Game 108: Aug 6, 1999 (L: 5-4)
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My Commentary

We were almost singlehandedly beat by Carlos Delgado in this game - he had three home runs, only the second time an opponent has ever done that at the Ballpark in Arlington.

Jeff Zimmerman showed that he was a human being, getting his first ever loss, dropping to (oh damn <g>) 9-1, and his ERA is now a whopping 1.25.  

Rick Helling continues to be the hard luck pitcher this season - he's pitched as good as he did last year when he won 20 games, but got another no decision in this one, and his ERA is lower this year than it was last, it's currently at 4.31.

Pudge had some great D again tonight with a pickoff and two caught stealings.  He certainly increased his value in my eye as the team MVP.  Zim is great, but I think Pudge brings more to the table.

Billy "stupidest beard in the majors" Koch looked good.  Threw hard, and did his job.  Still, he has the lamest excuse for a beard I've ever seen, though.

-- Joe Siegler

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- Carlos Delgado's third homer of the game handed rookie reliever Jeff Zimmerman his first career defeat as the Toronto Blue Jays rallied for a 5-4 victory over the red-hot Texas Rangers.

Delgado smacked a pair of solo homers off starter Rick Helling and added another shot in the eighth inning off Zimmerman (9-1) to snap a 4-4 tie.

It was the second career three-homer game for Delgado, who also belted three here last year on August 4.

"It seems in the bigger ballparks, I do well," he said. "It's an awesome feeling. You can't explain it. It seemed like on each one of them, I got a fastball up and I was able to put it out of the park."

Delgado is the seventh Toronto player to hit three homers in a game and first to do it twice. It was the 12th three-homer game in the major leagues this year.

Toronto pulled within 3-2 on Delgado's second homer in the seventh and tied it later in the inning when Tony Fernandez scored on shortstop Royce Clayton's error.

The Rangers went up 4-3 in the bottom half on Lee Stevens' solo homer off Chris Carpenter (8-5), but Zimmerman could not protect the lead, yielding solo blasts to Shawn Green and Delgado.

Green led off the inning by drilling an 0-1 pitch 364 feet over the fence in right field. After David Segui flied out, Delgado put the Blue Jays ahead by sending a 3-2 offering 387 feet into the right-field seats.

"I felt great," Zimmerman said. "I think I was trying to do a little too much with my slider. I have to learn from this. I can't take my slider for granted."

Zimmerman has given up four runs in his last three appearances after his scoreless innings streak ended at a club-record 29 2/3. His 9-0 start tied Joe Pate's 1926 American League record for consecutive wins by a reliever at the start of a career.

"What he has done the first two-thirds of the season has spoiled all of baseball," Texas manager Johnny Oates said. "We have to allow him some slack."

"This is the game of baseball," Zimmerman added. "They're being paid a lot of money to hit the ball."

Texas had a four-game winning streak halted and lost for only the fourth time in 21 games since the All-Star break.

Carpenter earned his fifth straight win, allowing four runs -- three earned -- and nine hits over seven innings with a walk and eight strikeouts. He has not lost since a 10-6 defeat to the New York Yankees on May 28.

"We know if we keep our team in the game, we've got a chance," Carpenter said. "It was a great win for us."

"Carpenter pitched well," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi added. "It's nice for us to get off to a good start in this series."

After Graeme Lloyd and John Frascatore combined for a scoreless eighth, Billy Koch recorded the final three outs for his 23rd save in 26 chances.

"I tried to put the ball where I want," Koch said. "If I do that, I'm successful."

The Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead on Rafael Palmeiro's RBI single in the bottom of the first, but Delgado tied it with his first homer in the second.

The Rangers went up 3-1 in the fourth as Juan Gonzalez reached on Segui's fourth error of the season and scored on Palmeiro's two-run homer.

After Delgado brought the Blue Jays within a run in the seventh, Fernandez doubled and took third on Darrin Fletcher's groundout. Tim Crabtree relieved Helling and struck out Jacob Brumfield, but Fernandez came home when Clayton misplayed Homer Bush's grounder.

Toronto has won only nine of its last 29 games in Texas, dating to the start of the 1994 season. The Rangers hold a 16-7 edge at the Ballpark at Arlington.

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

Toronto starter Chris Carpenter throwing to first to check on Pudge	Homer Bush flies over Mac after forcing him out	Carlos Delago watches one of his homers fly out...	..then gets congrats for it	Shannon Stewart is tagged out by Royce Clayton

Carlos Delgado being interviewed postgame

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
TORONTO             0  1  0   0  0  0   2  2  0     5 10  1
TEXAS               1  0  0   2  0  0   1  0  0     4 11  2   (FINAL)

BATTERIES:  TOR - CHRIS CARPENTER, GRAEME LLOYD (8TH), JOHN
                  FRASCATORE (8TH), BILLY KOCH (9TH) AND DARRIN
                  FLETCHER
            TEX - RICK HELLING, MIKE VENAFRO (7TH), TIM CRABTREE
                  (7TH), JEFF ZIMMERMAN (8TH), MIKE MUNOZ (9TH)
                  AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - CHRIS CARPENTER (8-5)
             LP - JEFF ZIMMERMAN (9-1)
           SAVE - BILLY KOCH (23)

