Game 40: May 19, 1999 (W: 7-6)
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Commentary (by me)

I had forgotten this game was on at work, and I turned it on right before the back-to-back-to-back home runs.  Unfortunately, that's about all I got to hear, as I was fairly busy with work.  But I did get to hear that!  :)

Our first day game win of the year.

Commentary (by Jim Meeks)

In what was most assuredly the most exciting Rangers' game of the year to date, the Rangers took turns bombing ex-mate Bobby Witt and beat the Rays 7-6.

The Rangers belted 4 homers off Witt, including 3 in a row in the 5th inning, by Pudge, Palmeiro and Zeile. This ties a record the club set last year against the White Sox. It also tied a team record for most HR in an inning.

So while the offense clicked, Mark Clark again was - by normal standards - ineffective - but to Rangers' standards, effective enough.

The key to the game however goes to the superb pitching of one Jeff Zimmerman, easily the Most Valuable Player so far this year for the Rangers - and perhaps the MVP so far in the league. He's done nothing but record outs - important outs. Wednesday, his 2.1 innings began when Venafro allowed the tying run (6-6 at that point in the 6th) to score on an infield single/bad throw. Zimmerman came in, struck out Canseco and then proceeded to attack the Rays like an overgrown field in July - he simply mowed them down.

The Rangers hang on ever so tightly to first place as Oakland remains a heartbeat away.

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- In a game that featured seven home runs, including the longest ever hit at the Ballpark of Arlington, it was a mere single up the middle by Tom Goodwin in the eighth inning that gave the Texas Rangers a 7-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Rafael Palmeiro homered twice and drove in three runs and Jeff Zimmerman pitched 2 1/3 innings of perfect relief for the Rangers, who snapped a season-high three-game skid and Tampa Bay's four-game winning streak.

Zimmerman (3-0) mesmerized the Devil Rays with his wicked slider. He retired all seven batters he faced, striking out four, to preserve a 6-6 tie, before the Rangers took the lead in the eighth.

Lee Stevens led off the inning with a single off reliever Scott Aldred (2-1). Rick White relieved and promptly walked Roberto Kelly on four pitches. Pinch-hitter Mark McLemore attempted to sacrifice the runners, but bunted back to White, who threw to third for a forceout.

But Goodwin followed with a single to center to score Kelly from second with the go-ahead run.

John Wetteland bailed himself out of a jam in the ninth for his 12th save in 13 chances. After giving up a single to Randy Winn and walking Dave Martinez, Wetteland retired Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff on infield popouts and struck out Aaron Ledesma to end the game.

"Once he fell behind Canseco and got him to pop up, he began to bear down and take command," said Rangers manager Johnny Oates.

Texas hit three straight home runs for only the second time in franchise history to erase a 5-2 deficit in the fifth. After a one-out double by Rusty Greer, Ivan Rodriguez homered over the right-center field fence to pull Texas within 5-4. Todd Zeile followed with a home run to center to tie it before Palmeiro hit his second homer of the game to put the Rangers ahead.

"The wind was blowing out and we got the one inning where we took advantage of it," said Oates. "Raffy is sure swinging the bat well."

"It was fun to be involved with that," Zeile said.

All four home runs were off Tampa Bay starter Bobby Witt, a former Ranger.

"The slider to Rodriguez was right over the plate," Witt said. The pitch to Palmeiro was up. I dropped my elbow and it was a high flat slider. The pitch to Zeile was there too."

The only other time Texas hit three straight home runs came last August 28 in the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Rodriguez was also involved in that hat trick with Juan Gonzalez and Will Clark.

It was the 20th career multi-homer game for Palmeiro, with the last coming last July 24 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles in a game against Seattle. He went 2-for-3 today following a four-hit, four RBI game Tuesday to raise his batting average to .377 and leads the team with 11 homers.

"It was nice to have a day like that," Palmeiro said. "I just want to keep doing well and help the team win. This is probably one of my best stretches."

