Game 50: May 31, 1999 (W: 4-3)
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Commentary (by me)

Oh man, what a game!   What's really interesting (about the game) is that there wasn't much to talk about until the 8th inning.  Before that, Ryan Glynn was a bit wild, walking five batters in the first three innings (actually, that's all he walked), with two of those coming across for runs.  Take away those walks, and Glynn pitched a decent ballgame.  He went six innings (one batter into the 7th), and allowed 6 hits, and three runs - the third coming on a solo home run in the 6th off former Ranger Chad Kreuter.   On the flip side, Royal pitcher Jeff Suppan was masterful, allowing only two hits through 7 and 2/3 innings.  Unfortunately, the third and final hit he gave up was costly (to him), as it was a smash from Goodwin that hit him in the shin, forcing him to leave.  I felt bad for the kid, as he pitched a spectacular game, and it was a shame he had to leave like that.  He was relieved for the rest of that inning by Matt Whisenant, who kept it a shutout.  One of the two hits was a double by Pudge which extended his hitting streak to 19 games - tying his career high.

And then the ninth...  The Royals brought in their closer Jeff Montgomery, and I figured that was it.  A three hit shutout.  If you're gonna get shutout, it might as well be one of these types, where you're totally shut down.  Well, it started off that way when Gonzo struck out, and then Raffy walked.  He was forced out at second when Pudge grounded out, but he himself was safe at first - there almost was a double play to end it.  Todd Zeile singled, and then Lee Stevens came up.  I had just said to my wife, "A home run here would be really nice to tie the game".  Well, we got one.  A line home run that bounced off the wall in front of the Ranger bullpen and into the pen.  Man, did that place go friggin nuts!   Due to where I was sitting (more on that in a minute), I couldn't see the scoreboard or anything, but I could see virtually everywhere in the ballpark at once.  It was rockful!   What a rush! 

Tim Crabtree, who continues to be one of our best pitchers this year pitched 1 1/3 innings of perfect ball in relief including the 10th.    In the bottom of the tenth, Tom Goodwin got onbase with an infield single.   I saw #24 standing at first, and I figured that was it.  A decent hit, and he'd just fly around the bases.  Mac sacrifiiced him to second with just one out, and it was looking even better.  Rusty Greer was walked intentionally (I figured to force a double play), and then Juan came up and smacked a single to short left field.  With Goodwin's speed, it was more than enough to score from second, and we won the game quite dramatically.  It was great - the game was dead even down to two outs in the bottom of the ninth - and it all came alive there.  The only thing better is to win the game with two outs, a 3-2 count, and someone hit a grand slam in the bottom of the 9th to win.   *THAT* is the most exciting way to win a ballgame in the 9th.  However, this was DAMN close.   This was two games in a row I went to (I was also at Sunday's game), and two games in a row were dramatically won by one run.  Totally exciting baseball. 

This was one of the cooler games I've ever been to.  My wife were at the game yesterday, and we didn't have anything planned for Memorial Day, so we said why not grab tickets for Monday's game?  There's a few places in the stadium that I'd never sat in, and so we decided to try somewhere else.  I intentionally went for what's called "the worst seat in the house", which was Section 345 (see seating chart).  These tickets are $5 for an adult, and you know what?  They're not all that bad.  Now, I'd be lying if I said they were was a good as the seats I had a few weeks back in section 32 on April 11th, or even my regular season tickets in Section 39, but for the bad rap these seats got, they weren't so bad.   I actually had the first row in this section, the last two seats to the right.  I was sitting in Sec 345, Row 1, Seat 9, which is the last seat in the first row of this section.  My wife felt weird sitting there, and I kept feeling like I was going to drop everything off the ledge, so we moved up two rows (hell, there's very few seats actually used up here), and we felt much more comfortable.  The foul pole is right in front of you, but it doesn't actually block any of the bases, and you can see through it, so it's not that bad.    You can't see the Jumbotron, but you can see all the other scoreboards.   The big one out in center field is viewable from these seats (but I suspect if you went up too many rows, you wouldn't be able to see it), as is the out of town scoreboard, and all the small scoreboards around the park.  This may sound stupid, but I've been to many games here, and whenever I sit in a new section, I love looking around checking out all the other vantage points these new seats offer, and seeing what new things I can see.  We even got beer, peanut, & Lemon Chill vendors up here, which surprised me.   When we walked in to our seats, we looked off the ledge that overhangs the small triangle section in left field.  It's quite a ways down from there.   What's funny is if you walk up to the last row in Section 345, you're actually higher than the walkway and the Jumbotron.  I took a picture pointing straight down from there, it's quite a view - so long as you don't get Vertigo from these things.   :) I took a few pictures from this section, but I used a conventional camera, so I won't have those online for a few days, as I get them developed.

