Game 110: Aug 8, 1999 (L: 8-7)
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My Commentary

A game of back and forth home runs.  I really thought we had this one in hand early, but our pitching faltered and let us down.  I was really tired when this game was on, and wasn't totally paying attention.  Check out the game resources for this one, as I'm not going to be writing commentary.  :)

-- Joe Siegler

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- Darrin Fletcher snapped a tie with a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning and Carlos Delgado reached the 30-homer plateau for the third straight season as the Toronto Blue Jays edged the Texas Rangers, 8-7.

Rookie Mike Venafro (3-2) started the eighth in a 7-7 tie and struck out Willie Greene before Fletcher took his 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall for his 11th home run.

"I got a pitch out over the plate on 0-2 and I was able to get all of it. It's a good feeling," Fletcher said.

"Throwing an 0-2 pitch to a lefthander, I was tring to waste a slider," Venafro said. "He did what he wanted to with it. It came in a tight ballgame and ended up costing the team the game."

Delgado had a run-scoring single in the first and an RBI double in the fifth. He hit his 30th homer in the seventh, sending reliever Mike Munoz's full-count offering over the left-center field wall to give Toronto a 7-5 lead.

"Obviously, I enjoy hitting in this park. The ball always seems to be easy to see," Delgado said.

The homer was his 12th at the Ballpark in Arlington, tying Jose Canseco for the most by an opponent. Delgado is 11-for-19 with five homers and eight RBI in six games against Texas this season. He hit three homers in Friday's 5-4 victory.

John Frascatore (7-0) got the final two outs of the seventh for the victory despite giving up a game-tying two-run homer to Todd Zeile.

"We got behind early but we just kept battling, it was good to see," Blue Jays manager Jim Fregosi said. "The fifth inning was a big one for us. We got the hits when we needed them."

Rookie Billy Koch retired Ivan Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez in a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 27 chances and 15th in his last 16 appearances. He recorded a save in his 10th straight game, tying the team record set by Duane Ward in 1991 and matched by Darren Hall in 1994.

"That was three tough hitters in the ninth," Koch said. "I tried to keep my fastball down and away from them."

The win kept the Blue Jays tied with Boston for the American League wild card berth.

Robero Kelly had three hits and two RBI for the Rangers, who lost for only the second time in seven games. Texas had its lead in the American League West cut to 6 1/2 games over Oakland. At 18-5, the Rangers have the best record in the majors since the All-Star break.

The Blue Jays jumped on John Burkett for two runs in the first. Tony Batista reached on a forceout and moved to third on Shawn Green's single. Batista scored on an error by third baseman Luis Alicea before Delgado singled home Green.

The Rangers responded with three runs in their half against David Wells. Mark McLemore led off with a single and scored on Palmeiro's one-out double. After Gonzalez flied out and Zeile walked, Kelly delivered a two-run double.

Alicea opened the second with a double and scored on Rodriguez's single to make it 4-2.

Toronto scored four runs in the fifth to end Burkett's night. Homer Bush and Shannon Stewart singled and came home on Batista's double. Consecutive doubles by Green and Delgado extended the lead to 6-4.

Burkett lasted four-plus innings, yielding six runs and eight hits.

"I kept the ball down really well in the second, third and fourth innings," Burkett said. "I thought I threw a good pitch to Bush but he hit it back up the middle. Then I may have made a couple of bad decisions and they hit the ball hard."

Gonzalez ended a 14-game homerless drought with his 26th in the fifth off Wells, drawing Texas within 6-5.

Zeile lifted the Rangers into a 7-7 tie with his 16th home run.

Wells allowed six runs and nine hits over 6 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out three.

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

Texas starter John Burkett watches as Tony Bautista runs the bases	Homer Bush is back into first on a very close pickoff play	Juan gets congrats on his 5th inning home run	Mark McLemore is called out on an attempted steal in the 8th	Raffy gets congrats on his homer

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  TOR - DAVID WELLS, JOHN FRASCATORE (7TH), GRAEME
                  LLOYD (8TH), BILLY KOCH (9TH) AND DARRIN
                  FLETCHER
            TEX - JOHN BURKETT, MIKE MUNOZ (5TH), MIKE VENAFRO
                  (8TH), TIM CRABTREE (8TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - JOHN FRASCATORE (7-0)
             LP - MIKE VENAFRO (3-2)
           SAVE - BILLY KOCH (24)

