Game 55: June 6, 1999 (L: 4-2)
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Commentary (by me)

I've had a pretty long and tiring day at work Monday - I don't feel like writing commentary for this game.

Commentary (by Jim Meeks)

Not available.

Game Recap

PHOENIX (TICKER) -- Andy Benes struck out a season-high 10 in eight solid innings as the Arizona Diamondbacks posted a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers to take the rubber game of a three-game interleague set between the two hottest teams in baseball.

Benes (4-5) allowed two runs, seven hits and one walk to give the Diamondbacks their 10th win in 12 contests. He has pitched at least six innings in each of his last nine starts and improved to 3-1 lifetime against Texas.

"Andy was outstanding," Arizona manager Buck Showalter said. "Very quietly, in his last four outings, he's been like the Andy we saw last year. I was going to take him out in the seventh but in that inning and especially the eighth, he was as good as any he has pitched."

Gregg Olson notched his eighth save with a scoreless ninth. Olson has four saves and a victory in his last five appearances.

Trailing 1-0 after Juan Gonzalez's RBI single in the first inning, Arizona pulled even on Damian Miller's run-scoring double in the second.

Miller reached on third baseman Todd Zeile's fielding error to lead off the fifth before scoring the go-ahead run on Tony Womack's sacrifice fly. Jay Bell and Matt Williams each drove in a run during the frame to make it 4-1.

Gonzalez hit his 15th homer of the year off Benes in the sixth to cap the scoring as the Rangers suffered just their second loss in 12 games. Texas has dropped seven of its last eight interleague games, with the lone win coming here on Saturday.

Rick Helling (5-6) took the loss, yielding four runs -- one earned -- and six hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Rookie Mike Venafro, Danny Patterson and Mike Munoz held the Diamondbacks hitless over the last 3 1/3 innings, but the Rangers were unable to mount a comeback against Benes.

"I felt like I pitched really well," Benes said. "We took advantage of an error and we got three unearned runs. We beat a good team two out of three. In the first inning, they took advantage of pitches I left up. After that, I got the ball down and threw strikes and caught a few breaks. That's a good combination."

The righthander retired seven of nine batters after Gonzalez's blast, striking out the side in the seventh. Benes has allowed four runs over 15 innings in his last two outings.

With the game knotted 1-1 in the fifth, Miller reached first as Zeile bobbled his slow grounder to third. Andy Fox followed with a single to right before Benes sacrificed. Womack's sacrifice fly plated Miller and put Arizona ahead for good.

"I should have made the play but it kicked and hit (the heel of my glove)," said Zeile, who finished the series 0-for-12 and is hitless in his last 18 at-bats. "But I should have made it. I just had a horrible series and I'm ready to leave. Winning teams capitalize on mistakes, we didn't and they did."

"You can't blame that inning on Todd," Helling added. "I was out there pitching. I thought I did a good job to get the outs but it's my job as a pitcher to pick up the defense and I didn't."

Bell singled to shallow center field to extend the lead to 3-1 before Williams' double to left gave Benes a three-run cushion.

Mark McLemore and Rusty Greer grounded out to start the sixth before Gonzalez launched a 1-0 offering from Benes into the seats in left.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image

Diamondback pitcher Andy Benes	Goodwin out trying to steal second	Either Todd Zeile is losing his balance, or he thinks that Damian Miller has really nice breasts!	Travis Lee coming in to score

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  TEX - RICK HELLING, MIKE VENAFRO (5TH), DANNY
                  PATTERSON (7TH), MIKE MUNOZ (8TH) AND IVAN
                  RODRIGUEZ
            ARI - ANDY BENES, GREGG OLSON (9TH) AND DAMIAN
                  MILLER

             WP - ANDY BENES (4-5)
             LP - RICK HELLING (5-6)
           SAVE - GREGG OLSON (8)

HOME RUNS:  TEX - JUAN GONZALEZ (15) OFF ANDY BENES IN THE 6TH, 0 ON
            ARI - NONE

     TIME:  2:15     ATT:  34,353

PROBABLES:  TEX - AARON SELE (5-4, 5.58)
            LOS - ISMAEL VALDES (5-3, 3.69)

            CHN - KYLE FARNSWORTH (2-0, 5.44)
            ARI - BRIAN ANDERSON (0-1, 8.76)



Box Score
TEXAS (2) AT ARIZONA (4) - FINAL

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
T Goodwin cf            4  0  2  0   0  1   0  .242
Mclemore 2b             4  1  1  0   0  0   1  .300
Greer lf                3  0  1  0   1  0   1  .291
J Gonzalez rf           4  1  2  2   0  1   2  .324
R Palmeiro 1b           4  0  1  0   0  0   2  .358
I Rodriguez c           4  0  0  0   0  0   3  .313
Zeile 3b                4  0  0  0   0  2   0  .249
Clayton ss              3  0  0  0   0  3   0  .216
Helling p               2  0  0  0   0  2   0  .000
 Venafro p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 a-Alicea ph            1  0  0  0   0  1   0  .136
 D Patterson p          0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 M Munoz p              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 33  2  7  2   1 10   9

a-struck out for Venafro in the 7th.

BATTING: HR - J Gonzalez (15, 6th inning off Andy Benes 0 on, 2 out).
RBI - J Gonzalez 2 (51). 2-out RBI - J Gonzalez. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - I Rodriguez 1. Team LOB - 5.

BASERUNNING: CS - T Goodwin (7, 2nd base by Andy Benes/D Miller).

FIELDING: E - Clayton (6, throw); Zeile (9, bobble). Outfield
assists - J Gonzalez (D Miller at 3rd base).

