetime against the Twins.
With John Burkett on the disabled list, manager Johnny Oates used Helling on three days
rest.
"He probably could have finished the ballgame," said Oates. "I didn't see
any change from him on his normal rest. There was no red flags, but that was just once.
Now he is going to be on his normal rest."
"I felt pretty good, I'm not sure what my velocities were, but it didn't feel any
different," said Helling. "With us going to a four-man rotation they wanted to
keep our pitch count down."
Texas took a 4-0 lead with three runs in the third. Royce Clayton led off with a double
and later scored on a passed ball by Javier Valentin. Rusty Greer and Rafael Palmeiro
walked to load the bases with two outs and Zeile followed with a two-run single.
Minnesota finally reached Helling in the sixth when Matt Lawton broke an 0-for-9 streak
against the righthander with a two-run homer.
The Twins made it interesting with three runs in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Valentin
and run-scoring doubles by rookie Christian Guzman and Denny Hocking off Danny Patterson.
"We will improve as we go along," said Minnesota manager Tom Kelly. "It's
hard to find positives when you lose, but I thought Lawton swung the bat well. I think
people are moving forward."
Stevens hit solo homers in the sixth and ninth innings for his seventh career multi-homer
game and first since September 25 against Seattle.
"I just want to stay focus and swing the bat well, Stevens said. "Obviously it
is still early, I just want to maintain what I am doing and ride this out."
Texas finished 8-4 on its 12-game road trip, its best since a 9-2 mark from July 1-11,
1993.
"We got off to a real good start, sweeping three in Seattle," added Oates.
"We did not pitch well in Oakland and then we went to New York for two tough games.
To come in here and win four straight makes for a real nice road trip."
The Rangers, who had lost four of their last five before the series, outscored the Twins,
26-13 in the four games.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rick Helling, the Rangers starting pitcher | Todd Zeile almost getting hit by a pitch in the third | Royce Clayton scores on a wild pitch in the third | Todd Zeile being congratulated after his solo HR | Lee Stevens rounding the bases after the first of his two home runs |
 |
||
| Twins manager taking out Dan Perkins in the sixth |
Line Score
AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
TEXAS 0 1 3 1 0 1 2 0 1 9 11 0
MINNESOTA 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 5 10 1 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: TEX - RICK HELLING, ESTEBAN LOAIZA (8TH), DANNY
PATTERSON (9TH), TIM CRABTREE (9TH) AND GREGG
ZAUN
MIN - DAN PERKINS, BENJ SAMPSON (6TH), JOE MAYS
(7TH) AND JAVIER VALENTIN
WP - RICK HELLING (1-3)
LP - DAN PERKINS (0-1)
SAVE - NONE
HOME RUNS: TEX - TODD ZEILE (5) OFF PERKINS IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
LEE STEVENS (6) OFF PERKINS IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
LEE STEVENS (7) OFF MAYS IN THE 9TH, 0 ON
MIN - MATT LAWTON (2) OFF HELLING IN THE 6TH, 1 ON
TIME: 2:44 ATT: 14,801
PROBABLES: NYY - ROGER CLEMENS (2-0, 4.07)
TEX - AARON SELE (3-1, 3.22)
BOS - TIM WAKEFIELD (1-2, 6.23)
MIN - BRAD RADKE (1-2, 5.66)
Box Score
TEXAS (9) AT MINNESOTA (5) - FINAL
TEXAS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
T Goodwin cf 4 1 1 1 1 0 1 .213
Alicea 2b 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 .200
Greer lf 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 .320
J Gonzalez rf 5 1 0 0 0 0 5 .267
R Palmeiro dh 3 0 1 0 2 0 0 .295
Zeile 3b 5 2 2 3 0 0 3 .242
L Stevens 1b 4 2 2 2 1 0 2 .338
Zaun c 5 1 2 2 0 0 0 .182
Clayton ss 3 1 1 0 1 0 2 .122
Totals 38 9 11 8 6 1 16
BATTING: 2B - Clayton (2, Perkins); Zaun (1, Perkins); Alicea
(2, Mays). HR - Zeile (5, 2nd inning off Perkins 0 on, 1 out);
L Stevens 2 (7, 6th inning off Perkins 0 on, 0 out, 9th inning off
Mays 0 on, 2 out). RBI - Zeile 3 (11), T Goodwin (3), L Stevens
2 (15), Zaun 2 (2). 2-out RBI - Zeile 2, Zaun 2, L Stevens.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Gonzalez 2,
L Stevens 1, Clayton 1. Team LOB - 8.
