Game 30: May 8, 1999 (W: 4-3)
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Commentary (by me)

Almost a carbon copy of last night's game start.  Mark McLemore got a single to left on the first pitch of the game, and then after Roberto Kelly got out, Rusty Greer came up and slapped a 2 run Home run to left field.  Again, the first two runs of the game were long ball related.  Unfortunately, David Wells then copied Pat Hengten from yesterday and didn't allow much of anything for a few innings after that.  We then got to David Wells later on when he thought he had an inning ending strikeout of Rusty Greer (see photo below), but he ended up getting on, and we got a run out of the inning.   Wells didn't quite seem himself after that.

My favourite pitcher of the season so far started this one - Old Man Morgan.  I heard the Ranger announcers call him that, and it turns out that his "official" nickname is "The Mo Man", but to be honest, I like Old Man Morgan better.  He pitched pretty damn well, and came out of the game after the first batter of the seventh, and gave the ball to Jeff Zimmerman.  Zim pitched really damn well again, and if this guy continues to pitch like this all season and into the next, I see him becoming our closer if they don't resign Wetteland after the 2000 season.

Overall, it was a very good game that we won by one run.   Roberto Kelly made some nice defensive catches in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the save for Wetteland.  Great game, glad we won one of these - I'm getting tired of saying we lost these close games.  :)

Commentary (by Jim Meeks)

Rusty Greer's 3 RBI, including a first inning 2-run homer led Texas to victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Saturday.

Greer hit his homer off lefty David Wells. It was Greer's 2nd homer.

Mike Morgan started the game and was more than adequate. Staked to the 2-0 led he couldn't hold it and trailed for most of the game 3-2. Texas, hitless since the first inning, erupted in the 5th inning, Greer again, getting a key 2-out hit. The Rangers scored again in the 7th.

Relievers Jeff Zimmerman and John Wetteland nailed down the victory. Zimmerman pitched the 7th and 8th and Wetteland the final inning for another save.

Game Recap

TORONTO (TICKER) -- The first time Toronto Blue Jays manager Jim Fregosi had Juan Gonzalez intentionally walked to get to Rafael Palmeiro, he looked like a genius. The second time, Palmeiro made him pay.

Palmeiro doubled in the go-ahead run with two out in the top of the seventh inning and rookie reliever Jeff Zimmerman continued to baffle hitters as the Texas Rangers held off the Blue Jays, 4-3.

With the game knotted at 3-3 in the fifth, Palmeiro grounded into a rally-killing force play after Gonzalez was walked to load the bases. In the seventh, he stepped to the plate with runners at first and second and two out and ripped starter David Wells' 1-1 pitch into the right-field corner to put the Rangers ahead for good.

"The first time it worked and the second time it didn't," Fregosi said. "Gonzalez is swinging the bat well, the matchup of lefthander and lefthander. If it worked, you wouldn't ask that question."

"I love the way (Wells) competes," Palmeiro added. "Today he got me once with the bases loaded and the next time I got him back. He's one of the greatest pitchers right now and it's good to beat a guy like that."

Rusty Greer was 2-for-3 with three RBI for the Rangers, who had lost three of their last four games. Greer gave Texas an early 2-0 lead by smacking his second homer with one out in the first.

"You try to go with each at-bat," said Greer, who is 7-for-16 over his last four games. "Stay focused and have good at-bats. As a team, we've been doing that."

Mike Morgan (5-2), the major leagues' ultimate journeyman, got the win, allowing three runs and five hits over six innings. Morgan, who is pitching for his 11th team in 22 seasons in the big leagues, surpassed his win total from all of last season.

"I like to approach it one pitch at a time and one batter at a time," Morgan said. "I've worked hard and good things have happened."

Zimmerman yielded one hit and struck out two over two innings before John Wetteland recorded his 10th save with a scoreless ninth. A hard-throwing righthander, Zimmerman boasts the lowest ERA of any reliever in the majors at 0.84. He has surrendered only two runs in 21 1/3 innings.

Alex Gonzalez and Shawn Green each drove in a run for the Blue Jays, who had a modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Wells (4-2) allowed four runs and seven hits over eight innings, striking out seven and walking five.

The Rangers jumped on Wells from the start, as Mark McLemore led off the game with a single to left. With one out, Greer launched a 2-1 pitch over the left-field wall to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Toronto responded in the third as Mike Matheny led off with a single to left and moved to second on Pat Kelly's bunt hit. Shannon Stewart grounded into a force out, putting runners at the corners, before Gonzalez made it 2-1 with a single to right.

Green grounded out to second, plating Matheny and knotting the game at 2-2. Morgan almost did not escape the frame after hitting Carlos Delgado and Tony Fernandez to load the bases before striking out Willie Greene.

The Blue Jays went ahead in the third. Jose Cruz Jr. led off with triple to right-center before Matheny drew another walk. Morgan induced Kelly into a double-play grounder as Cruz came across with Toronto's third run.

Fernandez left with a strained groin after the third and is listed as day-to-day.

