Game 106: Aug 3, 1999 (W: 9-5)
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My Commentary

This game got out to a really fast start.  We scored four runs in the first inning, then two in the second, and another in the third, putting us up 7-1 right away.  It just "felt" like a blowout was on the way.  We won, but we didn't get a blowout.  Mike Morgan allowed the Twins to creep back into the game.

Our four runs in the first came by us getting a whole slow of singles, after a leadoff error allowed Roberto Kelly to get on.   Then Pudge, Rusty, Juan, Raffy, & Todd all singled to give us our runs in the first.  Pudge had another great night at the plate, he's just on fire offensively - he's also got a 12 game hitting streak going, too.  He was 4 for 5 with a run scored last night - he's batting some atmospheric number (around 750 or something, isn't it?) since the All-Star break.

Actually, we were outhit by the Twins 14-13.  Of all these 27 hits, the bulk of them were singles.  We had one double (Greer), one triple (Kelly), and one home run (Mateo).  The rest were singles.  Minnesota had four doubles, the rest were singles.  

Mike Morgan got his 12th win of the year, who woulda thunk it?  :)

On TV, we got to see the 15,000,000th fan ceremony.  They picked someone and said they were the 15 millionth fan to see a game at the Ballpark.  They flashed a stat saying in the 21 years the Rangers played in Arlington stadium, they had about 31 million all told, and we've gotten half of that in just under 6 seasons at TBIA.  Less, actually, since the first year TBIA was around, the season was cut short (due to the MLB players strike).

-- Joe Siegler

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- The Texas Rangers own the Minnesota Twins.

Ivan Rodriguez continued his hitting rampage with four more hits and Juan Gonzalez knocked in three runs as the Rangers built an early cushion and remained perfect against Minnesota this season with a 9-5 victory.

Texas has won all nine meetings from the Twins this season and 10 in a row dating to last season. The red-hot Rangers have won 16 of 19 games overall since the All-Star break.

Rodriguez also scored three times. He is 11-for-15 over his last three games and is batting .545 (30-for-55) with six home runs and 18 RBI during a 12-game hitting streak.

"I'm feeling good. I just go up there to play. I do my best and play hard everyday," Rodriguez said. "It feels great to do a job and help the team win. Everything is there, I'm hitting the ball hard and my timing is good."

Gonzalez had one of four straight run-scoring singles in the first inning off starter Benj Sampson (3-2), staking the Rangers to a quick four-run advantage. Gonzalez singled home two more runs in the next inning, extending the lead to 6-1.

Veteran righthander Mike Morgan (12-6) improved to 3-0 in his last six starts, despite allowing five runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings. He walked one and struck out one.

"Tonight wasn't pretty but six runs early does make a difference," Texas manager Johnny Oates said.

Todd Walker matched a career high with four hits and rookie Cristian Guzman had three hits and two RBI for the Twins, who have lost three in a row following a season-high four-game winning streak.

It was another horrendous start for Sampson, who allowed six runs and six hits in one-plus inning to lose for the first time in four starts. In those four outings, he has been shelled for 20 earned runs and 21 hits in nine innings.

"I felt good but wasn't happpy with the result," Sampson said. "I'm not going to let it affect my condfidence. It's just one of those nights where the results weren't there."

An error helped lead to Sampson's troubles in the first. Roberto Kelly reached on third baseman Cory Koskie's wild throw to start the inning and then the hit parade started.

Rodriguez singled and Rusty Greer, Gonzalez, Rafael Palmeiro and Todd Zeile all followed with run-scoring hits to give the Rangers a 4-0 advantage.

Koskie got a run back for the Twins in the second with an RBI double before Gonzalez knocked home two more runs in the bottom of the inning with a single.

Rookie Ruben Mateo connected for his fifth homer in the third off Dan Perkins to make it a six-run bulge before the Twins got three runs back in the fourth on run-scoring singles from Guzman, Walker and Ron Coomer.