MINNESOTA ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
T Hunter cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .217
a-Hocking ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 .300
Mientkiewicz 1b 5 1 2 0 0 0 1 .281
Gates 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .226
Lawton rf 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 .329
Allen lf 3 1 1 0 1 0 1 .279
T Walker 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .225
Javier Valentin c 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 .185
Koskie dh 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 .324
C Guzman ss 4 1 1 1 0 1 1 .204
Totals 36 5 10 5 1 3 8
a-doubled for T Hunter in the 9th.
BATTING: 2B - Mientkiewicz (9, Loaiza); C Guzman (2,
D Patterson); Hocking (2, D Patterson). HR - Lawton (2, 6th inning
off Helling 1 on, 2 out). SF - Javier Valentin. RBI - Lawton 2 (14),
Javier Valentin (3), C Guzman (2), Hocking (5). 2-out RBI - Lawton 2,
C Guzman, Hocking. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Koskie 1, Lawton 1, Mientkiewicz 1. Team LOB - 6.
FIELDING: E - T Hunter (1, throw). PB - Javier Valentin.
TEXAS ip h r er bb so hr era
Helling (W, 1-3) 7 5 2 2 1 3 1 6.92
Loaiza 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 6.00
D Patterson 2/3 4 3 3 0 0 0 9.00
Crabtree 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.50
MINNESOTA ip h r er bb so hr era
Perkins (L, 0-1) 5 1/3 6 6 6 5 1 2 8.16
Sampson 1 1/3 2 2 2 1 0 0 13.50
Mays 2 1/3 3 1 1 0 0 1 4.35
Pitches-strikes: Perkins 98-47; Sampson 25-12; Mays 38-22;
Helling 96-61; Loaiza 9-8; D Patterson 13-12; Crabtree 1-1.
Ground balls-fly balls: Perkins 10-5; Sampson 3-1; Mays 3-4;
Helling 6-12; Loaiza 2-1; D Patterson 1-1; Crabtree 1-0.
Batters faced: Perkins 27; Sampson 7; Mays 10; Helling 27;
Loaiza 4; D Patterson 6; Crabtree 1.
UMPIRES: HP--Rocky Roe. 1B--Durwood Merrill. 2B--Fieldin
Culbreth. 3B--Dave Phillips.
T--2:44. Att--14,801. Indoors.
Game Log
Texas Starting Lineups -- Tom Goodwin CF, Luis Alicea 2B, Rusty Greer LF, Juan
Gonzalez RF, Rafael Palmeiro DH, Todd Zeile 3B, Lee Stevens 1B, Gregg Zaun C, Royce
Clayton SS, Rick Helling RHP.
Minnesota Starting Lineups -- Torii Hunter CF, Doug Mientkiewicz 1B, Brent Gates 3B, Matt
Lawton RF, Chad Allen LF, Todd Walker 2B, Javier Valentin C, Corey Koskie DH, Cristian
Guzman SS, Dan Perkins RHP.
Umpires -- Roe (HP), D Merrill (1B), Culbreth (2B), Phillips (3B).
Gametime Weather: Indoors
TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin walked. Alicea grounded out to first, T Goodwin to second. Greer
popped out to third. J Gonzalez grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
MINNESOTA 0.
MINNESOTA 1ST: T Hunter struck out swinging. Mientkiewicz flied out to right. Gates
grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, MINNESOTA 0.
TEXAS 2ND: R Palmeiro flied out to center. Zeile homered to left. L Stevens grounded out
to second. Zaun grounded out to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, MINNESOTA 0.