Tampa Bay's Paul Sorrento started the home run barrage with the longest ever hit at the Ballpark, a 491-foot blast to center in the second inning off Texas starter Mark Clark.

"He hit that one one a long way," said Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild. "It looked like 490 feet."

Canseco held the previous record with a 480-foot homer as a member of the Rangers in a June 30, 1994 game against Seattle. Ironically, Canseco hit a two-run homer off the left field foul pole in the third inning for the Devil Rays. It was the 16th homer of the year for Canseco, giving him the major league lead over Ken Griffey.

Palmeiro's two-run homer in the bottom of the third pulled the Rangers within 3-2.

McGriff's two-run homer to left-center in the fifth increased Tampa Bay's lead to 5-2.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image

Paul Sorrento gets congrats after a HR in the second	Raffy gets congrats after a HR in the third	Canseco on his HR trot after his 15 billionth home run of this series

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  TAM - BOBBY WITT, BRYAN REKAR (5TH), SCOTT ALDRED
                  (7TH), RICK WHITE (8TH) AND MIKE DIFELICE
            TEX - MARK CLARK, MIKE VENAFRO (6TH), JEFF ZIMMERMAN
                  (6TH), JOHN WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - JEFF ZIMMERMAN (3-0)
             LP - SCOTT ALDRED (2-1)
           SAVE - JOHN WETTELAND (12)

HOME RUNS:  TAM - PAUL SORRENTO (2) OFF M CLARK IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
                  JOSE CANSECO (16) OFF M CLARK IN THE 3RD, 1 ON
                  FRED MCGRIFF (13) OFF M CLARK IN THE 5TH, 1 ON
            TEX - RAFAEL PALMEIRO (10) OFF WITT IN THE 3RD, 1 ON
                  IVAN RODRIGUEZ (7) OFF WITT IN THE 5TH, 1 ON
                  RAFAEL PALMEIRO (11) OFF WITT IN THE 5TH, 0 ON
                  TODD ZEILE (8) OFF WITT IN THE 5TH, 0 ON

     TIME:  2:58     ATT:  29,513

PROBABLES:  ANA - KEN HILL (1-3, 3.94)
            TAM - TONY SAUNDERS (3-3, 6.69)

            TEX - RICK HELLING (4-4, 5.54)
            BAL - SIDNEY PONSON (3-3, 5.12)

Box Score
TAMPA BAY (6) AT TEXAS (7) - FINAL

TAMPA BAY              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Winn cf                 5  0  2  0   0  0   1  .276
Da Martinez rf          3  2  2  1   2  0   1  .325
Canseco dh              5  1  2  2   0  2   5  .299
Mcgriff 1b              5  1  1  2   0  1   4  .336
Ledesma 3b              5  0  1  0   0  1   2  .250
Sorrento lf             4  1  2  1   0  1   1  .299
Cairo 2b                4  0  0  0   0  1   1  .297
Difelice c              3  1  1  0   0  0   1  .265
Stocker ss              4  0  0  0   0  2   3  .311

Totals                 38  6 11  6   2  8  19

BATTING: 2B - Difelice (5, M Clark). HR - Sorrento (2, 2nd inning
off M Clark 0 on, 1 out); Canseco (16, 3rd inning off M Clark
1 on, 1 out); Mcgriff (13, 5th inning off M Clark 1 on, 2 out).
RBI - Sorrento (10), Canseco 2 (36), Mcgriff 2 (32), Da Martinez (22).
2-out RBI - Mcgriff 2, Da Martinez. Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - Canseco 1, Ledesma 1. GIDP - Mcgriff.  Team LOB - 8.

