Game 91: July 18, 1999 (W: 5-4)
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Commentary (by me)

They say the best way to get going after you have problems is to get right back out there.  John Wetteland got another save chance after blowing the last three in a row - this time he pulled it out.  The newspaper said that he and Oates had a meeting to discuss what was going on, and for Oates to give him his "vote of confidence".  Whatever was said, it seemed to help, as he looked sharper than the last couple of days he was out there.

Mike Morgan pitched well this game, retiring something like 10 or 11 in a row on ground ball outs.  He looked good, but once he got near 100 pitches, he seemed to crap out.  He gave up 3 runs over 6.1 innings throwing 100 pitches and giving up 7 hits.  Fairly decent outing, and the bullpen kept it close, giving up just one more run, which was inherited from Morgan and was an unearned run anyway.

Our five runs were driven in by five different people (Kelly, Greer, Zeile, Zaun, & Clayton).  It was nice to see Gregg Zaun in there again - I have to admit, I didn't think he'd be such a big deal at the start of the season, but he's surprised me - I think this just about every time he plays.  :)

We could have lost the game, as a controversial call by Mark Johnson.  He ruled a Rich Auerlia hit ball a home run, but then Durwood Merrill said it was just a double.  Replays showed it bounced off the absolute top of the left field wall just about the "A" in American League, and back into the field.  It was the right call, but one more inch, and it would have been a home run, probably costing the Rangers the game. 

The last four games on this homestand were decided by two runs or less, with three of them by one run.  We're now 17-9 in one run games this season.

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- On the night Dusty Baker reached quadruple figures, Mike Morgan reached double figures.

Baker's 1,000th game as manager of the San Francisco Giants was ruined in part by Morgan, who reached 10 wins for the first time since 1993 as the Texas Rangers held on for a 5-4 victory.

Baker dropped to 523-477 as he became the second San Francisco skipper to manage 1,000 games, joining Roger Craig (1,152). He watched his team be baffled by Morgan, then stage a rally that fell short.

"We had good pitching, good defense," Baker said. "We're so close. We've got to keep on playing. We were in position to take the lead on a couple of occasions tonight."

Morgan (10-6) surrendered three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two as he improved to 9-7 lifetime against the Giants.

"I was sluggish early but I got into the seventh inning and I was still able to make my pitches," Morgan said. "With as much as I sweat, I just had to go out and take my time in the later innings."

Mike Venafro pitched a hitless inning but allowed an unearned run. Jeff Zimmerman set a team record for scoreless innings by retiring two batters before John Wetteland worked the ninth for his 27th save in 34 opportunities. Wetteland had suffered blown saves in each of his last three outings.

"It's always nice to have someone recognize you," Wetteland said. "It helped when he (Oates) said that if we had the lead, we would go to me. You are trying to prove the last time out was an aberration."

"The defense was superb tonight," Morgan said. "The bullpen was great. Venafro, Zimmerman and Wetteland all came in and did their jobs."

Royce Clayton had two hits, drove in a run and scored another for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four games.

Both division leaders are 7-6 in interleague play. The Giants are 2 1/2 games ahead of Arizona in the National League West and the Rangers are five games in front of Oakland in the American League West.

Giants starter Mark Gardner (3-8) allowed five runs, five hits and four walks in six innings. He was wild as he dropped to 2-2 lifetime vs. Texas.

Gardner hit a batter and threw a wild pitch in the second, when Todd Zeile hit a sacrifice fly and Gregg Zaun singled home a run for a 2-0 lead.

In the fifth, Clayton was hit by a pitch, took third on a single by Mark McLemore and scored on Roberto Kelly's sacrifice fly. McLemore stole second and scored on a single by Rusty Greer that made it 4-0.

J.T. Snow's two-run homer off Morgan in the sixth cut the deficit to 4-2 but Clayton doubled home a run in the bottom half.

"Offensively, there were no fireworks tonight," Oates said. "But we scored enough runs on our short ball. A key tonight was the bottom of the lineup -- Zaun, Clayton and Morgan. ... We were able to get runners home from third with a pair of sacrifice flies."

There was controversy in the seventh. With one out, Stan Javier singled and Rich Aurilia hit a shot to left field that third base umpire Mark Johnson initially ruled a homer -- even though the ball was clearly in play.

"If it's the right call, it's the right call," Aurilia said. "But if you don't see it, don't make the home run call to make it reversed. I'm not saying we would have won or lost, but it would have been a big run."

The double chased Morgan and left runners at second and third. Venafro gave up a run-scoring grounder to pinch-hitter Scott Servais before getting Marvin Benard on a groundout.

In the eighth, Zimmerman came on with one out after Snow reached on an error by first baseman Lee Stevens. He walked Jeff Kent and barely kept Barry Bonds' fly to left in the ballpark before Ellis Burks doubled to make it 5-4.