HOME RUNS:  TOR - CARLOS DELGADO (27) OFF HELLING IN THE 2ND, 0 ON
                  CARLOS DELGADO (28) OFF HELLING IN THE 7TH, 0 ON
                  SHAWN GREEN (32) OFF JE ZIMMERMAN IN THE 8TH, 0 ON
                  CARLOS DELGADO (29) OFF JE ZIMMERMAN IN THE 8TH, 0 ON
            TEX - RAFAEL PALMEIRO (27) OFF C CARPENTER IN THE 4TH, 1 ON
                  LEE STEVENS (18) OFF C CARPENTER IN THE 7TH, 0 ON

     TIME:  3:02     ATT:  31,664

PROBABLES:  TOR - PAT HENTGEN (7-7, 5.22)
            TEX - AARON SELE (11-6, 5.65)

Box Score
TORONTO (5) AT TEXAS (4) - FINAL

TORONTO                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Stewart lf              3  0  1  0   1  0   0  .309
T Batista ss            5  0  1  0   0  1   4  .273
Sh Green rf             4  1  1  1   1  0   2  .319
Segui 1b                2  0  0  0   2  0   1  .297
C Delgado dh            4  3  3  3   0  0   1  .251
T Fernandez 3b          4  1  1  0   0  1   1  .353
Fletcher c              4  0  1  0   0  0   0  .294
Brumfield cf            4  0  0  0   0  2   2  .235
Bush 2b                 4  0  2  0   0  0   1  .310

Totals                 34  5 10  4   4  4  12

BATTING: 2B - T Batista (8, Helling); T Fernandez (32, Venafro);
Fletcher (18, Je Zimmerman). HR - C Delgado 3 (29, 2nd inning
off Helling 0 on, 0 out, 7th inning off Helling 0 on, 0 out, 8th
inning off Je Zimmerman 0 on, 1 out); Sh Green (32, 8th inning
off Je Zimmerman 0 on, 0 out). S - Stewart. RBI - C Delgado 3 (92),
Sh Green (90). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Segui 1,
T Batista 1, Brumfield 1. GIDP - Sh Green.  Team LOB - 7.

BASERUNNING: CS - Stewart (11, 2nd base by Helling/I Rodriguez);
Bush (5, 2nd base by Helling/I Rodriguez). Picked off - Sh Green
(2nd base, I Rodriguez).

FIELDING: E - Segui (4, catch). DP: 1 (T Batista-Bush-Segui).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             4  0  2  0   0  1   2  .285
I Rodriguez c           5  1  1  0   0  0   4  .331
Greer lf                4  0  0  0   1  2   4  .282
J Gonzalez rf           4  1  1  0   0  0   3  .306
R Palmeiro 1b           4  1  2  3   0  0   1  .344
Zeile 3b                4  0  0  0   0  2   3  .306
L Stevens dh            4  1  2  1   0  1   0  .280
Clayton ss              4  0  1  0   0  1   2  .251
T Goodwin cf            4  0  2  0   0  2   0  .245

Totals                 37  4 11  4   1  9  19

BATTING: HR - R Palmeiro (27, 4th inning off C Carpenter 1 on,
0 out); L Stevens (18, 7th inning off C Carpenter 0 on, 0 out).
S - Mclemore. RBI - R Palmeiro 3 (95), L Stevens (61). 2-out RBI -
R Palmeiro. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Zeile 1,
Greer 3, Clayton 1. GIDP - I Rodriguez.  Team LOB - 8.

FIELDING: E - Clayton (14, bobble); Zeile (18, bobble).
DP: 1 (Mclemore-Clayton-R Palmeiro).

TORONTO                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Carpenter (W, 8-5)          7       9   4   3   1   8   2   3.65
Lloyd (H, 15)                   1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3.04
Frascatore (H, 4)               2/3   1   0   0   0   0   0   3.66
Koch (S, 23)                  1       1   0   0   0   1   0   2.30

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Helling                       6       5   2   2   3   1   2   4.31
Venafro (H, 14)                 1/3   1   1   0   0   0   0   2.76
Crabtree (H, 11)                2/3   0   0   0   1   2   0   3.24
Je Zimmerman (L, 9-1; BS, 2)  1 1/3   4   2   2   0   1   2   1.25
M Munoz                         2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3.92

Helling pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.
C Carpenter pitched to 1 batter in the 8th.

Pitches-strikes: Helling 108-59; Venafro 5-3; Crabtree 13-9;
Je Zimmerman 21-16; M Munoz 1-1; C Carpenter 110-72; Lloyd 2-1;
Frascatore 8-6; Koch 18-12.  Ground balls-fly balls: Helling 7-7;
Venafro 1-0; Crabtree 0-0; Je Zimmerman 1-2; M Munoz 2-0;
C Carpenter 6-7; Lloyd 0-1; Frascatore 2-0; Koch 2-0.  Batters faced:
Helling 23; Venafro 2; Crabtree 4; Je Zimmerman 9; M Munoz 1;
C Carpenter 31; Lloyd 1; Frascatore 3; Koch 4.

