Game 23: Apr 30, 1999 (W: 7-5)
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Commentary (by me)

I'm getting ready to go out to tonight's Ranger game, so I don't have much time to write, but I do have a few memories from watching the game last night.

Home Run Derby!  Cripes - for the second time this season against Helling, and I don't know how many times, AND the second time in two nights, the leadoff guy for the other team had a home run.  Juan had two, including one towering drive that looked from the camera angle that it was going out of the ballpark (of course, that wasn't going to really happen).  Juan hit his other into the Indians bullpen, which is where Lee Stevens hit one, too.  The fourth was Rusty Greer who had his first of the season.  The Indians also had four, including two by Roberto Alomar (the others by Lofton & Sexon).

Our pitching was a mixed bag.  Helling was just "OK", and Zimmerman continued to sparkle.  Man, does this kid look good.   However, we're not seeing all that many of the other right handers now, so I start to wonder about burnout.   Wetteland got another save, and is tied for the AL lead.

Royce Clayton had to come out of the game - he was scheduled for an MRI this morning (don't know what happened), and the Dallas Morning News this morning said that he's probably going on the DL.  They also said that the Rangers don't trust Shave to play the position for extended periods (we're 1-3 with him starting SS this year), and were talking about making a roster move to bring up someone else.   Hmm..  Could have used Bournigal.  :)

The Indians have such an impressive team, they seem to match up against us very well.  If I wasn't a Ranger fan, I'd probably be a fan of this team - they have a lot going for them.

Commentary (by Jim Meeks)

The Rangers used 4 home runs - including a multi-homer game by Juan Gonzalez - and fantastic relief pitching to defeat the Cleveland Indians Friday.

Gonzalez, who prior to Friday had just one round-tripper, drove in 3 runs. Rusty Greer hit his first homer and Lee Stevens hit his 8th. The Rangers banged out 13 hits.

Rick Helling again pitched poorly. For the fourth time this month against Rangers' pitching - the lead-off hitter hit a home run. This is the second time it's happened to Helling. He was behind in the count on just about every hitter as he labored through this game, throwing an incredible 119 pitches in just over 5 innings of work. He gave up 4 homers, the 5th time this year he's given more than one homer in a start.

Jeff Zimmerman continues to be the Most Valuable Player of this team. Coming out of the bullpen in the 6th inning, he stopped the Indians cold, allowing just one hit in his 2.2 innings of work and lowering his already microscopic ERA to 0.55. There are no words that can be used to describe just how well Zimmerman has pitched this year.

John Wetteland allowed 2 baserunners in the 9th but preserved the victory for Helling, who surely did not deserve the win.

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- Rusty Greer's two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning proved to be the deciding blow as the Texas Rangers outlasted the Cleveland Indians, 7-5, in a slugfest that featured eight homers.

Greer, who was homerless in his first 22 games, followed Mark McLemore's one-out single by launching a 2-2 offering from starter Bartolo Colon over the fence in right-center to put Texas ahead for good, 6-4.

Juan Gonzalez went deep twice for the Rangers, including a two-run shot that capped a four-run third inning and gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead. Gonzalez has 30 career homers against the Indians, his most against any team.

But Roberto Alomar, who hit two of Cleveland's four homers, smacked a 3-1 pitch from Rick Helling over the right-field wall in the top of the fifth to knot the game at 4-4.

"There was discussion during batting practice about the wind," Texas manager Johnny Oates said. "The wind was playing tricks tonight."

Helling (2-3) earned the win despite yielding five runs and nine hits over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked four, allowing all four Cleveland homers.

"I'm 2-3 but it could be a lot worse," Helling said. "I made some bad pitches that went a long way. It seems that every mistake I make is getting hit."

Rookie Jeff Zimmerman pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Helling and John Wetteland earned his eighth save by tossing a scoreless ninth.

Zimmerman has allowed only one run and six hits over his first 16 1/3 innings in the big leagues.

"I don't know how you adequately describe and complement (Zimmerman) enough," Oates added. "I feel so confident in him right now. I have confidence with the kid. He continues to amaze me."

"I felt Zimmerman threw the ball well," Cleveland manager Mike Hargrove added. "He preserved the game for them."

Colon (3-1) suffered his first loss, surrendering six runs and nine hits in five innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter, slipping to 2-2 lifetime against the Rangers.