Zimmerman got Stan Javier on a grounder to extend his scoreless innings streak to 24, breaking the club record of 23 2/3 set by Jim Kern from June 12-July 7, 1979.

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

A Giants player warms up before the game	Giants manager Dusty Baker	Ranger starter Mike Morgan	The Giants battery confers on the mound	J.T. Snow - "Aaah!  It's a ball!"

Rusty Greer runs after a ball is hit by Raffy.	Lee Stevens levitates at first base!

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  SFO - MARK GARDNER, RICH RODRIGUEZ (7TH), JERRY
                  SPRADLIN (7TH) AND BRENT MAYNE, SCOTT SERVAIS
                  (7TH)
            TEX - MIKE MORGAN, MIKE VENAFRO (7TH), JEFF
                  ZIMMERMAN (8TH), JOHN WETTELAND (9TH) AND
                  GREGG ZAUN

             WP - MIKE MORGAN (10-6)
             LP - MARK GARDNER (3-8)
           SAVE - JOHN WETTELAND (27)

HOME RUNS:  SFO - JT SNOW (12) OFF MORGAN IN THE 6TH, 1 ON
            TEX - NONE

     TIME:  2:48     ATT:  41,746

PROBABLES:  SFO - CHRIS BROCK (6-7, 5.26)
            TEX - RYAN GLYNN (2-3, 6.95)



Box Score
SAN FRANCISCO (4) AT TEXAS (5) - FINAL

SAN FRANCISCO          ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Benard cf               5  0  1  0   0  0   2  .296
Mueller 3b              4  1  0  0   1  1   1  .283
Snow 1b                 4  2  2  2   0  0   0  .289
Kent 2b                 3  0  1  0   1  1   0  .295
Bonds dh                4  0  0  0   0  1   4  .258
Burks rf                4  0  1  1   0  0   0  .269
Javier lf               4  1  1  0   0  0   2  .279
Aurilia ss              4  0  2  0   0  0   0  .302
Mayne c                 2  0  0  0   0  0   1  .297
 a-Servais ph-c         2  0  1  1   0  0   0  .252

Totals                 36  4  9  4   2  3  10

a-grounded to shortstop for Mayne in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - Snow (17, Morgan); Aurilia (12, Morgan); Burks
(13, Je Zimmerman). HR - Snow (12, 6th inning off Morgan 1 on,
1 out). RBI - Snow 2 (61), Servais (15), Burks (47). 2-out RBI -
Burks. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Bonds 1, Benard 1,
Javier 2. Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: CS - Benard (6, 2nd base by Morgan/Zaun).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (Aurilia-Kent-Snow).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             3  1  1  0   2  0   0  .281
R Kelly cf              3  0  0  1   1  0   5  .307
Greer lf                3  0  1  1   1  0   0  .274
J Gonzalez rf           2  1  0  0   1  0   2  .310
R Palmeiro dh           3  1  1  0   1  0   2  .348
Zeile 3b                3  0  0  1   0  0   3  .284
L Stevens 1b            4  1  1  0   0  1   0  .287
Zaun c                  4  0  1  1   0  0   0  .206
Clayton ss              3  1  2  1   0  0   1  .245

Totals                 28  5  7  5   6  1  13

BATTING: 2B - Clayton (9, Gardner). SF - Zeile, R Kelly. RBI -
Zeile (50), Zaun (6), R Kelly (25), Greer (55), Clayton (17).
2-out RBI - Zaun, Greer, Clayton. Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - J Gonzalez 1, R Palmeiro 1, R Kelly 2.
GIDP - Zeile. Team LOB - 9.

BASERUNNING: SB - Mclemore (9, 2nd base off Gardner/Mayne);
Clayton (6, 2nd base off Spradlin/Servais).

FIELDING: E - L Stevens (5, ground ball).

--------------------------------------------------
    San Francisco  - 000 002 110  --  4
    Texas          - 020 021 00X  --  5

--------------------------------------------------

SAN FRANCISCO                ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Gardner (L, 3-8)              6       5   5   5   4   0   0   6.73
R Rodriguez                     1/3   1   0   0   1   0   0   4.81
Spradlin                      1 2/3   1   0   0   1   1   0   3.99

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Morgan (W, 10-6)              6 1/3   7   3   3   1   2   1   5.38
Venafro (H, 7)                1       0   1   0   0   1   0   3.12
Je Zimmerman (H, 14)            2/3   1   0   0   1   0   0   0.82
Wetteland (S, 27)             1       1   0   0   0   0   0   4.76

WP - Gardner. IBB - Mclemore (by Spradlin). HBP - J Gonzalez (by
Gardner); Clayton (by Gardner).  Pitches-strikes: Morgan 100-60;
Venafro 16-12; Je Zimmerman 18-12; Wetteland 13-8; Gardner 106-59;
R Rodriguez 14-8; Spradlin 16-9.  Ground balls-fly balls: Morgan
12-4; Venafro 2-0; Je Zimmerman 1-1; Wetteland 0-3; Gardner 9-9;
R Rodriguez 0-1; Spradlin 4-0.  Batters faced: Morgan 26; Venafro 4;
Je Zimmerman 4; Wetteland 4; Gardner 29; R Rodriguez 3; Spradlin 6.

