Game 128: Aug 25, 1999 (W: 7-3)
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My Commentary

This was better.  A rather well pitched game by Loaiza (7innings, 3 earned runs), and against the Yankees.  Some nice defense behind him, especially by Mark McLemore, who seemed to be playing the best I can ever remember seeing him play lately.

Rafael Palmeiro got yet another home run - he's about to set offensive records for everything it seems by a Ranger, except probably Juan's RBI record from last year - I don't think Raffy will get to 158 there.

Was nice to see a win, although I would have rather have seen this more than once in the last three games.  :(    The Yankees don't bother me in principle, but they bother me in the respect that we have that mental block with them still, it seems. 

-- Joe Siegler

Game Recap

ARLINGTON, TEXAS (TICKER) -- Esteban Loaiza again played stopper for the Texas Rangers, who salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 7-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

Loaiza (7-1) won his seventh straight decision and improved to 6-0 since joining the rotation on July 24. He allowed three runs and eight hits over seven innings against a Yankees' team that had totaled 31 runs in taking the first two games of the series.

"We are 8-0 in games he's pitched since the All-Star break. He's 6-0 as a starter and 1-0 as a reliever. That's exciting for us," said Texas manager Johnny Oates. "Put him, (Aaron) Sele and (Rick) Helling together since the All-Star break and you get 21-3 between them."

Loaiza, who walked two and struck out five, has a 3.13 ERA as a starter at The Ballpark at Arlington. More importantly, each of his last three wins have followed Rangers' losses.

"We were struggling the last two games but today things went our way," Loaiza said. "The Yankees have a great team, like we are. Great pitching beats good hitting. Tonight we swung the bat well and got the lead."

Mark McLemore had three hits and two RBI and Rafael Palmeiro homered again for Texas, which defeated the Yankees for only the sixth time in 21 meetings since the start of last season.

"It was frustrating," said Oates. "We could beat these guys, but it wasn't happening. I get tired of getting beat by the same people all the time, but they are an outstanding team."

New York's Hideki Irabu (10-5) surrendered six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings. He has dropped two of his last three decisions after winning eight straight.

"I had a lot of balls up tonight," Irabu said through an interpreter. "I feel like my pitching balance is off at times. I wasn't driving well off the mound."

Tino Martinez homered for the third straight game but the Yankees had a three-game winning streak stopped, completing a 4-2 road trip.

"We made the most of our opportunities, we just didn't get enough of them," New York manager Joe Torre said. "We won an emotional game last night and jumped out to a 3-0 lead tonight, but we just ran out of gas. I know this is a big win for Texas. No one wants to get swept at home."

New York appeared ready to make Loaiza's night a short one after scoring twice in the first. Chuck Knoblauch, Luis Sojo -- spelling All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter -- and Paul O'Neill started the game with singles before Bernie Williams' double play made it 2-0.

The Yankees loaded the bases with two out in the second, but Loaiza retired Sojo on a groundout to end the inning. Martinez hit his sixth homer of the season in Texas, extending the lead to 3-0 in the third. He and Toronto's Carlos Delgado have the most home runs by an opponent in Arlington with 13.

The Rangers grabbed the lead in the fourth. Lee Stevens led off with a single and Irabu issued a one-out walk to Tom Goodwin. Consecutive RBI singles by McLemore, Ivan Rodriguez and Rusty Greer tied it. Juan Gonzalez put Texas in front, tying Jeff Burroughs' team record with his 12th sacrifice fly of the season.

Loaiza and Irabu dueled into the sixth, when Palmeiro led off with his 14th homer of the month and 39th this season. He has nine in the last 10 games and is only one behind Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. for the league lead.

Todd Zeile singled, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Stevens that chased Irabu and gave Texas a 6-3 cushion.

New York threatened in the eighth against Jeff Zimmerman, who struck out Jorge Posada with runners at first and second to end the inning.

McLemore capped the scoring in the bottom half with an RBI single before John Wetteland pitched a perfect ninth.

Recap #2

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Just over a month ago, Esteban Loaiza was struggling to keep his job with the Texas Rangers. After winning his seventh straight decision, he's making a bid to become the staff's ace.

