Game 77: June 29, 1999 (W: 5-0)
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Commentary (by me)

I thought Mike Morgan pitched the best game by a Ranger last night, but oh my!   John Burkett - where'd he go?  This guy pitching isn't John Burkett!   This was a spectacular followup to the game in Arlington a few days back against Anaheim.  That night, Burkett obviously pitched the best he had all season, and I genuinely felt bad for him when it started to rain, and they were pulling the tarp on the field - Burkett still stood there.   It's really cool that he followed that up with an even better performance this time out.  He went 7 innings, giving up no runs and only one hit.  Everything seemed to be working - which was great.  We could use this kind of Burkett, not the one who was shagged out at the beginning of the season.    Still, I'd be surprised if the Rangers pick up his option for next year after this year - it might be on to the Pro Bowlers Tour for Burkett after this.    Still, it's great to see him coming around, it can't do anything but help the team.

The bullpen tonight (Zim, Wetteland) pitched two no hit/run innings to close out the one hit shutout.

Our offense seemed slow to come - we scored in just the fourth inning (two small ball runs), and then in the 8th, Juan Gonzalez hit a three run home run to seal the game. Juan's in the middle of one of his hot streaks - I hope if it keeps going, the all star break doesn't screw it up, as he probably won't go there.

Speaking of that, Juan is starting to sound a bit like a prima donna to me.  I know he says "for the team", but the two comments about "no HR derby" and "I won't play unless voted in" are a tad to the prima-donnaish side of things, which the Rangers have always seemed able to stay away from.

One other interesting thing, Mike Morgan was shown on TV being very animated in the dugout after last nights' game - it was pretty cool to see.   :)

Commentary (about Jim Meeks)

Jim Meeks has decided to "retire" from writing daily commentaries for me. I wanted to publically thank Jim, it was a blast having him with me. I wish he would have stayed, but he's going on to do his own thing - can't blame him for that. :) Make sure and check out Jim's site, as there's a ton of great minor league stuff there. Thanks Jim! I'll miss ya!

Game Recap

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA (TICKER) -- The Anaheim Angels made John Burkett look like Nolan Ryan as they suffered another home loss to the Texas Rangers.

Burkett combined with two relievers on the 20th one-hitter in team history and Juan Gonzalez remained red-hot with a three-run homer as the Rangers blanked the Angels, 5-0.

Opponents were hitting .345 against Burkett (2-3), who pitched into the seventh inning only once in seven previous starts this season. But he was virtually untouchable, allowing only a leadoff double to Matt Walbeck in the third inning. The other Angel to reach safely against Burkett was Darin Erstad, who drew a two-out walk in the third before Randy Velarde grounded out.

The 34-year-old righthander recorded a season-high seven strikeouts over seven innings, lowering his ERA from 7.20 to 6.23.

"I don't think it would have mattered who I pitched against tonight, I was hitting my spots and doing the things I tried to accomplish out there," Burkett said. "It seems like I was executing everything. Pudge (catcher Ivan Rodriguez) did a great job keeping me in a rhythm. He called a very good game and our defense made the plays."

Asked about his early-season troubles, Burkett said, "I started wondering is it my age or is it just something that happens. I didn't have the flexibility in my shoulder, and you start wondering if it's ever going to come back. Right now, it feels like somebody just planted a new arm on me."

Jeff Zimmerman breezed through a perfect eighth and John Wetteland struck out two in the ninth as the Rangers retired the last 19 batters. The one-hitter was Texas' first since Rick Helling and Wetteland combined to blank Milwaukee on August 18, 1997.

Rafael Palmeiro and Todd Zeile had three hits apiece for Texas, which has outscored the Angels, 39-4, during a five-game winning streak in Anaheim.

"That's short-term as far as I'm concerned," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "We couldn't get them out in our ballpark earlier in the year. Everything we threw, they hit. It was a matter of making adjustments and making good pitches. Good pitching is going to give you a chance to win. We've had two well-pitched ballgames the last two nights by two veterans who know how to pitch."

Angels starter Omar Olivares (6-6) stayed with Burkett until the fourth. Gonzalez drew a leadoff walk before Palmeiro and Zeile singled to load the bases. Lee Stevens followed with a sacrifice fly and Roberto Kelly delivered an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

Texas squandered scoring chances in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before breaking it open in the eighth. Mark McLemore had a one-out single off reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa and moved up on a wild pitch. After Ivan Rodriguez flied out, rookie Scott Schoeneweis came on and walked Rusty Greer.