MINNESOTA 2ND: Lawton flied out to center. Allen walked. T Walker lined out to center.
Javier Valentin singled to center, Allen to second. Koskie struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1
Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, MINNESOTA 0.
TEXAS 3RD: Clayton doubled to deep right. T Goodwin singled to right, Clayton to third.
Clayton scored, T Goodwin to third on Javier Valentin passed ball. Alicea struck out
swinging. Greer walked. J Gonzalez popped out to third. R Palmeiro walked, Greer to
second. Zeile singled to center, T Goodwin and Greer scored, R Palmeiro to third. L
Stevens grounded out to first. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, MINNESOTA 0.
MINNESOTA 3RD: C Guzman grounded out to shortstop. T Hunter flied out to left.
Mientkiewicz flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, MINNESOTA 0.
TEXAS 4TH: Zaun doubled to left. Clayton grounded out to third, Zaun to third. T Goodwin
grounded out to second, Zaun scored. Alicea grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0
Errors) TEXAS 5, MINNESOTA 0.
MINNESOTA 4TH: Gates grounded out to first. Lawton singled to left center. Allen fouled
out to first. T Walker flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, MINNESOTA
0.
TEXAS 5TH: Greer grounded out to third. J Gonzalez popped out to shallow center. R
Palmeiro walked. Zeile flied out to left center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5,
MINNESOTA 0.
MINNESOTA 5TH: Javier Valentin lined out to right. Koskie flied out to left. C Guzman
struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, MINNESOTA 0.
TEXAS 6TH: L Stevens homered to right. Zaun grounded out to second. Clayton walked. Benj
Sampson relieved Dan Perkins. T Goodwin grounded into fielder's choice to second, Clayton
out at second. Alicea fouled out to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 6, MINNESOTA 0.
MINNESOTA 6TH: T Hunter flied out to shallow center. Mientkiewicz reached on infield
single. Gates grounded out to first, Mientkiewicz to second. Lawton homered to right,
Mientkiewicz scored. Allen grounded out to pitcher. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 6,
MINNESOTA 2.
TEXAS 7TH: Greer singled to center. J Gonzalez grounded into fielder's choice to
shortstop, Greer out at second. R Palmeiro singled to left center, J Gonzalez to second.
Zeile grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Gonzalez to third, R Palmeiro out at
second. L Stevens walked, Zeile to second. Joe Mays relieved Benj Sampson. Zaun singled to
center, J Gonzalez and Zeile scored, L Stevens to second. L Stevens to third on center
fielder T Hunter's throwing error. Clayton flied out to left. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error)
TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 2.
MINNESOTA 7TH: T Walker flied out to left. Javier Valentin lined out to first. Koskie
singled to left center. C Guzman grounded into fielder's choice to second, Koskie out at
second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 2.
TEXAS 8TH: T Goodwin grounded out to shortstop. Alicea doubled to left center. Greer
grounded out to first, Alicea to third. J Gonzalez lined out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0
Errors) TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 2.
MINNESOTA 8TH: Esteban Loaiza relieved Rick Helling. T Hunter grounded out to shortstop.
Mientkiewicz doubled to right. Gates grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher,
Mientkiewicz out at third. Gates to second. Lawton lined out to right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0
Errors) TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 2.
TEXAS 9TH: R Palmeiro grounded out to shortstop. Zeile flied out to right. L Stevens
homered to right center. Zaun flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 9,
MINNESOTA 2.
MINNESOTA 9TH: Danny Patterson relieved Esteban Loaiza. Allen reached on infield single. T
Walker singled to right, Allen to third. Javier Valentin hit sacrifice fly to center,
Allen scored, T Walker to second. Koskie grounded out to shortstop, T Walker to third. C
Guzman doubled to left, T Walker scored. Hocking hit for T Hunter. Hocking doubled to
right center, C Guzman scored. Tim Crabtree relieved Danny Patterson. Mientkiewicz
grounded out to pitcher. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 9, MINNESOTA 5.