ARIZONA                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Womack rf               3  0  0  1   0  1   1  .268
J Bell 2b               4  1  2  1   0  0   0  .308
L Gonzalez lf           4  0  1  0   0  0   2  .388
Ma Williams 3b          4  0  1  1   0  0   1  .322
S Finley cf             4  0  0  0   0  2   2  .288
T Lee 1b                2  1  0  0   1  0   0  .244
D Miller c              3  1  1  1   0  0   0  .298
A Fox ss                3  1  1  0   0  1   0  .305
Andy Benes p            2  0  0  0   0  0   0  .100
 Olson p                0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 29  4  6  4   1  4   6

BATTING: 2B - D Miller (11, Helling); J Bell (10, Helling);
Ma Williams (17, Helling). S - Andy Benes. SF - Womack. RBI -
D Miller (22), Womack (10), J Bell (43), Ma Williams (55).
2-out RBI - J Bell, Ma Williams. Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - L Gonzalez 1, S Finley 2. Team LOB - 4.

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Helling (L, 5-6)              4 2/3   6   4   1   1   0   0   4.81
Venafro                       1 1/3   0   0   0   0   2   0   2.16
D Patterson                   1 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   5.40
M Munoz                         1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   4.30

ARIZONA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Andy Benes (W, 4-5)           8       7   2   2   1  10   1   5.40
Olson (S, 8)                  1       0   0   0   0   0   0   4.29

Pitches-strikes: Andy Benes 118-78; Olson 8-5; Helling 70-43;
Venafro 14-8; D Patterson 9-8; M Munoz 3-3.  Ground balls-fly balls:
Andy Benes 8-5; Olson 2-1; Helling 8-5; Venafro 2-0; D Patterson 0-4;
M Munoz 0-0.  Batters faced: Andy Benes 31; Olson 3; Helling 22;
Venafro 4; D Patterson 5; M Munoz 1.

UMPIRES: HP--Paul Schrieber. 1B--Ed Montague. 2B--Tom Hallion.
3B--Bill Hohn.
T--2:15.  Att--34,353. Indoors.

Game Log

Texas Starting Lineups -- Tom Goodwin CF, Mark Mclemore 2B, Rusty Greer LF, Juan Gonzalez RF, Rafael Palmeiro 1B, Ivan Rodriguez C, Todd Zeile 3B, Royce Clayton SS, Rick Helling RHP.

Arizona Starting Lineups -- Tony Womack RF, Jay Bell 2B, Luis Gonzalez LF, Matt Williams 3B, Steve Finley CF, Travis Lee 1B, Damian Miller C, Andy Fox SS, Andy Benes RHP.

Umpires -- Schrieber (HP), Montague (1B), Hallion (2B), Hohn (3B).

Gametime Weather: Indoors

TEXAS 1ST: T Goodwin struck out swinging. Mclemore singled to right. Greer singled to right, Mclemore to third. J Gonzalez singled to left, Mclemore scored, Greer to second. R Palmeiro flied out to shallow center. I Rodriguez grounded into fielder's choice to second, J Gonzalez out at second. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 0.

ARIZONA 1ST: Womack grounded out to second. J Bell safe at first on shortstop Clayton's throwing error. L Gonzalez lined out to left center. Ma Williams grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, J Bell out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 1 Error) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 0.

TEXAS 2ND: Zeile struck out swinging. Clayton struck out swinging. Helling struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 0.

ARIZONA 2ND: S Finley grounded out to shortstop. T Lee walked. D Miller doubled to right, T Lee scored. D Miller out at third attempting to advance on throw. A Fox lined out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 1.

TEXAS 3RD: T Goodwin grounded out to second. Mclemore flied out to left. Greer walked. J Gonzalez struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 1.

ARIZONA 3RD: Andy Benes flied out to right. Womack grounded out to second. J Bell doubled to deep right center. L Gonzalez grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 1.

TEXAS 4TH: R Palmeiro flied out to left. I Rodriguez grounded out to first. Zeile grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 1.

ARIZONA 4TH: Ma Williams grounded out to shortstop. S Finley flied out to deep center. T Lee grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 1.

TEXAS 5TH: Clayton struck out looking. Helling struck out swinging. T Goodwin singled to center. T Goodwin caught stealing, catcher to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 1.

ARIZONA 5TH: D Miller safe at first on 3rd baseman Zeile's fielding error. A Fox singled to right, D Miller to second. Andy Benes sacrificed D Miller to third, A Fox to second. Womack hit sacrifice fly to left center, D Miller scored. J Bell singled to shallow center, A Fox scored. L Gonzalez singled to right center, J Bell to third. Ma Williams doubled to left, J Bell scored, L Gonzalez to third. Mike Venafro relieved Rick Helling. S Finley struck out looking. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 1 Error) TEXAS 1, ARIZONA 4.

TEXAS 6TH: Mclemore grounded out to second. Greer grounded out to first. J Gonzalez homered to left. R Palmeiro singled to right. I Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.

ARIZONA 6TH: T Lee grounded out to second. D Miller grounded out to second. A Fox struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.

TEXAS 7TH: Zeile struck out looking. Clayton struck out swinging. Alicea hit for Venafro. Alicea struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.

ARIZONA 7TH: Danny Patterson relieved Mike Venafro. Andy Benes fouled out to catcher. Womack struck out swinging. J Bell flied out to shallow right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.

TEXAS 8TH: T Goodwin singled to center. Mclemore flied out to shallow right. Greer lined out to center. J Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.

ARIZONA 8TH: L Gonzalez popped out to shallow center. Ma Williams flied out to center. Mike Munoz relieved Danny Patterson. S Finley struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.

TEXAS 9TH: Gregg Olson relieved Andy Benes. R Palmeiro grounded out to second. I Rodriguez flied out to right center. Zeile grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ARIZONA 4.