Minnesota pulled within 7-5 in the sixth on Guzman's sacrifice fly. But Greer doubled home a run and Palmeiro plated another with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning to give the Rangers the final margin.

"We got off to a rough start with the error," Minnesota manager Tom Kelly said. "We did hit some balls hard and weren't pushovers. We just got off to a bad start."

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

Ranger starter Mike Morgan	Benj Sampson gets pulled by Tom Kelly	Jacque Jones scores	Pudge!	Roberto Kelly into third with a triple

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
MINNESOTA           0  1  0   3  0  1   0  0  0     5 14  1
TEXAS               4  2  1   0  0  2   0  0  x     9 13  1   (FINAL)

BATTERIES:  MIN - BENJ SAMPSON, DAN PERKINS (2ND), BOB WELLS
                  (5TH), TRAVIS MILLER (6TH), HECTOR CARRASCO
                  (6TH), MIKE TROMBLEY (8TH) AND TERRY STEINBACH
            TEX - MIKE MORGAN, MIKE MUNOZ (6TH), DANNY PATTERSON
                  (6TH), MIKE VENAFRO (7TH), TIM CRABTREE (8TH)
                  AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - MIKE MORGAN (12-6)
             LP - BENJ SAMPSON (3-2)
           SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS:  MIN - NONE
            TEX - RUBEN MATEO (5) OFF PERKINS IN THE 3RD, 0 ON

     TIME:  3:09     ATT:  28,090


PROBABLES:  MIN - BRAD RADKE (8-9, 3.57)
            TEX - ESTEBAN LOAIZA (3-1, 6.45)

Box Score
MINNESOTA (5) AT TEXAS (9) - FINAL

MINNESOTA              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
J Jones cf              3  1  0  0   0  0   0  .303
 b-Gates ph-2b          1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .278
C Guzman ss             4  1  3  2   0  0   0  .242
T Walker 2b             4  0  4  1   0  0   1  .297
 c-M Cordova ph-rf      1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .293
Coomer 1b               4  0  1  1   1  1   3  .273
Lawton dh               5  0  0  0   0  0   5  .262
Allen lf                5  1  1  0   0  1   3  .286
Steinbach c             5  1  2  0   0  1   0  .317
Koskie 3b               4  0  2  1   0  0   1  .300
T Hunter rf             3  1  1  0   0  0   2  .246
 a-Hocking ph-rf-cf     1  0  0  0   0  0   2  .278

Totals                 40  5 14  5   1  4  18

a-grounded to third for T Hunter in the 7th; b-flied to right
for J Jones in the 8th; c-struck out for T Walker in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - Allen (14, Morgan); Koskie (10, Morgan); T Hunter
(10, Morgan); T Walker (32, M Munoz). SF - C Guzman. RBI - Koskie (41),
C Guzman 2 (20), T Walker (34), Coomer (45). 2-out RBI - Koskie,
C Guzman, T Walker, Coomer. Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - T Hunter 1, Allen 2, Lawton 1, Coomer 1, Hocking 1.
Team LOB - 11.

FIELDING: E - Koskie (7, throw). DP: 2 (C Guzman-T Walker-Coomer,
C Guzman-Gates-Coomer).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
R Kelly rf              3  3  1  0   2  0   0  .317
I Rodriguez c           5  3  4  0   0  0   1  .336
Greer lf                4  1  2  2   1  0   1  .280
J Gonzalez dh           4  1  2  3   1  2   0  .307
R Palmeiro 1b           3  0  1  2   0  0   3  .345
Zeile 3b                4  0  2  1   0  0   2  .307
Mateo cf                4  1  1  1   0  0   4  .229
Clayton ss              4  0  0  0   0  0   2  .250
Alicea 2b               4  0  0  0   0  0   3  .164

Totals                 35  9 13  9   4  2  16

BATTING: 2B - Greer (32, Travis Miller). 3B - R Kelly (1, Perkins).
HR - Mateo (5, 3rd inning off Perkins 0 on, 0 out). SF - R Palmeiro.
RBI - Greer 2 (65), J Gonzalez 3 (90), R Palmeiro 2 (91), Zeile (69),
Mateo (18). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Alicea 2,
I Rodriguez 1, Mateo 2. GIDP - Zeile, Greer. Team LOB - 7.