Loaiza overcame a shaky start to pitch seven strong innings as the Rangers beat the New York Yankees 7-3 to salvage the finale of a three-game series between two possible playoff opponents.

"He can throw any pitch for a strike right now," said Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez. "He's hot."

Loaiza (7-1), who hasn't lost since being inserted into the starting rotation after the All-Star break, gave up three runs in his first three innings, but gradually regained his command and needed just 24 pitches to get through the fifth, sixth and seventh innings.

Loaiza allowed all three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked two.

"I feel a lot of confidence in myself," Loaiza said. "I'm starting to throw the ball where I'm supposed to."

Rafael Palmeiro continued his torrid pace for the Rangers, getting his ninth homer in as many games in the sixth inning. Palmeiro was 11-for-24 during Texas' six-game homestand, including six homers and 13 RBI.

"Playing the Yankees is fun," Palmeiro said. "You get up to play these kinds of games. Fortunately, we were able to win one of them."

Hideki Irabu (10-5), who had his career-high eight-game winning streak snapped in his last start, gave up six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings.

Trailing by three runs, Texas took a 4-3 lead in the third when Mark McLemore, Ivan Rodriguez and Rusty Greer hit consecutive one-out RBI singles and Juan Gonzalez added a sacrifice fly.

Irabu was chased in sixth by Palmeiro's 39th homer and consecutive singles by Todd Zeile and Lee Stevens, who drove in Zeile. Mark McLemore added an RBI single off Jeff Nelson in the eighth.

"I threw a lot of balls up," Irabu said. "My pitching balance was off, which happens sometimes during games."

The Rangers got their final run in the bottom of the eighth, when Royce Clayton singled and scored on McLemore's second RBI single of the night.

Jeff Zimmerman and John Wetteland each pitched a scoreless inning for Texas to close out the victory.

Texas manager Johnny Oates said the win could prove to be a confidence booster for a team that has struggled against the Yankees recently. The Rangers are 4-8 against the Yankees this season, and have lost six of seven playoff games to New York in the last three years.

"It had gotten frustrating," Oates said. "We knew we could beat these guys, but it just wasn't happening. Hopefully, this will erase some of that."

GAME NOTES: Texas is 9-19 against New York since 1997, not including 0-3 in the playoffs. ... Ricky Ledee was scratched from the Yankees' starting lineup with the flu. ... Martinez's homer was his sixth against the Rangers this season, tying Kansas City's John Mayberry's 1975 mark for the most in one year against Texas. ... Palmeiro's homer was his 24th in Arlington this year, tying Gonzalez's home record, set in 1993. ... Gonzalez's sacrifice fly in the third was his major league-leading 12th of the season, tying a team record shared by Jeff Burroughs (1974) and Ruben Sierra (1989). ... The Rangers have 47 homers in August, tying the team record for any month. 

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

Royce Clayton forces "Mr. Whiny", and completes a double play	NY starter Hidecki Irabu	Raffy watches a ball he hit go foul	Luis Sojo goes after a ball and looks weird doing it	Martinez rounds the bases as Loaiza tries to ignore it

"If I lean far enough over, maybe they won't take me out of the game."	Loaiza high fives Mac after a spectacular play in the 6th	Mighty Raffy connects again for another home run	Raffy headed home on his home run trot

Box Score

Line Score
AL  FINAL
                    1  2  3   4  5  6   7  8  9     R  H  E
                    -  -  -   -  -  -   -  -  -     -  -  -
NY YANKEES          2  0  1   0  0  0   0  0  0     3  8  0
TEXAS               0  0  4   0  0  2   0  1  x     7 12  0   (FINAL)

BATTERIES:  NYY - HIDEKI IRABU, JASON GRIMSLEY (6TH), JEFF
                  NELSON (8TH) AND JORGE POSADA
            TEX - ESTEBAN LOAIZA, JEFF ZIMMERMAN (8TH), JOHN
                  WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