There were also a few cool pre-game things.  The first I figured would happen as it was Memorial Day.  They honored two gentelmen who had served in the Korean War and were given the congressional medal of honor by President Eisenhower.   There were also some folks representing each branch of the military on the field for the national anthem, and there was a 21 gun salute after a moment of silence for the holiday's real purpose.  That's the first time in awhile I teared up at the national anthem.   The pregame ceremony was quite moving.   There also was a fairly cool parachute thing which I didn't know was going to happen.  There something like 4-6 parachuters that jumped into the stadium.  I hadn't seen that live since I was a kid - it was quite cool.   I grew up in Philadelphia, and the Phillies used to have something similar they called "Kiteman", and they'd also have a parachuter drop the first pitch into the park from above the stadium.  This whole thing was quite moving and brought me many memories of my childhood.

All that, plus a totally great baseball game, and the usual awesome Rangers fireworks show afterwards..  One thing that was really cool about the fireworks show..  In the 20 minutes or so after the game before the fireworks, my wife and I spotted a few players on the field with their kids in front of the dugout.  Lee Stevens and Tim Crabtree were out there with their children, and there were a bunch of other kids as well as some wives we could see too. From where we were sitting, we couldn't see in the dugout to see if any Ranger players were there or not, but it was quite nice to see the baseball players out there with their kids sitting on the ground watching the fireworks.  Tim Crabtree looked really cute with his infant daughter between his legs playing pattycake.  Quite cool.

It was an awesome night, and both my wife and I got in the door for $10.  If you count the $8 it cost for parking (grumble, grumble), how can you beat a night like this for $18?  I've been to many many baseball games, and this one ranked up there as one of my all time favourites, and I was sitting in the cheap seats.  I loved it.   I know these commentaries of mine don't get read all that often, but if you're a real fan of the game, and ever just want to go to a game, these $5 aren't all that bad.  It's a great value, and I saw many families with small kids up here.

Go Rangers!

Commentary (by Jim Meeks)

Not available.

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- Coming to the plate after an intentional walk, Juan Gonzalez delivered an RBI single in the 10th inning as the Texas Rangers rallied for their season-high seventh straight win, 4-3 over the Kansas City Royals.

The Rangers had tied the game an inning earlier on a two-out, three-run homer by Lee Stevens off Jeff Montgomery.

Tom Goodwin started the 10th with an infield hit off rookie Jose Santiago (2-3). Mark McLemore sacrificed him to second before Rusty Greer was intentionally walked to face Gonzalez, an American League Most Valuable Player two of the last three years who led the majors with 157 RBI in 1998.

The move to face Gonzalez backfired as he grounded a 2-2 pitch into left field, scoring Goodwin without a play.

"It was a great, great comeback in the ninth inning with two outs," Gonzalez said. "It's great to win that way."

"You're back is against the wall," said Kansas City manager Tony Muser about facing Gonzalez. "Three of those guys coming up and any of them could beat you. Juan Gonzalez was going to hit on the ground. He just hit it in a hole."

Kansas City had a seemingly safe 3-0 lead in the ninth with closer Montgomery on the mound before the Rangers rallied.

Rafael Palmeiro drew a one-out walk and Todd Zeile singled one out later. Stevens followed by belting a 1-1 pitch over the right-field fence for his 10th homer. It was Montgomery's third blown save in seven chances.

"I hit it in the right part of the ballpark," Stevens said. "I just had good swings on it. I've been due for one."

Tim Crabtree (4-0) worked 1 1/3 innings of perfect relief to earn the win.

The Rangers are on their longest winning streak since also winning seven in a row from August 9-16, 1996.

Chad Kreuter hit a solo homer for the Royals, who have dropped three straight and six of their last seven games.

Kansas City built a 2-0 lead in the third off rookie starter Ryan Glynn. Larry Sutton led off with a double and Johnny Damon walked, setting the stage for Mike Sweeney's RBI single. Damon came home on Glynn's wild pitch.

Kreuter, who started his career with Texas, made it 3-0 in the sixth with his third homer.

Making his second major league start, Glynn surrendered three runs and six hits over six innings, walking five and striking out five.

The Royals got a brilliant effort from starter Jeff Suppan, who limited the second-best hitting team in the majors to just three hits over 7 2/3 scoreless innings before he left after being hit on the side of the knee with a line drive. He walked two and struck out six.

"Suppan probably pitched as well against us as any pitcher we've faced this season," Texas manager Johnny Oates said. "He had great deception, a great fastball and changed speeds well too. It seemed as if once he came out of the game, the momentum changed."