FIELDING: E - Ledesma (2, ground ball). DP: 1 (Cairo-Stocker-Mcgriff).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Goodwin cf            5  0  1  1   0  1   2  .226
Alicea 2b               3  1  0  0   2  1   2  .157
Greer lf                4  1  2  0   0  0   1  .314
I Rodriguez c           4  1  2  2   0  1   3  .326
R Palmeiro dh           3  2  2  3   1  0   1  .377
Zeile 3b                4  1  1  1   0  0   4  .248
L Stevens 1b            4  0  1  0   0  2   0  .324
R Kelly rf              3  1  0  0   1  1   1  .348
Dransfeldt ss           2  0  0  0   1  1   1  .189
 a-Mclemore ph          1  0  0  0   0  0   2  .326
 Shave ss               0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .346

Totals                 33  7  9  7   5  7  17

a-hit into fielder's choice for Dransfeldt in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - Greer (15, Witt). HR - R Palmeiro 2 (11, 3rd
inning off Witt 1 on, 2 out, 5th inning off Witt 0 on, 1 out);
I Rodriguez (7, 5th inning off Witt 1 on, 1 out); Zeile (8, 5th
inning off Witt 0 on, 1 out). RBI - R Palmeiro 3 (36), I Rodriguez 2 (26),
Zeile (23), T Goodwin (11). 2-out RBI - R Palmeiro 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Zeile 2, T Goodwin 1.
GIDP - Alicea.  Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: SB - Greer (1, 2nd base off Witt/Difelice); R Kelly (3,
2nd base off Witt/Difelice).

FIELDING: E - Zeile (6, bobble). DP: 1 (M Clark-Dransfeldt-L Stevens).

TAMPA BAY                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Witt                          4 1/3   6   6   6   4   6   4   5.36
Rekar                         2       1   0   0   0   1   0   4.60
Aldred (L, 2-1)                 2/3   1   1   1   0   0   0   3.37
R White                       1       1   0   0   1   0   0   4.88

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
M Clark                       5 2/3   9   6   5   1   3   3   7.58
Venafro (BS, 1)               0       1   0   0   0   0   0   3.86
Je Zimmerman (W, 3-0)         2 1/3   0   0   0   0   4   0   0.61
Wetteland (S, 12)             1       1   0   0   1   1   0   4.70

Venafro pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.
Aldred pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

IBB - R Palmeiro (by Witt). HBP - Difelice (by M Clark).
Pitches-strikes: M Clark 93-55; Venafro 6-4; Je Zimmerman 26-20;
Wetteland 13-7; Witt 102-54; Rekar 17-13; Aldred 12-6; R White 10-5.
Ground balls-fly balls: M Clark 4-10; Venafro 0-0;  Je Zimmerman 1-2;
Wetteland 0-2; Witt 2-5; Rekar 3-2; Aldred 0-2;  R White 3-0.
Batters faced: M Clark 28; Venafro 1; Je Zimmerman 7;  Wetteland 5;
Witt 24; Rekar 7; Aldred 3; R White 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Eric Cooper. 1B--Rick Reed. 2B--Al Clark. 3B--Tim Tschida.
T--2:58.  Att--29,513.   Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 12 mph, in from center.

AL       TAMPA BAY AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  THE HOME RUNS BY TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ AND RAFAEL
                PALMEIRO IN THE FIFTH INNING WERE BACK-TO-BACK.

AL       TAMPA BAY AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  THE HOME RUNS BY TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ, RAFAEL PALMEIRO,
                AND TODD ZEILE IN THE FIFTH INNING WERE
                BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK.

Game Log

Tampa Bay Starting Lineups -- Randy Winn CF, Dave Martinez RF, Jose Canseco DH, Fred Mcgriff 1B, Aaron Ledesma 3B, Paul Sorrento LF, Miguel Cairo 2B, Mike Difelice C, Kevin Stocker SS, Bobby Witt RHP.

Texas Starting Lineups -- Tom Goodwin CF, Luis Alicea 2B, Rusty Greer LF, Ivan Rodriguez C, Rafael Palmeiro DH, Todd Zeile 3B, Lee Stevens 1B, Roberto Kelly RF, Kelly Dransfeldt SS, Mark Clark RHP.