Gonzalez greeted Mark Petkovsek by hitting a 2-1 pitch over the left-field fence for his 23rd home run. In his last five games, Gonzalez is 12-for-24 with four homers and 11 RBI.

Mo Vaughn struck out in all three at-bats for the Angels, who were held to one hit for the 23rd time and the first since Kansas City's David Cone blanked them on May 22, 1994.

"He definitely hit his spots," Vaughn said of Burkett. "There's such a big discrepancy right now between my righthanded average and my lefthanded average. That's something I have to work out by myself."

"John Burkett was effective for the same reasons Mike Morgan was effective last night," Angels manager Terry Collins explained. "He made the pitches, changed speeds and threw strikes. When a guy throws a one-hitter, it means he pitched well. They've done a good job pitching against us, and we have to make a few adjustments."

Olivares lost his third straight decision, allowing two runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Photos
(Click on any of them for a larger image)

Ranger starter John Burkett fights the sun	Roberto Kelly makes it into second on an errant throw

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
TEXAS               0  0  0   2  0  0   0  3  0     5 13  0
ANAHEIM             0  0  0   0  0  0   0  0  0     0  1  1   (FINAL)

BATTERIES:  TEX - JOHN BURKETT, JEFF ZIMMERMAN (8TH), JOHN
                  WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ
            ANA - OMAR OLIVARES, SHIGETOSHI HASEGAWA (6TH),
                  SCOTT SCHOENEWEIS (8TH), MARK PETKOVSEK (8TH)
                  AND MATT WALBECK

             WP - JOHN BURKETT (2-3)
             LP - OMAR OLIVARES (6-6)
           SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS:  TEX - JUAN GONZALEZ (23) OFF PETKOVSEK IN THE 8TH, 2 ON
            ANA - NONE

     TIME:  2:40     ATT:  22,274

PROBABLES:  TEX - RYAN GLYNN (1-2, 7.46)
            ANA - KEN HILL (3-7, 4.97)



Box Score
TEXAS (5) AT ANAHEIM (0) - FINAL

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             4  1  1  0   2  0   1  .277
I Rodriguez c           5  0  0  0   1  0   6  .307
Greer lf                3  1  0  0   2  0   3  .270
J Gonzalez rf           4  2  2  3   1  0   1  .315
R Palmeiro dh           5  1  3  0   0  1   0  .353
Zeile 3b                5  0  3  0   0  0   2  .270
L Stevens 1b            3  0  1  1   1  1   5  .298
R Kelly cf              5  0  1  1   0  0   3  .313
Clayton ss              5  0  2  0   0  0   2  .244

Totals                 39  5 13  5   7  2  23

BATTING: 2B - Clayton (6, Olivares). HR - J Gonzalez (23, 8th
inning off Petkovsek 2 on, 2 out). SF - L Stevens. RBI -
L Stevens (42), R Kelly (18), J Gonzalez 3 (70). 2-out RBI -
J Gonzalez 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
I Rodriguez 2, L Stevens 2, Greer 1, R Kelly 1.  Team LOB - 15.

ANAHEIM                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Erstad lf               3  0  0  0   1  3   0  .252
Velarde 2b              4  0  0  0   0  1   2  .296
Vaughn 1b               3  0  0  0   0  3   0  .278
G Anderson cf           3  0  0  0   0  2   0  .275
T Greene dh             3  0  0  0   0  0   0  .253
Glaus 3b                3  0  0  0   0  0   0  .229
Walbeck c               3  0  1  0   0  1   0  .245
O Palmeiro rf           3  0  0  0   0  0   1  .271
Disarcina ss            2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .167
 a-Huson ph             1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .258

Totals                 28  0  1  0   1 10   4

a-flied to left for Disarcina in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - Walbeck (5, Burkett). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - Velarde 1.  Team LOB - 2.

FIELDING: E - Disarcina (1, throw).