Texas' Ivan Rodriguez doubled in the fifth, extending his hitting streak to 19 games. He is batting .377 (29-for-77) with five homers and 14 RBI during the streak.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image

Royals starter Jeff Suppan	Rangers starter Ryan Glynn after he threw a wild pitch	Hey Mac, it's a ball!	Royals second baseman Steve Scarsoni snags a ball hit his way	Jeff Suppan gets some attention after being hit in the shin by a Tom Goodwin batted ball - he had to leave the game

Ryan Glynn pitching	Joe Randa gets back to first
	The Rangers pour out of the dugout as Tom Goodwin scores the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.   Lee Stevens, who had tied the game with a three run homer in the bottom of the ninth, leads the charge with his arms raised.

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -
KANSAS CITY         0  0  2   0  0  1   0  0  0
TEXAS               0  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  3

                   10                               R  H  E
                   --                               -  -  -
KANSAS CITY         0                               3  9  0
TEXAS               1                               4  7  0   (FINAL 10)

BATTERIES:  KAN - JEFF SUPPAN, MATT WHISENANT (8TH), JEFF
                  MONTGOMERY (9TH), JOSE SANTIAGO (10TH) AND
                  CHAD KREUTER
            TEX - RYAN GLYNN, MIKE VENAFRO (7TH), DANNY
                  PATTERSON (7TH), MIKE MUNOZ (9TH), TIM
                  CRABTREE (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - TIM CRABTREE (4-0)
             LP - JOSE SANTIAGO (2-3)
           SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS:  KAN - CHAD KREUTER (3) OFF GLYNN IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
            TEX - LEE STEVENS (10) OFF J MONTGOMERY IN THE 9TH, 2 ON

     TIME:  3:05     ATT:  28,962

PROBABLES:  KAN - JAY WITASICK (1-4, 8.13)
            TEX - RICK HELLING (5-5, 5.37)



Box Score
KANSAS CITY (3) AT TEXAS (4) - FINAL IN 10 INNINGS

KANSAS CITY            ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Beltran cf              5  0  1  0   0  2   2  .291
Sutton 1b               5  1  1  0   0  1   1  .222
Damon lf                3  1  2  0   2  0   0  .289
Sweeney dh              4  0  1  1   1  0   2  .323
Dye rf                  4  0  0  0   1  1   2  .302
Kreuter c               4  1  1  1   1  0   2  .278
Randa 3b                5  0  2  0   0  1   3  .254
Scarsone 2b             3  0  1  0   1  1   3  .150
R Sanchez ss            4  0  0  0   0  1   5  .263

Totals                 37  3  9  2   6  7  20

BATTING: 2B - Sutton (6, Glynn). HR - Kreuter (3, 6th inning off
Glynn 0 on, 0 out). RBI - Sweeney (28), Kreuter (17). Runners
left in scoring position, 2 out - Dye 1, Beltran 1, Scarsone 2,
R Sanchez 1. GIDP - R Sanchez, Sweeney.  Team LOB - 10.

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Goodwin cf            5  1  2  0   0  0   4  .234
Mclemore 2b             3  0  0  0   1  1   0  .321
Greer lf                4  0  0  0   1  1   2  .299
J Gonzalez rf           5  0  1  1   0  1   0  .321
R Palmeiro dh           3  0  0  0   1  1   0  .358
I Rodriguez c           4  1  1  0   0  0   1  .324
Zeile 3b                4  1  1  0   0  1   1  .269
L Stevens 1b            3  1  1  3   1  2   0  .322
Shave ss                3  0  1  0   1  1   0  .297

Totals                 34  4  7  4   5  8   8

BATTING: 2B - I Rodriguez (10, Suppan). HR - L Stevens (10, 9th
inning off J Montgomery 2 on, 2 out). S - Mclemore. RBI -
L Stevens 3 (31), J Gonzalez (46). 2-out RBI - L Stevens 3.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - T Goodwin 2, Greer 1.
Team LOB - 8.

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

KANSAS CITY                  ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Suppan                        7 2/3   3   0   0   2   6   0   3.22
Whisenant (H, 5)                1/3   0   0   0   1   0   0   1.69
J Montgomery (BS, 3)          1       2   3   3   1   2   1   5.66
J Santiago (L, 2-3)             1/3   2   1   1   1   0   0   3.16

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Glynn                         6       6   3   3   5   5   1   5.93
Venafro                         1/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   2.53
D Patterson                   1 2/3   1   0   0   1   1   0   6.16
M Munoz                         2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   4.79
Crabtree (W, 4-0)             1 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   2.37

