Game 51: June 1, 1999 (W: 3-1)
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Commentary (by me)

The Rangers set the highest current winning streak in the majors, and have the best team winning streak since 1991.  The Diamondbuck$ lost yesterday, so that leavs the Rangers alone with an 8 game winning streak.

The Royals starting pitching shut us down again for the second night in a row, and the Royals pulled their starting pitcher after six innings, which I thought was weird, since we were being shut down again.  The replacement picked up where the starter (Witasick) left off.  However, in the eighth, the wheels came off.  Matt Whitesant walked a batter, and then proceeded to hit two batters (althouh the call on Shave didn't look like a hit batter to me).  Then Mark McLemore, who is having a kick ass season, came through with the game winning hit, a double into center, scoring two runs and giving us the win.  Rusty Greer singled again after Mac had moved to second, scoring Mac.  A great night for Mac - that's for sure.

A great night for our pitching again.  Rick Helling gave up only one run, and got another no decision, but he is pitching really awesome lately.   He's gone into the 7th inning or later in his last four starts.   Unfortunately, we're not getting the job done with the bats for him.  Case in point - Jeff Zimmerman has as many wins in relief as Rick Helling does as a starter (Rick's 5-5, Jeff's 5-0).   Wetteland was a god in the 9th.  Only a couple pitches and perfect relief from him (and Zim, too).  Wetteland got his major league leading 17th save of the season, too.

Pudge also extended his hitting streak to 20 games, setting a personal record and setting the AL season record.  The NL is around 30, I think - some guy from the Diamondbuck$.

Commentary (by Jim Meeks)

Feasting on never-beens and pretenders like the Devil Rays, Twins and Royals, the Texas Rangers have now won 8 straight games.

The Rangers' bullpen has been the key. They've won each of the past four games. The relievers have allowed one run in 25.2 innings, an 0.35 ERA during the streak. That's nothing short of incredible.

Tuesday's bullpen combo of Superman Jeff Zimmerman (the league leader in ERA, if he were eligible) and John Wetteland (the league leader in saves) stopped whatever thoughts the Royals had of adding any insurance to what was a slim 1-0 lead.

Let's compare the Rangers' pen to that of the Royals. KC relievers lead all of baseball with 11 blown saves in 19 opportunities (58% blown). The Ranger relievers have won their past 11 decisions and are 13-1 with four blown saves in 21 chances.

Tuesday evening, Rick Helling pitched his best game so far. The Rangers' offense, which has been sputtering as of late - until they HAVE to score, let Helling down. In 7 innings, they couldn't score. Helling allowed just 3 hits and 1 run.

Yes, the Rangers' win came gift-wrapped again (gee, how many games in a row now has that happened?) by a lousy bullpen giving away a lead.

Yet a win is a win.

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- The Texas Rangers are making a habit out of winning in the late innings.

Mark McLemore singled home two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Rangers rallied for the second straight night and extended their season-high winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Limited to just four singles through the first seven innings, the Rangers erased a 1-0 deficit in the eighth thanks to some wildness by reliever Matt Whisenant (1-1).

Whisenant walked Lee Stevens to start the eighth and then hit Jon Shave and pinch-hitter Roberto Kelly on consecutive pitches to load the bases.

Terry Matthews relieved Whisenant and was greeted by McLemore's single up the middle that plated a pair of runs and gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead. Rusty Greer added a run-scoring single one out later.

"To waste an outing like Jay Witasick had is disappointing," Whisenant said. "There's nothing worse than letting down your team. I felt good. I just took a little too long to find the strike zone. You can't do that in those situations. Anytime you walk someone in a one-run game, that's asking for trouble."

Witasick, who had been tagged for 15 runs and 17 hits over 11 2/3 innings in his last three starts, gave up just four singles with three walks and four strikeouts over six scoreless innings.

Texas, which rallied from three runs down in the ninth to win on Monday in 10 innings, has won its last four games in its last at-bat and is enjoying its longest winning streak since a 14-game run from May 12-27, 1991.

"You look at our last eight games and our starters are going seven or eight innings and pitching low scoring games," Texas manager Johnny Oates said. "It amazes me, all year we have scored seven or eight runs per game and as soon as we start pitching well, we score three or four runs a game."

Rookie Jeff Zimmerman (5-0) pitched a perfect eighth to earn the win and John Wetteland retired the side in order in the ninth for his 17th save in 18 chances.

Texas' Ivan Rodriguez singled in the second, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 20 games.

Steve Scarsone accounted for the lone Royals' run with an RBI double in the fifth.