FIELDING: E - Morgan (2, ground ball).

MINNESOTA                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Sampson (L, 3-2)              1       6   6   5   2   0   0   7.69
Perkins                       3 2/3   4   1   1   0   1   1   7.13
B Wells                         1/3   1   2   2   1   0   0   4.11
Travis Miller                   1/3   1   0   0   1   0   0   2.33
Carrasco                      1 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   8.84
Trombley                      1       1   0   0   0   1   0   3.93

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Morgan (W, 12-6)              5      10   5   5   1   1   0   5.32
M Munoz (H, 8)                  2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   3.99
D Patterson (H, 4)            1       2   0   0   0   0   0   4.57
Venafro (H, 13)                 2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   2.77
Crabtree                      1 2/3   0   0   0   0   3   0   3.29

Sampson pitched to 3 batters in the 2nd.
Morgan pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.
B Wells pitched to 2 batters in the 6th.

IBB - J Gonzalez (by Travis Miller). HBP - J Jones (by Morgan).
Pitches-strikes: Morgan 80-48; M Munoz 14-8; D Patterson 14-10;
Venafro 13-8; Crabtree 27-20; Sampson 37-23; Perkins 50-31;
B Wells 12-6; Travis Miller 9-4; Carrasco 19-12; Trombley 5-5.
Ground balls-fly balls: Morgan 8-5; M Munoz 1-1; D Patterson
3-0; Venafro 1-1; Crabtree 2-0; Sampson 1-2; Perkins 5-5;
B Wells 0-1; Travis Miller 0-1; Carrasco 2-3; Trombley 2-0.
Batters faced: Morgan 27; M Munoz 3; D Patterson 5; Venafro 3;
Crabtree 5; Sampson 12; Perkins 14; B Wells 3; Travis Miller 3;
Carrasco 5; Trombley 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Dale Scott. 1B--Derryl Cousins. 2B--Joe Brinkman.
3B--John Shulock.
T--3:09.  Att--28,090.   Weather: 87 degrees, cloudy.   Wind: 15 mph,
right to left.

AL       MINNESOTA AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  THE SINGLE BY TEXAS' IVAN RODRIGUEZ IN THE BOTTOM OF THE
                FIRST INNING EXTENDED HIS HITTING STREAK TO 12 GAMES.

Game Log

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- Jacque Jones CF, Cristian Guzman SS, Todd Walker 2B, Ron Coomer 1B, Matt Lawton DH, Chad Allen LF, Terry Steinbach C, Corey Koskie 3B, Torii Hunter RF, Benj Sampson LHP.

Texas Starting Lineups -- Roberto Kelly RF, Ivan Rodriguez C, Rusty Greer LF, Juan Gonzalez DH, Rafael Palmeiro 1B, Todd Zeile 3B, Ruben Mateo CF, Royce Clayton SS, Luis Alicea 2B, Mike Morgan RHP.

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

Gametime Weather: 87 degrees, Cloudy, wind right to left at 15 mph.

MINNESOTA 1ST: J Jones flied out to deep center. C Guzman grounded out to shortstop. T Walker singled to right center. Coomer grounded into fielder's choice to second, T Walker out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: R Kelly safe at first on 3rd baseman Koskie's throwing error. I Rodriguez singled to right, R Kelly to second. Greer singled to right, R Kelly scored, I Rodriguez to third. J Gonzalez singled to center, I Rodriguez scored, Greer to second. R Palmeiro singled to right, Greer scored, J Gonzalez to third. Zeile singled to center, J Gonzalez scored, R Palmeiro to second. Mateo popped out to shallow right. Clayton fouled out to right, R Palmeiro to third. Alicea grounded out to pitcher. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 0, TEXAS 4.