UMPIRES: HP--Rick Reed. 1B--Al Clark. 2B--Larry Young. 3B--Tim
Tschida.
T--3:02.  Att--31,664.   Weather 96 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 14 mph, in from right.

AL       TORONTO AT TEXAS
         NOTE:  THE HOME RUN BY TORONTO'S CARLOS DELGADO IN THE TOP OF
                THE EIGHTH INNING WAS HIS THIRD OF THE GAME. IT IS THE
                SECOND THREE-HOME RUN GAME OF DELGADO'S CAREER.

Game Log

Toronto Starting Lineups -- Shannon Stewart LF, Tony Batista SS, Shawn Green RF, David Segui 1B, Carlos Delgado DH, Tony Fernandez 3B, Darrin Fletcher C, Jacob Brumfield CF, Homer Bush 2B, Chris Carpenter RHP.

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

Umpires -- Reed (HP), Clark (1B), Young (2B), Tschida (3B).

Gametime Weather: 96 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from right at 14 mph.

TORONTO 1ST: Stewart singled to center. Stewart caught stealing, catcher to shortstop. T Batista grounded out to shortstop. Sh Green walked. Segui walked, Sh Green to second. Sh Green picked off at second, catcher to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore struck out swinging. I Rodriguez reached on infield single. Greer walked, I Rodriguez to second. J Gonzalez popped out to shallow right. R Palmeiro singled to right, I Rodriguez scored, Greer to second. Zeile struck out looking. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 0, TEXAS 1.

TORONTO 2ND: C Delgado homered to right. T Fernandez struck out swinging. Fletcher flied out to left. Brumfield flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 1.

TEXAS 2ND: L Stevens struck out swinging. Clayton struck out swinging. T Goodwin struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 1.

TORONTO 3RD: Bush grounded out to pitcher. Stewart flied out to shallow center. T Batista grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 1.

TEXAS 3RD: Mclemore singled to left. I Rodriguez grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Mclemore out at second. Greer grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 1.

TORONTO 4TH: Sh Green popped out to second. Segui walked. C Delgado popped out to catcher. T Fernandez flied out to shallow center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 1.

TEXAS 4TH: J Gonzalez safe at first on 1st baseman Segui's fielding error. R Palmeiro homered to right, J Gonzalez scored. Zeile flied out to deep center. L Stevens flied out to left. Clayton flied out to right. (2 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 3.

TORONTO 5TH: Fletcher grounded out to second. Brumfield grounded out to third. Bush reached on infield single. Bush caught stealing, catcher to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 3.

TEXAS 5TH: T Goodwin singled to left. Mclemore sacrificed T Goodwin to second. I Rodriguez grounded out to shortstop. Greer struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 3.

TORONTO 6TH: Stewart grounded out to third. T Batista doubled to deep left. Sh Green flied out to deep center, T Batista to third. Segui grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 3.

TEXAS 6TH: J Gonzalez grounded out to first. R Palmeiro flied out to shallow left. Zeile struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 1, TEXAS 3.

TORONTO 7TH: C Delgado homered to right. Mike Venafro relieved Rick Helling. T Fernandez doubled to left. Fletcher grounded out to second, T Fernandez to third. Tim Crabtree relieved Mike Venafro. Brumfield struck out swinging. Bush safe at first on shortstop Clayton's fielding error, T Fernandez scored. Stewart walked, Bush to second. T Batista struck out looking. (2 Runs, 2 Hits, 1 Error) TORONTO 3, TEXAS 3.

TEXAS 7TH: L Stevens homered to right. Clayton singled to right. T Goodwin reached on infield single, Clayton to second. Mclemore flied out to center. I Rodriguez fouled out to first. Greer struck out looking. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 3, TEXAS 4.

TORONTO 8TH: Jeff Zimmerman relieved Tim Crabtree. Sh Green homered to right. Segui flied out to left. C Delgado homered to right. T Fernandez popped out to second. Fletcher doubled to right. Brumfield struck out looking. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 5, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 8TH: J Gonzalez reached on infield single. Graeme Lloyd relieved Chris Carpenter. R Palmeiro fouled out to right. John Frascatore relieved Graeme Lloyd. Zeile grounded into fielder's choice to third, J Gonzalez out at second. L Stevens singled to right, Zeile to third. Clayton grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 5, TEXAS 4.

TORONTO 9TH: Bush singled to right. Stewart sacrificed Bush to second. T Batista safe at first on 3rd baseman Zeile's fielding error. Mike Munoz relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Sh Green grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, T Batista out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error) TORONTO 5, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 9TH: Billy Koch relieved John Frascatore. T Goodwin struck out looking. Mclemore singled to center. I Rodriguez grounded out to pitcher, Mclemore to second. Greer grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 5, TEXAS 4.