HOME RUNS:  TOR - CARLOS DELGADO (30) OFF M MUNOZ IN THE 7TH, 0 ON
                  DARRIN FLETCHER (11) OFF VENAFRO IN THE 8TH, 0 ON
            TEX - JUAN GONZALEZ (26) OFF D WELLS IN THE 5TH, 0 ON
                  TODD ZEILE (16) OFF FRASCATORE IN THE 7TH, 1 ON

     TIME:  3:02     ATT:  32,374

PROBABLES:  TOR - JOEY HAMILTON (4-6, 6.26)
            TEX - MIKE MORGAN (12-6, 5.32)

Box Score
TORONTO (8) AT TEXAS (7) - FINAL

TORONTO                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Stewart lf              5  1  2  0   0  0   1  .310
T Batista ss            4  2  1  2   1  0   1  .274
Sh Green rf             5  2  2  1   0  0   1  .316
C Delgado 1b            4  1  3  3   1  0   0  .258
T Fernandez 3b          4  0  0  0   0  1   3  .346
W Greene dh             3  0  0  0   1  1   1  .207
Fletcher c              4  1  1  1   0  0   2  .289
Goodwin cf              4  0  0  0   0  0   2  .000
Bush 2b                 4  1  2  0   0  0   0  .313

Totals                 37  8 11  7   3  2  11

BATTING: 2B - T Batista (9, Burkett); Sh Green (31, Burkett);
C Delgado (29, Burkett); Bush (16, Venafro). HR - C Delgado (30,
7th inning off M Munoz 0 on, 2 out); Fletcher (11, 8th inning
off Venafro 0 on, 1 out). RBI - C Delgado 3 (95), T Batista 2 (41),
Sh Green (91), Fletcher (48). 2-out RBI - C Delgado. Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - Goodwin 1, Fletcher 1, Stewart 1.
GIDP - Sh Green.  Team LOB - 5.

FIELDING: E - T Fernandez (12, throw). PB - Fletcher.

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             4  1  2  0   1  0   1  .291
I Rodriguez c           5  0  1  1   0  1   2  .330
R Palmeiro 1b           5  2  2  1   0  0   2  .345
J Gonzalez rf           5  1  1  1   0  1   2  .307
Zeile dh                3  2  1  2   1  1   0  .305
R Kelly lf              4  0  3  2   0  0   0  .321
Clayton ss              3  0  0  0   1  0   2  .249
Alicea 3b               4  1  1  0   0  0   2  .167
T Goodwin cf            3  0  0  0   0  2   0  .242

Totals                 36  7 11  7   3  5  11

BATTING: 2B - R Palmeiro (22, D Wells); R Kelly (11, D Wells);
Alicea (7, D Wells). HR - J Gonzalez (26, 5th inning off D Wells
0 on, 0 out); Zeile (16, 7th inning off Frascatore 1 on, 2 out).
S - T Goodwin. RBI - R Palmeiro (97), R Kelly 2 (28), I Rodriguez (75),
J Gonzalez (91), Zeile 2 (72). 2-out RBI - R Kelly 2, I Rodriguez,
Zeile 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - Clayton 1, Alicea 1,
R Palmeiro 1.  Team LOB - 6.

BASERUNNING: CS - Mclemore (6, 2nd base by Lloyd).

FIELDING: E - Alicea (4, catch). DP: 1 (R Palmeiro-Clayton).

TORONTO                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
D Wells                       6 1/3   9   6   6   2   3   1   5.16
Frascatore (W, 7-0; BS, 1)      2/3   2   1   1   0   1   1   3.98
Lloyd (H, 16)                 1       0   0   0   1   1   0   2.98
Koch (S, 24)                  1       0   0   0   0   0   0   2.25

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Burkett                       4       8   6   5   2   1   0   6.28
M Munoz                       3       1   1   1   1   0   1   3.86
Venafro (L, 3-2)                2/3   2   1   1   0   1   1   2.90
Crabtree                      1 1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   3.14

Burkett pitched to 5 batters in the 5th.

WP - Frascatore.  Pitches-strikes: Burkett 76-42; M Munoz 37-20;
Venafro 14-13; Crabtree 17-10; D Wells 97-65; Frascatore 17-12;
Lloyd 14-7; Koch 10-6.  Ground balls-fly balls: Burkett 8-3;
M Munoz 7-2; Venafro 1-0; Crabtree 1-3; D Wells 7-9; Frascatore 1-0;
Lloyd 1-0; Koch 2-1.  Batters faced: Burkett 22; M Munoz 10; Venafro 4;
Crabtree 4; D Wells 30; Frascatore 4; Lloyd 3; Koch 3.