Umpires -- Cooper (HP), Reed (1B), Clark (2B), Tschida (3B).

Gametime Weather: 79 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from center at 12 mph.

TAMPA BAY 1ST: Winn singled to left. Da Martinez flied out to shallow center. Canseco singled to center, Winn to third. Mcgriff grounded into double play, pitcher to shortstop to first, Canseco out at second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin grounded out to second. Alicea walked. Greer singled to left, Alicea to third. Greer stole second. I Rodriguez struck out looking. R Palmeiro intentionally walked. Zeile popped out to shallow right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 0, TEXAS 0.

TAMPA BAY 2ND: Ledesma popped out to second. Sorrento homered to center. Cairo struck out swinging. Difelice hit by pitch. Stocker flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: L Stevens struck out swinging. R Kelly safe at first on 3rd baseman Ledesma's fielding error. R Kelly stole second. Dransfeldt struck out swinging. T Goodwin grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) TAMPA BAY 1, TEXAS 0.

TAMPA BAY 3RD: Winn grounded out to second. Da Martinez walked. Canseco homered to left, Da Martinez scored. Mcgriff flied out to left center. Ledesma lined out to right. (2 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 3, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 3RD: Alicea walked. Greer flied out to left. I Rodriguez flied out to right center. R Palmeiro homered to right, Alicea scored. Zeile popped out to first. (2 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 3, TEXAS 2.

TAMPA BAY 4TH: Sorrento singled to right. Cairo flied out to center. Difelice flied out to left center. Stocker popped out to shallow left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 3, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 4TH: L Stevens struck out looking. R Kelly struck out swinging. Dransfeldt walked. T Goodwin flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 3, TEXAS 2.

TAMPA BAY 5TH: Winn grounded out to shortstop. Da Martinez singled to right. Canseco struck out swinging. Mcgriff homered to left center, Da Martinez scored. Ledesma singled to shallow right. Sorrento flied out to shallow center. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 5, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 5TH: Alicea struck out looking. Greer doubled to left. I Rodriguez homered to right center, Greer scored. R Palmeiro homered to right center. Zeile homered to center. Bryan Rekar relieved Bobby Witt. L Stevens grounded out to second. R Kelly flied out to center. (4 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 5, TEXAS 6.

TAMPA BAY 6TH: Cairo flied out to shallow center. Difelice doubled to deep left center. Stocker struck out swinging. Winn safe at first on 3rd baseman Zeile's fielding error, Difelice to third. Mike Venafro relieved Mark Clark. Da Martinez reached on infield single, Difelice scored, Winn to second. Jeff Zimmerman relieved Mike Venafro. Canseco struck out swinging. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 1 Error) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 6TH: Dransfeldt flied out to deep right. T Goodwin struck out swinging. Alicea grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 6.

TAMPA BAY 7TH: Mcgriff struck out swinging. Ledesma grounded out to third. Sorrento struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 7TH: Greer grounded out to second. I Rodriguez singled to center. Scott Aldred relieved Bryan Rekar. R Palmeiro fouled out to third. Zeile popped out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 6.

TAMPA BAY 8TH: Cairo flied out to shallow left center. Difelice flied out to shallow left center. Stocker struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 8TH: L Stevens singled to shallow center. Rick White relieved Scott Aldred. R Kelly walked, L Stevens to second. Mclemore hit for Dransfeldt. Mclemore bunted into fielder's choice to pitcher, R Kelly to second, L Stevens out at third. T Goodwin singled to center, R Kelly scored, Mclemore to second. Alicea grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, T Goodwin out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 7.

TAMPA BAY 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Shave at short. Winn singled to right. Da Martinez walked, Winn to second. Canseco popped out to first. Mcgriff popped out to shallow left. Ledesma struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TAMPA BAY 6, TEXAS 7.