             WP - ESTEBAN LOAIZA (7-1)
             LP - HIDEKI IRABU (10-5)
           SAVE - NONE

HOME RUNS:  NYY - TINO MARTINEZ (21) OFF LOAIZA IN THE 3RD, 0 ON
            TEX - RAFAEL PALMEIRO (39) OFF IRABU IN THE 6TH, 0 ON

     TIME:  2:46     ATT:  38,345

PROBABLES:  SEA - GIL MECHE (4-3, 5.12)
            NYY - ROGER CLEMENS (11-6, 4.70)

            TEX - RICK HELLING (10-7, 4.31)
            TOR - CHRIS CARPENTER (9-7, 3.99)



Box Score
NY YANKEES (3) AT TEXAS (7) - FINAL

NY YANKEES             ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Knoblauch 2b            4  1  1  0   1  0   1  .289
Sojo ss                 4  1  2  0   0  0   4  .283
Oneill rf               4  0  1  1   0  1   1  .291
B Williams cf           3  0  0  0   1  1   2  .346
T Martinez 1b           4  1  1  1   0  0   1  .267
Leyritz dh              3  0  0  0   0  1   0  .286
 a-C Davis ph           0  0  0  0   1  0   0  .278
 Curtis pr              0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .237
Posada c                3  0  0  0   1  2   2  .238
Spencer lf              4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .232
Brosius 3b              4  0  2  0   0  0   1  .259

Totals                 33  3  8  2   4  6  13

a-walked for Leyritz in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - Brosius (24, Loaiza). HR - T Martinez (21, 3rd inning
off Loaiza 0 on, 2 out). RBI - Oneill (74), T Martinez (82).
2-out RBI - T Martinez. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out -
Sojo 3, Posada 1. GIDP - B Williams, Brosius. Team LOB - 7.

FIELDING: PB - Posada. DP: 1 (T Martinez-Sojo-T Martinez).

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             4  1  3  2   1  1   0  .280
I Rodriguez c           4  1  1  1   1  1   2  .324
Greer lf                4  0  2  1   1  0   4  .301
J Gonzalez rf           4  0  0  1   0  0   4  .310
R Palmeiro dh           4  1  1  1   0  1   1  .339
Zeile 3b                3  1  1  0   1  0   0  .300
L Stevens 1b            4  1  3  1   0  1   1  .285
Clayton ss              3  1  1  0   0  1   2  .268
T Goodwin cf            2  1  0  0   1  0   2  .240

Totals                 32  7 12  7   5  5  16

BATTING: 2B - L Stevens (23, Irabu). HR - R Palmeiro (39, 6th inning
off Irabu 0 on, 0 out). S - Clayton, T Goodwin. SF - J Gonzalez.
RBI - Mclemore 2 (36), I Rodriguez (88), Greer (83), J Gonzalez (103),
R Palmeiro (121), L Stevens (70). Runners left in scoring position,
2 out - T Goodwin 1, Greer 2, J Gonzalez 1. GIDP - Greer.
Team LOB - 9.

FIELDING: DP: 2 (Mclemore-Clayton-L Stevens, Clayton-L Stevens).

NY YANKEES                   ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Irabu (L, 10-5)               5      10   6   6   1   2   1   4.49
Grimsley                      2       0   0   0   3   2   0   4.06
Nelson                        1       2   1   1   1   1   0   5.40

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Loaiza (W, 7-1)               7       8   3   3   2   5   1   4.71
Je Zimmerman (H, 22)          1       0   0   0   2   1   0   1.18
Wetteland                     1       0   0   0   0   0   0   4.03

Irabu pitched to 3 batters in the 6th.

WP - Irabu.  Pitches-strikes: Loaiza 94-65; Je Zimmerman 24-13;
Wetteland 4-3; Irabu 82-53; Grimsley 36-15; Nelson 17-11.
Ground balls-fly balls: Loaiza 11-5; Je Zimmerman 0-2; Wetteland
1-2; Irabu 4-9; Grimsley 4-0; Nelson 2-0.  Batters faced: Loaiza 29;
Je Zimmerman 5; Wetteland 3; Irabu 25; Grimsley 9; Nelson 6.