With two out and McLemore at first in the top of the fifth, Roberto Kelly singled him to third. Greer came up and appeared to take strike three on a 1-2 offering from Wells that plate umpire Gary Cederstrom called a ball. After fouling off the next pitch, Greer stroked a single to center to score McLemore with the tying run.

"There was no question (the 1-2 pitch) was a strike," Wells said. "I threw a lot of pitches that were strikes. You have bad days and (Cederstrom) had a really bad day. The game's over, life goes on."

Wetteland got Cruz on a foul pop to third to start the ninth, then watched pinch-hitter Kevin Witt blast a deep fly ball to right-center. Roberto Kelly edged toward the warning track before leaping to snatch the ball against the wall, preventing a sure extra-base hit.

Pat Kelly reached on an infield single before Wetteland closed the game by getting Stewart on a harmless fly ball to center.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image

Rusty is congratulated after his first inning HR	Mac turns a double play	Mac does it again	Pudge heads to the dugout after an inning ending K	David Wells lets plate umpire Gary Cederstrom know how he feels about a pitch call that he thought should have been an inning ending third strike

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  TEX - MIKE MORGAN, JEFF ZIMMERMAN (7TH), JOHN
                  WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ
            TOR - DAVID WELLS, GRAEME LLOYD (9TH) AND MIKE
                  MATHENY

             WP - MIKE MORGAN (5-2)
             LP - DAVID WELLS (4-2)
           SAVE - JOHN WETTELAND (10)

HOME RUNS:  TEX - RUSTY GREER (2) OFF D WELLS IN THE 1ST, 1 ON
            TOR - NONE

     TIME:  2:37     ATT:  24,642

PROBABLES:  TEX - JOHN BURKETT (0-2, 12.00)
            TOR - ROY HALLADAY (2-2, 5.08)



Box Score
TEXAS (4) AT TORONTO (3) - FINAL

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             4  3  1  0   1  1   1  .287
R Kelly cf              5  0  1  0   0  1   2  .432
Greer lf                4  1  2  3   1  1   1  .322
J Gonzalez rf           2  0  0  0   2  0   1  .293
R Palmeiro dh           4  0  1  1   0  0   3  .333
I Rodriguez c           4  0  1  0   0  2   2  .282
Zeile 3b                4  0  0  0   0  1   1  .234
L Stevens 1b            3  0  0  0   1  1   1  .311
Shave ss                4  0  1  0   0  1   2  .304

Totals                 34  4  7  4   5  8  14

BATTING: 2B - I Rodriguez (2, D Wells); R Palmeiro (6, D Wells).
HR - Greer (2, 1st inning off D Wells 1 on, 1 out). RBI - Greer 3 (22),
R Palmeiro (20). 2-out RBI - Greer, R Palmeiro. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - R Palmeiro 2, Shave 1, I Rodriguez 2.  Team LOB - 8.

BASERUNNING: SB - I Rodriguez (7, 3rd base off D Wells/Matheny);
Mclemore (3, 2nd base off D Wells/Matheny).

FIELDING: DP: 2 (Shave-L Stevens, Mclemore-Shave-L Stevens).

TORONTO                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Stewart lf              5  1  0  0   0  0   4  .333
A Gonzalez ss           4  0  1  1   0  1   0  .305
Sh Green rf             4  0  0  1   0  0   0  .301
C Delgado 1b            2  0  0  0   1  2   0  .269
T Fernandez 3b          0  0  0  0   1  0   0  .383
 Dalesandro pr-3b       2  0  2  0   0  0   0  .286
W Greene dh             4  0  0  0   0  2   7  .169
J Cruz cf               4  1  1  0   0  0   1  .227
Matheny c               1  1  1  0   2  0   0  .261
 a-K Witt ph            1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .208
Kelly 2b                4  0  2  0   0  0   2  .329

Totals                 31  3  7  2   4  5  14

a-flied to center for Matheny in the 9th.

BATTING: 3B - J Cruz (2, Morgan). RBI - A Gonzalez (12),
Sh Green (29). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - J Cruz 1,
W Greene 3. GIDP - Kelly, W Greene.  Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: CS - Kelly (1, 2nd base by Zimmerman/I Rodriguez).

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Morgan (W, 5-2)               6       5   3   3   3   3   0   4.12
Zimmerman (H, 4)              2       1   0   0   1   2   0   0.84
Wetteland (S, 10)             1       1   0   0   0   0   0   4.38

TORONTO                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
D Wells (L, 4-2)              8       7   4   4   5   7   1   6.00
Lloyd                         1       0   0   0   0   1   0   1.80

Morgan pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

WP - Morgan. IBB - J Gonzalez 2 (by D Wells 2). HBP - C Delgado
(by Morgan); T Fernandez (by Morgan).  Pitches-strikes: D Wells 122-77;
Lloyd 7-6; Morgan 74-42; Zimmerman 34-20; Wetteland 11-8.
Ground balls-fly balls: D Wells 13-4; Lloyd 1-1; Morgan 12-3;
Zimmerman 1-2; Wetteland 0-3.  Batters faced: D Wells 36; Lloyd 3;
Morgan 26; Zimmerman 7; Wetteland 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Gary Cederstrom. 1B--Drew Coble. 2B--Brian Onora.
3B--Tim Mcclelland.
T--2:37.  Att--24,642. Indoors.