"The first two innings I was fine," Colon said. "After the second inning, my mechanics were off and I was leaving my pitches high. The wind helped them out a little but they hit some of my pitches really good."

Ivan Rodriguez had three hits and Lee Stevens added a homer for Texas, which lost seven of 11 meetings to Cleveland last season.

Richie Sexson and Kenny Lofton each homered for the Indians, who had a four-game winning streak snapped but still boast the best record in the league at 16-6.

Lofton gave an early indication that the longball would play a prominent role in tonight's contest by leading off the game with his second homer of the year.

The Indians extended the lead to 2-0 on Alomar's one-out shot in the top of the third inning. The multi-homer game was Alomar's first as an Indian, fifth of his career and first since August 14, 1996 against the Milwaukee Brewers as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

Stevens cut the lead in half when he led off the bottom of the third with his team-leading eighth homer. Tom Goodwin doubled with one out and went to third on McLemore's single before coming home on Greer's sacrifice fly to left that tied the game at 2-2.

"This is a good place to hit," Stevens said. "We've got two good lineups here. We were fortunate to get some hits and stay focused. I'm just trying to keep it going. It doesn't get any easier from here on."

Gonzalez capped the four-run frame by drilling an 0-1 pitch from Colon over the wall in left-center, plating McLemore and giving Texas a two-run lead. The homer, which was measured at 442 feet, was the longest at the Ballpark in Arlington this season. Gonzalez has 34 career multi-homer games.

"I was trying to throw a sinker to Juan in the third inning and it stayed up and he hit it," Colon added. "I have to give him credit too, he is a terrific hitter."

Omar Vizquel led off the top of the fifth with a double to right before Alomar evened the game at 4-4.

After Greer's homer moved the Rangers back in front, Helling struck out David Justice leading off the sixth before surrendering a solo shot to Sexson that closed the gap to 6-5 and sent him to the showers.

Gonzalez capped the scoring with a solo shot in the seventh off reliever Mark Langston.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
CLEVELAND           1  0  1   0  2  1   0  0  0     5 11  1
TEXAS               0  0  4   0  2  0   1  0  x     7 13  1   (FINAL)

BATTERIES:  CLE - BARTOLO COLON, RICH DELUCIA (6TH), MARK
                  LANGSTON (6TH), STEVE REED (7TH), PAUL
                  ASSENMACHER (8TH), PAUL WAGNER (8TH) AND SANDY
                  ALOMAR JR
            TEX - RICK HELLING, JEFF ZIMMERMAN (6TH), JOHN
                  WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - RICK HELLING (2-3)
             LP - BARTOLO COLON (3-1)
           SAVE - JOHN WETTELAND (8)

HOME RUNS:  CLE - KENNY LOFTON (2) OFF HELLING IN THE 1ST, 0 ON
                  ROBERTO ALOMAR (3) OFF HELLING IN THE 3RD, 0 ON
                  ROBERTO ALOMAR (4) OFF HELLING IN THE 5TH, 1 ON
                  RICHIE SEXSON (3) OFF HELLING IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
            TEX - LEE STEVENS (8) OFF COLON IN THE 3RD, 0 ON
                  JUAN GONZALEZ (2) OFF COLON IN THE 3RD, 1 ON
                  RUSTY GREER (1) OFF COLON IN THE 5TH, 1 ON
                  JUAN GONZALEZ (3) OFF LANGSTON IN THE 7TH, 0 ON

     TIME:  3:24     ATT:  36,556

PROBABLES:  CLE - DWIGHT GOODEN (0-0, 9.00)
            TEX - AARON SELE (3-1, 3.90)



Box Score
CLEVELAND (5) AT TEXAS (7) - FINAL

CLEVELAND              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Lofton cf               4  1  1  1   0  1   3  .382
Vizquel ss              5  1  2  0   0  0   1  .361
R Alomar 2b             5  2  3  3   0  1   1  .314
M Ramirez rf            5  0  2  0   0  1   2  .337
Thome dh                4  0  0  0   1  2   2  .304
 J Cabrera pr           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
Fryman 3b               5  0  1  0   0  0   3  .286
Justice lf              4  0  1  0   0  2   2  .208
Sexson 1b               4  1  1  1   0  0   1  .237
S Alomar c              3  0  0  0   1  0   1  .304

Totals                 39  5 11  5   2  7  16

BATTING: 2B - Vizquel (2, Helling); M Ramirez (5, Zimmerman).
HR - Lofton (2, 1st inning off Helling 0 on, 0 out); R Alomar 2
(4, 3rd inning off Helling 0 on, 1 out, 5th inning off Helling 1 on,
0 out); Sexson (3, 6th inning off Helling 0 on, 1 out). RBI -
Lofton (9), R Alomar 3 (11), Sexson (11). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - Thome 1, Lofton 2, Justice 1, Fryman 2.
Team LOB - 10.