"Our offense is running dry," Kansas City manager Tony Muser said. "We had a chance to win it even though we scored only one run. The offense didn't lose the game for us, the pitching did."

Kansas City matched a season-high four-game losing streak and has dropped nine of its last 11 overall.

Rangers starter Rick Helling gave up one hit through the first four innings before Kansas City got on the board in the fifth. Former Ranger Chad Kreuter drew a one-out walk and Scarsone doubled down the left-field line one out later, scoring Kreuter for a 1-0 lead.

Helling left after seven innings, giving up one run and three hits with three walks and two strikeouts as he lasted into the seventh inning for the sixth straight start.

"I didn't feel all that good tonight," Helling said. "I went out there and did my job which was to help this team win. You have to battle on nights like these. You have to be able to throw zeroes on the board. I just wasn't sharp tonight. I never got into a good rhythm tonight."

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image

Royals shortstop Rey Sanchez	Pudge is thrown out stealing third	Roberto Kelly is out after trying to reach third base  Joe Randa falls all over him to boot!	Roberto Kelly is hit in the 8th inning (after Jon Shave was just hit)	Royal pitcher Matt Whisenant after hitting Roberto Kelly (he got pulled from the game)

Juan & the Rangers celebrate 8 in a row!

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  KAN - JAY WITASICK, SCOTT SERVICE (7TH), MATT
                  WHISENANT (8TH), TERRY MATHEWS (8TH) AND CHAD
                  KREUTER
            TEX - RICK HELLING, JEFF ZIMMERMAN (8TH), JOHN
                  WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - JEFF ZIMMERMAN (5-0)
             LP - MATT WHISENANT (1-1)
           SAVE - JOHN WETTELAND (17)

HOME RUNS:  KAN - NONE
            TEX - NONE

     TIME:  2:41     ATT:  25,184

PROBABLES:  KAN - KEVIN APPIER (6-2, 4.04)
            TEX - AARON SELE (4-4, 5.98)

Box Score
KANSAS CITY (1) AT TEXAS (3) - FINAL

KANSAS CITY            ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Beltran cf              3  0  0  0   1  1   0  .287
Randa 3b                4  0  0  0   0  1   1  .249
Damon lf                4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .284
Sweeney dh              4  0  0  0   0  0   1  .315
Dye rf                  3  0  0  0   0  1   0  .297
Kreuter c               1  1  1  0   2  0   0  .284
Sutton 1b               3  0  0  0   0  0   3  .215
Scarsone 2b             3  0  1  1   0  1   0  .163
R Sanchez ss            3  0  1  0   0  0   1  .264

Totals                 28  1  3  1   3  4   7

BATTING: 2B - Scarsone (1, Helling). RBI - Scarsone (3). 2-out
RBI - Scarsone. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Sweeney 1, R Sanchez 1. GIDP - Sutton.  Team LOB - 3.

BASERUNNING: SB - Beltran (10, 2nd base off Helling/I Rodriguez).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - Beltran (R Kelly at 3rd base).
DP: 1 (Scarsone-R Sanchez-Sutton).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Goodwin cf            2  0  2  0   1  0   0  .243
 a-R Kelly ph-cf        0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .346
Mclemore 2b             3  1  1  2   1  0   2  .321
Greer lf                4  0  1  1   0  2   2  .298
J Gonzalez rf           4  0  0  0   0  1   4  .314
R Palmeiro dh           3  0  0  0   1  1   0  .352
I Rodriguez c           3  0  1  0   1  1   2  .324
Zeile 3b-1b             3  0  1  0   0  0   1  .270
L Stevens 1b            2  0  0  0   1  1   2  .318
 Alicea pr-3b           0  1  0  0   0  0   0  .150
Shave ss                2  1  0  0   0  1   0  .282

Totals                 26  3  6  3   5  7  13

a-hit by pitch for T Goodwin in the 8th.

BATTING: RBI - Mclemore 2 (14), Greer (40). Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - J Gonzalez 2, I Rodriguez 1.
GIDP - L Stevens.  Team LOB - 6.

BASERUNNING: SB - I Rodriguez (13, 2nd base off
Witasick/Kreuter). CS - I Rodriguez (2, 3rd base by
Witasick/Kreuter); T Goodwin (6, 2nd base by Witasick/Kreuter).

FIELDING: Outfield assists - J Gonzalez (R Sanchez at 2nd base).
DP: 1 (Mclemore-Shave-L Stevens).