UMPIRES: HP--Tim Tschida. 1B--Rick Reed. 2B--Al Clark. 3B--Larry
Young.
T--2:46.  Att--38,345.   Weather: 97 degrees, clear.   Wind: 6 mph,
in from left.

Game Log

Ny Yankees Starting Lineups -- Chuck Knoblauch 2B, Luis Sojo SS, Paul Oneill RF, Bernie Williams CF, Tino Martinez 1B, Jim Leyritz DH, Jorge Posada C, Shane Spencer LF, Scott Brosius 3B, Hideki Irabu RHP.

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

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

Gametime Weather: 97 degrees, Clear, wind in from left at 6 mph.

NY YANKEES 1ST: Knoblauch singled to center. Sojo singled to right, Knoblauch to second. Oneill singled to right, Knoblauch scored, Sojo to third. B Williams grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Oneill out at second, Sojo scored. T Martinez grounded out to first. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore singled to right. I Rodriguez flied out to deep right. Greer grounded into double play, first to shortstop to first, Mclemore out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 2, TEXAS 0.

NY YANKEES 2ND: Leyritz grounded out to third. Posada walked. Spencer flied out to shallow right. Brosius singled to left center, Posada to third. Knoblauch walked, Brosius to second. Sojo grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 2, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 2ND: J Gonzalez grounded out to third. R Palmeiro flied out to left. Zeile popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 2, TEXAS 0.

NY YANKEES 3RD: Oneill struck out looking. B Williams struck out looking. T Martinez homered to right center. Leyritz struck out swinging. (1 Run, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 0.

TEXAS 3RD: L Stevens singled to center. Clayton flied out to center. T Goodwin walked, L Stevens to second. Mclemore singled to right center, L Stevens scored, T Goodwin to third. I Rodriguez singled to center, T Goodwin scored, Mclemore to second. Greer singled to right, Mclemore scored, I Rodriguez to third. J Gonzalez hit sacrifice fly to left, I Rodriguez scored. R Palmeiro flied out to shallow right. (4 Runs, 4 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 4.

NY YANKEES 4TH: Posada struck out swinging. Spencer singled to center. Brosius grounded into double play, shortstop to first, Spencer out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 4TH: Zeile grounded out to shortstop. L Stevens doubled to right. Clayton struck out swinging. T Goodwin flied out to center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 4.

NY YANKEES 5TH: Knoblauch grounded out to second. Sojo singled to left center. Oneill flied out to left. B Williams grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 5TH: Mclemore struck out looking. I Rodriguez flied out to center. Greer singled to center. J Gonzalez flied out to shallow left center. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 4.

NY YANKEES 6TH: T Martinez lined out to shortstop. Leyritz lined out to shallow right. Posada grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 4.

TEXAS 6TH: R Palmeiro homered to right center. Zeile singled to center. Zeile to second on Irabu wild pitch. L Stevens singled to center, Zeile scored. Jason Grimsley relieved Hideki Irabu. Clayton sacrificed L Stevens to second. L Stevens to third on Posada passed ball. T Goodwin grounded out to second. Mclemore walked. I Rodriguez walked, Mclemore to second. Greer grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, I Rodriguez out at second. (2 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 6.

NY YANKEES 7TH: Spencer struck out swinging. Brosius doubled to deep left. Knoblauch flied out to left center. Sojo grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 7TH: J Gonzalez grounded out to second. R Palmeiro struck out swinging. Zeile walked. L Stevens struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 6.

NY YANKEES 8TH: Jeff Zimmerman relieved Esteban Loaiza. Oneill flied out to left. B Williams walked. T Martinez fouled out to deep right. C Davis hit for Leyritz. C Davis walked, B Williams to second. Curtis ran for C Davis. Posada struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 6.

TEXAS 8TH: Jeff Nelson relieved Jason Grimsley. Clayton singled to right. T Goodwin sacrificed Clayton to second. Mclemore singled to right, Clayton scored. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. Greer walked, Mclemore to second. J Gonzalez grounded into fielder's choice to second, Greer out at second. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 7.

NY YANKEES 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. Spencer grounded out to third. Brosius flied out to left. Knoblauch flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) NY YANKEES 3, TEXAS 7.