UMPIRES: HP--Larry Young. 1B--Tim Tschida. 2B--Rick Reed. 3B--Al
Clark.
T--3:02.  Att--32,374.   Weather: 99 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 9 mph, in from center.

Game Log

Toronto Starting Lineups -- Shannon Stewart LF, Tony Batista SS, Shawn Green RF, Carlos Delgado 1B, Tony Fernandez 3B, Willie Greene DH, Darrin Fletcher C, Curtis Goodwin CF, Homer Bush 2B, David Wells LHP.

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

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

Gametime Weather: 99 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind in from center at 9 mph.

TORONTO 1ST: Stewart singled to center. T Batista grounded into fielder's choice to third, Stewart out at second. Sh Green singled to right, T Batista to third. T Batista scored, Sh Green to second on 3rd baseman Alicea's fielding error. C Delgado singled to center, Sh Green scored. T Fernandez lined out to left. W Greene grounded out to second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore singled to left. I Rodriguez flied out to right. R Palmeiro doubled to right, Mclemore scored. J Gonzalez flied out to left center. Zeile walked. R Kelly doubled to right, R Palmeiro and Zeile scored. Clayton flied out to center. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 3.

TORONTO 2ND: Fletcher flied out to right center. Goodwin grounded out to second. Bush grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 3.

TEXAS 2ND: Alicea doubled to left. T Goodwin sacrificed Alicea to third. Mclemore popped out to shallow left. I Rodriguez reached on infield single, Alicea scored. R Palmeiro flied out to deep right. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 4.

TORONTO 3RD: Stewart grounded out to shortstop. T Batista grounded out to shortstop. Sh Green grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 3RD: J Gonzalez grounded out to shortstop. Zeile struck out looking. R Kelly singled to left. Clayton walked, R Kelly to second. Alicea grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 4.

TORONTO 4TH: C Delgado walked. T Fernandez struck out looking. W Greene walked, C Delgado to second. Fletcher flied out to right, C Delgado to third. Goodwin grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, W Greene out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 4TH: T Goodwin struck out looking. Mclemore reached on bunt single to third. Mclemore to second on 3rd baseman T Fernandez's throwing error. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. R Palmeiro popped out to shallow right. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 1 Error) TORONTO 2, TEXAS 4.

TORONTO 5TH: Bush singled to center. Stewart singled to left, Bush to second. T Batista doubled to left, Bush and Stewart scored. Sh Green doubled to shallow left, T Batista scored. C Delgado doubled to right, Sh Green scored. Mike Munoz relieved John Burkett. T Fernandez grounded out to third. W Greene flied out to deep left center, C Delgado to third. Fletcher grounded out to first. (4 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 5TH: J Gonzalez homered to left. Zeile grounded out to shortstop. R Kelly grounded out to second. Clayton flied out to center. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, TEXAS 5.

TORONTO 6TH: Goodwin grounded out to pitcher. Bush grounded out to third. Stewart flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, TEXAS 5.

TEXAS 6TH: Alicea grounded out to shortstop. T Goodwin grounded out to second. Mclemore flied out to shallow center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 6, TEXAS 5.

TORONTO 7TH: T Batista walked. Sh Green grounded into double play, first to shortstop, T Batista out at second. C Delgado homered to left center. T Fernandez grounded out to first. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TORONTO 7, TEXAS 5.

TEXAS 7TH: I Rodriguez flied out to center. R Palmeiro singled to right. John Frascatore relieved David Wells. R Palmeiro to second on Frascatore wild pitch. R Palmeiro to third on Fletcher passed ball. J Gonzalez struck out swinging. Zeile homered to left, R Palmeiro scored. R Kelly singled to left center. Clayton grounded out to shortstop. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 7, TEXAS 7.

TORONTO 8TH: Mike Venafro relieved Mike Munoz. W Greene struck out looking. Fletcher homered to right. Goodwin grounded out to pitcher. Bush doubled to deep right center. Tim Crabtree relieved Mike Venafro. Stewart grounded out to shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8, TEXAS 7.

TEXAS 8TH: Graeme Lloyd relieved John Frascatore. Alicea grounded out to shortstop. T Goodwin struck out swinging. Mclemore walked. Mclemore caught stealing, pitcher to first to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8, TEXAS 7.

TORONTO 9TH: T Batista flied out to left. Sh Green lined out to right. C Delgado flied out to deep left center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8, TEXAS 7.

TEXAS 9TH: Billy Koch relieved Graeme Lloyd. I Rodriguez grounded out to third. R Palmeiro flied out to shallow left. J Gonzalez grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TORONTO 8, TEXAS 7.