UMPIRES: HP--Dale Ford. 1B--Eric Cooper. 2B--Durwood Merrill.
3B--Mark Johnson.
T--2:48.  Att--41,746.   Weather: 95 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 7 mph, right to left.

Game Log

San Francisco Starting Lineups -- Marvin Benard CF, Bill Mueller 3B, Jt Snow 1B, Jeff Kent 2B, Barry Bonds DH, Ellis Burks RF, Stan Javier LF, Rich Aurilia SS, Brent Mayne C, Mark Gardner RHP.

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

Umpires -- Ford (HP), Cooper (1B), D Merrill (2B), Johnson (3B).

Gametime Weather: 95 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind right to left at 7 mph.

SAN FRANCISCO 1ST: Benard grounded out to pitcher. Mueller lined out to third. Snow doubled to left center. Kent reached on infield single, Snow to third. Bonds flied out to left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore grounded out to first. R Kelly grounded out to shortstop. Greer flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 0.

SAN FRANCISCO 2ND: Burks grounded out to third. Javier flied out to right. Aurilia singled to center. Mayne grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: J Gonzalez hit by pitch. R Palmeiro walked, J Gonzalez to second. J Gonzalez to third, R Palmeiro to second on Gardner wild pitch. Zeile hit sacrifice fly to center, J Gonzalez scored. L Stevens grounded out to second, R Palmeiro to third. Zaun singled to right, R Palmeiro scored. Clayton fouled out to right. (2 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 2.

SAN FRANCISCO 3RD: Benard grounded out to second. Mueller grounded out to second. Snow grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 3RD: Mclemore grounded out to pitcher. R Kelly walked. Greer grounded out to second, R Kelly to second. J Gonzalez flied out to left. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 2.

SAN FRANCISCO 4TH: Kent grounded out to shortstop. Bonds grounded out to second. Burks grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 4TH: R Palmeiro grounded out to first. Zeile flied out to right. L Stevens flied out to deep left center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 2.

SAN FRANCISCO 5TH: Javier grounded out to shortstop. Aurilia grounded out to pitcher. Mayne grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 2.

TEXAS 5TH: Zaun grounded out to shortstop. Clayton hit by pitch. Mclemore singled to shallow left, Clayton to third. R Kelly hit sacrifice fly to right, Clayton scored. Mclemore stole second. Greer singled to left, Mclemore scored. J Gonzalez walked, Greer to second. R Palmeiro fouled out to catcher. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 0, TEXAS 4.

SAN FRANCISCO 6TH: Benard reached on infield single. Benard caught stealing, catcher to second. Mueller walked. Snow homered to left center, Mueller scored. Kent struck out swinging. Bonds struck out swinging. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 2, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 6TH: Zeile lined out to left. L Stevens singled to left. Zaun grounded out to shortstop, L Stevens to second. Clayton doubled to deep right, L Stevens scored. Mclemore walked. R Kelly grounded into fielder's choice to third, Mclemore out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 2, TEXAS 5.

SAN FRANCISCO 7TH: Burks lined out to center. Javier singled to right center. Aurilia doubled to deep left, Javier to third. Mike Venafro relieved Mike Morgan. Servais hit for Mayne. Servais grounded out to shortstop, Javier scored, Aurilia to third. Benard grounded out to second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 3, TEXAS 5.

TEXAS 7TH: Rich Rodriguez relieved Mark Gardner. Servais catching. Greer walked. J Gonzalez flied out to right. R Palmeiro singled to right, Greer to third. Jerry Spradlin relieved Rich Rodriguez. Zeile grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, R Palmeiro out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 3, TEXAS 5.

SAN FRANCISCO 8TH: Mueller struck out looking. Snow safe at first on 1st baseman L Stevens' fielding error. Jeff Zimmerman relieved Mike Venafro. Kent walked, Snow to second. Bonds flied out to deep left. Burks doubled to deep left, Snow scored, Kent to third. Javier grounded out to second. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 1 Error) SAN FRANCISCO 4, TEXAS 5.

TEXAS 8TH: L Stevens struck out swinging. Zaun grounded out to first. Clayton singled to left. Clayton stole second. Mclemore intentionally walked. R Kelly grounded into fielder's choice to third, Clayton out at third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 4, TEXAS 5.

SAN FRANCISCO 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Aurilia flied out to shallow right. Servais singled to center. Benard flied out to shallow left. Mueller flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) SAN FRANCISCO 4, TEXAS 5.