MINNESOTA 2ND: Lawton grounded out to pitcher. Allen doubled to right center. Steinbach grounded out to second, Allen to third. Koskie doubled to left, Allen scored. T Hunter grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 2ND: R Kelly walked. I Rodriguez singled to right, R Kelly to second. Greer walked, R Kelly to third, I Rodriguez to second. Dan Perkins relieved Benj Sampson. J Gonzalez singled to center, R Kelly and I Rodriguez scored, Greer to second. R Palmeiro flied out to right, Greer to third. Zeile grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, J Gonzalez out at second. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, TEXAS 6.

MINNESOTA 3RD: J Jones safe at first on pitcher Morgan's fielding error. C Guzman singled to left, J Jones to second. T Walker reached on infield single, C Guzman out when hit by batted ball. Coomer walked, J Jones to third, T Walker to second. Lawton flied out to left. Allen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Error) MINNESOTA 1, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 3RD: Mateo homered to left. Clayton flied out to left center. Alicea flied out to left. R Kelly tripled to right center. I Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 1, TEXAS 7.

MINNESOTA 4TH: Steinbach reached on infield single. Koskie flied out to deep center. T Hunter fouled out to third. J Jones hit by pitch, Steinbach to second. C Guzman singled to left, Steinbach scored, J Jones to second. T Walker singled to left, J Jones scored, C Guzman to second. Coomer singled to left, C Guzman scored, T Walker to second. Lawton lined out to center. (3 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, TEXAS 7.

TEXAS 4TH: Greer flied out to left. J Gonzalez struck out looking. R Palmeiro grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, TEXAS 7.

MINNESOTA 5TH: Allen grounded out to third. Steinbach grounded out to shortstop. Koskie grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, TEXAS 7.

TEXAS 5TH: Zeile singled to left. Mateo grounded out to third, Zeile to second. Clayton popped out to first. Bob Wells relieved Dan Perkins. Alicea fouled out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 4, TEXAS 7.

MINNESOTA 6TH: T Hunter doubled to left. Mike Munoz relieved Mike Morgan. J Jones grounded out to pitcher, T Hunter to third. C Guzman hit sacrifice fly to center, T Hunter scored. T Walker doubled to center. Danny Patterson relieved Mike Munoz. Coomer grounded out to first. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 7.

TEXAS 6TH: R Kelly walked. I Rodriguez singled to right center, R Kelly to second. Travis Miller relieved Bob Wells. Greer doubled to left, R Kelly scored, I Rodriguez to third. J Gonzalez intentionally walked. R Palmeiro hit sacrifice fly to left, I Rodriguez scored. Hector Carrasco relieved Travis Miller. Zeile flied out to deep left center, Greer to third, J Gonzalez to second. Mateo grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 9.

MINNESOTA 7TH: Lawton grounded out to second. Allen grounded out to shortstop. Steinbach singled to right. Koskie singled to center, Steinbach to third. Hocking hit for T Hunter. Mike Venafro relieved Danny Patterson. Hocking grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 9.

TEXAS 7TH: Hocking in right. Clayton grounded out to third. Alicea flied out to center. R Kelly popped out to shallow right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 9.

MINNESOTA 8TH: Gates hit for J Jones. Gates flied out to right. C Guzman singled to center. M Cordova hit for T Walker. Tim Crabtree relieved Mike Venafro. M Cordova struck out swinging. Coomer struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 9.

TEXAS 8TH: Mike Trombley relieved Hector Carrasco. Gates at second. Hocking in center. M Cordova in right. I Rodriguez singled to center. Greer grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, I Rodriguez out at second. J Gonzalez struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 9.

MINNESOTA 9TH: Lawton grounded out to first. Allen grounded out to second. Steinbach struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 9.