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Burkett (W, 2-3)              7       1   0   0   1   7   0   6.23
Je Zimmerman                  1       0   0   0   0   1   0   0.96
Wetteland                     1       0   0   0   0   2   0   4.01

ANAHEIM                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Olivares (L, 6-6)             5 1/3   8   2   2   3   1   0   3.39
Hasegawa                      2 1/3   2   1   1   2   0   0   3.79
S Schoeneweis                 0       0   1   1   1   0   0   4.65
Petkovsek                     1 1/3   3   1   1   1   1   1   1.80

S Schoeneweis pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

WP - Hasegawa.  Pitches-strikes: Olivares 89-53; Hasegawa 38-20;
S Schoeneweis 5-1; Petkovsek 32-17; Burkett 82-54; Je Zimmerman 15-11;
Wetteland 12-9.  Ground balls-fly balls: Olivares 3-11; Hasegawa 1-6;
S Schoeneweis 0-0; Petkovsek 2-1; Burkett 7-7; Je Zimmerman 1-1;
Wetteland 0-1.  Batters faced: Olivares 27; Hasegawa 11;
S Schoeneweis 1; Petkovsek 8; Burkett 23; Je Zimmerman 3; Wetteland 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Rich Garcia. 1B--Mike Reilly. 2B--Dale Ford.
3B--Mark Johnson.
T--2:40.  Att--22,274.   Weather: 76 degrees, clear.   Wind: 6 mph,
left to right.

Game Log

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

Anaheim Starting Lineups -- Darin Erstad LF, Randy Velarde 2B, Mo Vaughn 1B, Garret Anderson CF, Todd Greene DH, Troy Glaus 3B, Matt Walbeck C, Orlando Palmeiro RF, Gary Disarcina SS, Omar Olivares RHP.

Umpires -- Garcia (HP), Reilly (1B), Ford (2B), Johnson (3B).

Gametime Weather: 76 degrees, Clear, wind left to right at 6 mph.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore flied out to deep left center. I Rodriguez grounded out to second. Greer walked. J Gonzalez flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 1ST: Erstad struck out looking. Velarde flied out to shallow right. Vaughn struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 2ND: R Palmeiro struck out looking. Zeile grounded out to shortstop. L Stevens reached on infield single. R Kelly flied out to right center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 2ND: G Anderson flied out to center. T Greene grounded out to second. Glaus grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 3RD: Clayton singled to left. Mclemore lined out to right. I Rodriguez flied out to center. Greer flied out to deep left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 3RD: Walbeck doubled to left center. O Palmeiro flied out to right. Disarcina grounded out to third. Erstad walked. Velarde grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 4TH: J Gonzalez walked. R Palmeiro singled to right, J Gonzalez to second. Zeile singled to left, J Gonzalez to third, R Palmeiro to second. L Stevens hit sacrifice fly to center, J Gonzalez scored, R Palmeiro to third. R Kelly singled to shallow right center, R Palmeiro scored, Zeile to second. Clayton grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Zeile to third, R Kelly safe at second on shortstop Disarcina's throwing error, Zeile out at home attempting to advance on play. Mclemore walked, R Kelly to third, Clayton to second. I Rodriguez grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 4TH: Vaughn struck out swinging. G Anderson struck out swinging. T Greene flied out to shallow left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 5TH: Greer lined out to center. J Gonzalez singled to left. R Palmeiro singled to center, J Gonzalez to second. Zeile flied out to right. L Stevens flied out to deep left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 5TH: Glaus popped out to shallow left center. Walbeck grounded out to second. O Palmeiro grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 6TH: R Kelly flied out to deep left. Clayton doubled to deep center. Shigetoshi Hasegawa relieved Omar Olivares. Mclemore flied out to deep right center, Clayton to third. I Rodriguez walked. Greer grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 6TH: Disarcina grounded out to shortstop. Erstad struck out looking. Velarde flied out to deep left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 7TH: J Gonzalez popped out to shallow right. R Palmeiro lined out to third. Zeile singled to left center. L Stevens walked, Zeile to second. R Kelly lined out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 7TH: Vaughn struck out swinging. G Anderson struck out swinging. T Greene popped out to shallow center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 2, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 8TH: Clayton lined out to right. Mclemore singled to left center. Mclemore to second on Hasegawa wild pitch. I Rodriguez flied out to right. Scott Schoeneweis relieved Shigetoshi Hasegawa. Greer walked. Mark Petkovsek relieved Scott Schoeneweis. J Gonzalez homered to left, Mclemore and Greer scored. R Palmeiro singled to center. Zeile singled to left, R Palmeiro to second. L Stevens struck out swinging. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 8TH: Jeff Zimmerman relieved John Burkett. Glaus grounded out to shortstop. Walbeck struck out looking. O Palmeiro flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, ANAHEIM 0.

TEXAS 9TH: R Kelly grounded out to shortstop. Clayton grounded out to third. Mclemore walked. I Rodriguez lined out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, ANAHEIM 0.

ANAHEIM 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Huson hit for Disarcina. Huson flied out to left. Erstad struck out swinging. Velarde struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 5, ANAHEIM 0.