Glynn pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

WP - Glynn 2, Suppan, Whisenant. IBB - Greer (by J Santiago).
Pitches-strikes: Glynn 107-64; Venafro 7-5; D Patterson 16-9;
M Munoz 6-6; Crabtree 13-11; Suppan 95-60; Whisenant 5-1;
J Montgomery 27-17; J Santiago 18-10.  Ground balls-fly balls:
Glynn 7-6; Venafro 1-0; D Patterson 2-2; M Munoz 0-2; Crabtree 2-1;
Suppan 10-7; Whisenant 0-1; J Montgomery 1-0; J Santiago 1-0.
Batters faced: Glynn 28; Venafro 2; D Patterson 6; M Munoz 3;
Crabtree 4; Suppan 28; Whisenant 2; J Montgomery 6; J Santiago 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Derryl Cousins. 1B--John Shulock. 2B--Dale Scott.
3B--Joe Brinkman.
T--3:05.  Att--28,962.   Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 15 mph, in from right.

AL       KANSAS CITY AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ DOUBLED IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIFTH
                INNING TO EXTEND HIS HITTING STREAK TO 19 GAMES.

Game Log

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- Carlos Beltran CF, Larry Sutton 1B, Johnny Damon LF, Mike Sweeney DH, Jermaine Dye RF, Chad Kreuter C, Joe Randa 3B, Steve Scarsone 2B, Rey Sanchez SS, Jeff Suppan 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, Jon Shave SS, Ryan Glynn RHP.

Umpires -- Cousins (HP), Shulock (1B), Scott (2B), Brinkman (3B).

Gametime Weather: 84 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from right at 15 mph.

KANSAS CITY 1ST: Beltran struck out swinging. Sutton lined out to center. Damon walked. Sweeney walked, Damon to second. Dye grounded into fielder's choice to third, Damon out at third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin grounded out to shortstop. Mclemore grounded out to second. Greer struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: Kreuter walked. Randa lined out to shortstop. Scarsone reached on bunt single to third, Kreuter to second. R Sanchez flied out to shallow right center. Beltran grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: J Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. R Palmeiro lined out to center. I Rodriguez grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: Sutton doubled to left. Damon walked. Sweeney singled to center, Sutton scored, Damon to third. Damon scored, Sweeney to second on Glynn wild pitch. Dye walked. Kreuter lined out to right. Randa struck out looking. Sweeney to third, Dye to second on Glynn wild pitch. Scarsone struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 3RD: Zeile grounded out to third. L Stevens struck out swinging. Shave singled to shallow center. T Goodwin flied out to left center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: R Sanchez grounded out to second. Beltran struck out swinging. Sutton struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 4TH: Mclemore lined out to second. Greer flied out to left. J Gonzalez grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: Damon flied out to right. Sweeney grounded out to second. Dye grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 5TH: R Palmeiro struck out swinging. I Rodriguez doubled to left center. I Rodriguez to third on Suppan wild pitch. Zeile struck out looking. L Stevens walked. Shave walked, L Stevens to second. T Goodwin popped out to shallow left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 2, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: Kreuter homered to right center. Randa singled to right. Scarsone lined out to third. R Sanchez grounded into double play, third to second to first, Randa out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 6TH: Mclemore struck out looking. Greer grounded out to pitcher. J Gonzalez grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: Beltran singled to right. Mike Venafro relieved Ryan Glynn. Sutton grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Beltran out at second. Damon singled to left, Sutton to second. Danny Patterson relieved Mike Venafro. Sweeney grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Damon out at second. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 7TH: R Palmeiro flied out to center. I Rodriguez grounded out to third. Zeile lined out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: Dye popped out to third. Kreuter popped out to shallow left. Randa singled to left. Scarsone walked, Randa to second. R Sanchez struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 8TH: L Stevens struck out swinging. Shave grounded out to shortstop. T Goodwin reached on infield single. Matt Whisenant relieved Jeff Suppan. T Goodwin to second on Whisenant wild pitch. Mclemore walked. Greer flied out to deep left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: Mike Munoz relieved Danny Patterson. Beltran flied out to deep right center. Sutton flied out to left. Damon singled to right. Tim Crabtree relieved Mike Munoz. Sweeney grounded into fielder's choice to pitcher, Damon out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 9TH: Jeff Montgomery relieved Matt Whisenant. J Gonzalez struck out swinging. R Palmeiro walked. I Rodriguez grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, R Palmeiro out at second. Zeile singled to left, I Rodriguez to second. L Stevens homered to right center, I Rodriguez and Zeile scored. Shave struck out swinging. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 3.

KANSAS CITY 10TH: Dye struck out looking. Kreuter grounded out to second. Randa flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 3.

TEXAS 10TH: Jose Santiago relieved Jeff Montgomery. T Goodwin reached on infield single. Mclemore sacrificed T Goodwin to second. Greer intentionally walked. J Gonzalez singled to left, T Goodwin scored. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 3, TEXAS 4.