BASERUNNING: SB - R Alomar (5, 2nd base off Helling/I Rodriguez).

FIELDING: E - Fryman (2, throw).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Goodwin cf            3  1  1  0   0  0   0  .197
 b-R Kelly ph-cf        1  0  0  0   1  1   3  .500
Mclemore 2b             5  2  2  0   0  1   5  .291
Greer lf                3  1  1  3   1  1   0  .326
J Gonzalez rf           5  2  2  3   0  0   3  .300
R Palmeiro dh           4  0  1  0   0  1   0  .297
I Rodriguez c           4  0  3  0   0  0   1  .291
Zeile 3b                4  0  1  0   0  1   3  .259
L Stevens 1b            3  1  2  1   1  0   1  .354
Clayton ss              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .150
 a-Shave ph-ss          2  0  0  0   1  2   0  .316

Totals                 34  7 13  7   4  7  16

a-struck out for Clayton in the 3rd; b-struck out for T Goodwin
in the 6th.

BATTING: 2B - T Goodwin (2, Colon); R Palmeiro (3, Colon). 3B -
Zeile (1, Colon). HR - L Stevens (8, 3rd inning off Colon 0 on,
0 out); J Gonzalez 2 (3, 3rd inning off Colon 1 on, 2 out, 7th inning
off Langston 0 on, 1 out); Greer (1, 5th inning off Colon 1 on, 1 out).
S - Shave. SF - Greer. RBI - L Stevens (17), Greer 3 (17),
J Gonzalez 3 (18). 2-out RBI - J Gonzalez 2. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - I Rodriguez 1, Mclemore 2, Zeile 1,
J Gonzalez 2. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: CS - Zeile (1, home by Colon/S Alomar).

FIELDING: E - J Gonzalez (1, catch).

CLEVELAND                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Colon (L, 3-1)                5       9   6   6   0   4   3   3.86
Delucia                         1/3   1   0   0   2   0   0  18.00
Langston                      1 1/3   1   1   1   0   2   1   3.68
Reed                          1       2   0   0   1   1   0   1.59
Assenmacher                   0       0   0   0   1   0   0   5.06
Wagner                          1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Helling (W, 2-3)              5 1/3   9   5   5   1   5   4   7.18
Zimmerman (H, 3)              2 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   0.55
Wetteland (S, 8)              1       1   0   0   1   1   0   4.35

Assenmacher pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

WP - Delucia. IBB - L Stevens (by Delucia). HBP - Lofton (by Zimmerman).
Pitches-strikes: Helling 119-76; Zimmerman 36-24; Wetteland 24-16;
Colon 94-62; Delucia 18-7; Langston 25-13; Reed 22-13; Assenmacher
6-2; Wagner 2-1.  Ground balls-fly balls: Helling 6-5; Zimmerman
2-5; Wetteland 0-2; Colon 8-2; Delucia 0-1; Langston 2-0; Reed 2-0;
Assenmacher 0-0; Wagner 0-1.  Batters faced: Helling 26; Zimmerman 11;
Wetteland 5; Colon 23; Delucia 4; Langston 5; Reed 6; Assenmacher 1;
Wagner 1.

UMPIRES: HP--Gary Cederstrom. 1B--Drew Coble. 2B--Brian Onora.
3B--Larry Young.
T--3:24.  Att--36,556.   Weather: 69 degrees, cloudy.   Wind: 15 mph,
left to right.

AL       CLEVELAND AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  THE HOME RUN BY CLEVELAND'S KENNY LOFTON LED OFF THE GAME.

AL       CLEVELAND AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  TEXAS SHORTSTOP ROYCE CLAYTON LEFT THE GAME IN THE THIRD
                INNING WITH A RIGHT SHOULDER INJURY.  HIS STATUS IS
                DAY-TO-DAY.