KANSAS CITY                  ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Witasick                      6       4   0   0   3   4   0   6.92
Service (H, 3)                1       0   0   0   0   1   0   6.66
Whisenant (L, 1-1; H, 6)      0       0   2   2   1   0   0   2.81
T Mathews (BS, 2)             1       2   1   1   1   2   0   2.37

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Helling                       7       3   1   1   3   2   0   4.99
Je Zimmerman (W, 5-0)         1       0   0   0   0   2   0   1.29
Wetteland (S, 17)             1       0   0   0   0   0   0   3.74

Whisenant pitched to 3 batters in the 8th.

WP - Witasick. HBP - Shave (by Whisenant); R Kelly (by
Whisenant).  Pitches-strikes: Helling 111-66; Je Zimmerman 13-9;
Wetteland 5-4; Witasick 91-51; Service 15-9; Whisenant 9-3;
T Mathews 22-11.  Ground balls-fly balls: Helling 7-11;
Je Zimmerman 1-0; Wetteland 0-3; Witasick 5-7; Service 1-1;
Whisenant 0-0; T Mathews 0-0.  Batters faced: Helling 25;
Je Zimmerman 3; Wetteland 3; Witasick 22; Service 3; Whisenant 3;
T Mathews 5.

UMPIRES: HP--John Shulock. 1B--Dale Scott. 2B--Joe Brinkman.
3B--Derryl Cousins.
T--2:41.  Att--25,184.   Weather: 86 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 23 mph, in from center.

AL       KANSAS CITY AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ SINGLED IN THE SECOND INNING TO
                EXTEND HIS HITTING STREAK TO 20 GAMES.

Game Log

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- Carlos Beltran CF, Joe Randa 3B, Johnny Damon LF, Mike Sweeney DH, Jermaine Dye RF, Chad Kreuter C, Larry Sutton 1B, Steve Scarsone 2B, Rey Sanchez SS, Jay Witasick 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, Rick Helling RHP.

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

Gametime Weather: 86 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from center at 23 mph.

KANSAS CITY 1ST: Beltran walked. Randa struck out swinging. Damon flied out to left. Beltran stole second. Sweeney flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin reached on bunt single to pitcher. Mclemore grounded into fielder's choice to second, T Goodwin out at second. Mclemore to second on Witasick wild pitch. Greer grounded out to first, Mclemore to third. J Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: Dye struck out swinging. Kreuter walked. Sutton grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Kreuter out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: R Palmeiro flied out to left. I Rodriguez reached on infield single. I Rodriguez stole second. I Rodriguez caught stealing, catcher to third. Zeile singled to left center. L Stevens struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: Scarsone flied out to left. R Sanchez singled to right center, R Sanchez out stretching at second. Beltran popped out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 3RD: Shave flied out to center. T Goodwin walked. Mclemore flied out to center. T Goodwin caught stealing, catcher to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: Randa grounded out to pitcher. Damon flied out to right. Sweeney grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 4TH: Greer struck out swinging. J Gonzalez lined out to second. R Palmeiro flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 0, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: Dye grounded out to shortstop. Kreuter walked. Sutton flied out to left. Scarsone doubled to left, Kreuter scored. R Sanchez lined out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 5TH: I Rodriguez walked. Zeile flied out to center. L Stevens grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, I Rodriguez out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: Beltran popped out to shallow left. Randa flied out to left center. Damon popped out to shallow left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 6TH: Shave struck out looking. T Goodwin singled to center. Mclemore walked, T Goodwin to second. Greer struck out looking. J Gonzalez lined out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: Sweeney fouled out to catcher. Dye grounded out to shortstop. Kreuter singled to left. Sutton grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 7TH: Scott Service relieved Jay Witasick. R Palmeiro struck out swinging. I Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. Zeile lined out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: Jeff Zimmerman relieved Rick Helling. Scarsone struck out looking. R Sanchez grounded out to shortstop. Beltran struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 8TH: Matt Whisenant relieved Scott Service. L Stevens walked. Alicea ran for L Stevens. Shave hit by pitch, Alicea to second. R Kelly hit for T Goodwin. R Kelly hit by pitch, Alicea to third, Shave to second. Terry Mathews relieved Matt Whisenant. Mclemore singled to center, Alicea and Shave scored, R Kelly thrown out at third. Mclemore to second advancing on throw. Greer singled to right, Mclemore scored. J Gonzalez struck out looking. R Palmeiro walked, Greer to second. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. (3 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 3.

KANSAS CITY 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Zeile at first. Alicea at third. R Kelly in center. Randa flied out to right. Damon popped out to first. Sweeney flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) KANSAS CITY 1, TEXAS 3.