AL       TEXAS AT TORONTO
         NOTE:  TORONTO'S TONY FERNANDEZ LEFT THE GAME IN THE BOTTOM OF
                THE THIRD INNING AFTER BEING HIT BY A PITCH.

AL       TEXAS AT TORONTO
         NOTE:  CORRECTION -- GARY CEDERSTROM IS THE HOME PLATE UMPIRE
                AND NOT MARTY FOSTER, AS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED.

AL       TEXAS AT TORONTO
         NOTE:  TORONTO'S TONY FERNANDEZ LEFT THE GAME IN THE THIRD
                INNING WITH A STRAINED LEFT GROIN.  HE IS LISTED AS
                DAY-TO-DAY.

Game Log

Texas Starting Lineups -- Mark Mclemore 2B, Roberto Kelly CF, Rusty Greer LF, Juan Gonzalez RF, Rafael Palmeiro DH, Ivan Rodriguez C, Todd Zeile 3B, Lee Stevens 1B, Jon Shave SS, Mike Morgan RHP.

Toronto Starting Lineups -- Shannon Stewart LF, Alex Gonzalez SS, Shawn Green RF, Carlos Delgado 1B, Tony Fernandez 3B, Willie Greene DH, Jose Cruz Jr CF, Mike Matheny C, Pat Kelly 2B, David Wells LHP.

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

Gametime Weather: Indoors

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore singled to left. R Kelly popped out to shallow right. Greer homered to left, Mclemore scored. J Gonzalez grounded out to second. R Palmeiro grounded out to first. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 1ST: Stewart grounded out to shortstop. A Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. Sh Green grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 0.

TEXAS 2ND: I Rodriguez grounded out to third. Zeile grounded out to third. L Stevens walked. Shave flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 2ND: C Delgado struck out looking. T Fernandez walked. T Fernandez to second on Morgan wild pitch. W Greene lined out to pitcher. J Cruz grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 0.

TEXAS 3RD: Mclemore struck out swinging. R Kelly grounded out to shortstop. Greer walked. J Gonzalez grounded into fielder's choice to third, Greer out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 3RD: Matheny singled to left. Kelly reached on bunt single to third, Matheny to second. Stewart grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Matheny to third, Kelly out at second. A Gonzalez singled to right, Matheny scored, Stewart to third. Sh Green grounded out to second, Stewart scored, A Gonzalez to second. C Delgado hit by pitch. T Fernandez hit by pitch, A Gonzalez to third, C Delgado to second. Dalesandro ran for T Fernandez. W Greene struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 2.

TEXAS 4TH: Dalesandro at third. R Palmeiro grounded out to first. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. Zeile grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 2.

TORONTO 4TH: J Cruz tripled to right center. Matheny walked. Kelly grounded into double play, shortstop to first, Matheny out at second, J Cruz scored. Stewart grounded out to pitcher. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, TORONTO 3.

TEXAS 5TH: L Stevens grounded out to second. Shave singled to left. Mclemore grounded into fielder's choice to third, Shave out at second. R Kelly singled to center, Mclemore to second. Greer singled to center, Mclemore scored, R Kelly to third. Greer to second advancing on throw. J Gonzalez intentionally walked. R Palmeiro grounded into fielder's choice to first, J Gonzalez out at second. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 5TH: A Gonzalez flied out to left. Sh Green grounded out to second. C Delgado struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 3.

TEXAS 6TH: I Rodriguez doubled to right. I Rodriguez stole third. Zeile struck out swinging. L Stevens grounded out to first. Shave grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 6TH: Dalesandro singled to center. W Greene grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Dalesandro out at second. J Cruz flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 3.

TEXAS 7TH: Mclemore walked. R Kelly flied out to shallow center. Greer struck out looking. Mclemore stole second. J Gonzalez intentionally walked. R Palmeiro doubled to right, Mclemore scored, J Gonzalez to third. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 7TH: Matheny walked. Jeff Zimmerman relieved Mike Morgan. Kelly grounded into fielder's choice to third, Matheny out at second. Stewart flied out to right. Kelly caught stealing, catcher to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 3.

TEXAS 8TH: Zeile lined out to shortstop. L Stevens struck out swinging. Shave struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 8TH: A Gonzalez struck out swinging. Sh Green popped out to shallow right. C Delgado walked. Dalesandro singled to right, C Delgado to second. W Greene struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 3.

TEXAS 9TH: Graeme Lloyd relieved David Wells. Mclemore flied out to center. R Kelly struck out swinging. Greer grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 3.

TORONTO 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. J Cruz fouled out to third. K Witt hit for Matheny. K Witt flied out to deep center. Kelly reached on infield single. Stewart flied out to deep left center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 3.