Game Log

Cleveland Starting Lineups -- Kenny Lofton CF, Omar Vizquel SS, Roberto Alomar 2B, Manny Ramirez RF, Jim Thome DH, Travis Fryman 3B, David Justice LF, Richie Sexson 1B, Sandy Alomar Jr C, Bartolo Colon RHP.

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, Rick Helling RHP.

Umpires -- Cederstrom (HP), Coble (1B), Onora (2B), Young (3B).

Gametime Weather: 69 degrees, Cloudy, wind left to right at 15 mph.

CLEVELAND 1ST: Lofton homered to left. Vizquel grounded out to third. R Alomar reached on infield single. M Ramirez fouled out to catcher. R Alomar stole second. Thome struck out looking. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin grounded out to pitcher. Mclemore struck out swinging. Greer struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 1, TEXAS 0.

CLEVELAND 2ND: Fryman grounded out to pitcher. Justice singled to right. Sexson grounded out to third, Justice to second. S Alomar walked. Lofton popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: J Gonzalez grounded out to first. R Palmeiro popped out to shortstop. I Rodriguez singled to right. Zeile grounded into fielder's choice to second, I Rodriguez out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 1, TEXAS 0.

CLEVELAND 3RD: Vizquel fouled out to catcher. R Alomar homered to right. M Ramirez reached on infield single. Thome flied out to deep left. Fryman singled to right, M Ramirez to third. Justice struck out looking. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 3RD: L Stevens homered to left center. Shave hit for Clayton. Shave struck out swinging. T Goodwin doubled to left center. Mclemore singled to shallow left center, T Goodwin to third. Greer hit sacrifice fly to left, T Goodwin scored, Mclemore to second. J Gonzalez homered to left center, Mclemore scored. R Palmeiro doubled to right center. I Rodriguez grounded out to third. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, TEXAS 4.

CLEVELAND 4TH: Shave at short. Sexson grounded out to shortstop. S Alomar flied out to deep center. Lofton struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 4TH: Zeile tripled to right center. L Stevens grounded out to third. Zeile caught stealing, catcher. Shave struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 2, TEXAS 4.

CLEVELAND 5TH: Vizquel doubled to right. R Alomar homered to right, Vizquel scored. M Ramirez grounded out to third. Thome struck out swinging. Fryman grounded out to shortstop. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 5TH: T Goodwin grounded out to second. Mclemore singled to center. Greer homered to right center, Mclemore scored. J Gonzalez grounded out to second. R Palmeiro grounded out to pitcher. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 4, TEXAS 6.

CLEVELAND 6TH: Justice struck out looking. Sexson homered to right center. Jeff Zimmerman relieved Rick Helling. S Alomar flied out to right. Lofton hit by pitch. Vizquel lined out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 6TH: Rich Delucia relieved Bartolo Colon. I Rodriguez singled to shallow right. I Rodriguez to second on Delucia wild pitch. Zeile fouled out to third. L Stevens intentionally walked. Shave walked, I Rodriguez to third, L Stevens to second. Mark Langston relieved Rich Delucia. R Kelly hit for T Goodwin. R Kelly struck out swinging. Mclemore grounded into fielder's choice to third, Shave out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 6.

CLEVELAND 7TH: R Kelly in center. R Alomar struck out looking. M Ramirez doubled to right center. Thome grounded out to second, M Ramirez to third. Fryman popped out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 7TH: Greer grounded out to second. J Gonzalez homered to left. R Palmeiro struck out swinging. Steve Reed relieved Mark Langston. I Rodriguez reached on infield single. I Rodriguez to second on 3rd baseman Fryman's throwing error. Zeile struck out looking. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 1 Error) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 7.

CLEVELAND 8TH: Justice popped out to first. Sexson safe at second on right fielder J Gonzalez's fielding error. S Alomar grounded out to third. Lofton flied out to shallow right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 7.

TEXAS 8TH: L Stevens singled to right. Shave sacrificed L Stevens to second. R Kelly walked. Mclemore grounded into fielder's choice to first, L Stevens to third, R Kelly out at second. Paul Assenmacher relieved Steve Reed. Greer walked, Mclemore to second. Paul Wagner relieved Paul Assenmacher. J Gonzalez flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 7.

CLEVELAND 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Vizquel singled to left center. R Alomar flied out to right. M Ramirez struck out swinging. Thome walked, Vizquel to second. J Cabrera ran for Thome. Fryman popped out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) CLEVELAND 5, TEXAS 7.