Game 131: Aug 29, 1999 (W: 4-2)
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My Commentary

John Burkett allowed the first four Blue Jays to reach base, and Danny Kolb was up and warming in the bullpen before there was even an out recorded - I thought Burkett was headed for the quickest exit of the season for him.   However, he got it together, and escaped the first inning allowing only one run to score.  In fact, that was the only run allowed by him all day.  He pitched rather well after the first four batters of the game, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing only one run on seven hits.  When he was pulled, we were up 3-1, and it took Tim Crabtree all of one pitch to get out of the 7th.  A pretty well pitched game by us, although Wetteland allowed another run in the 9th - he's getting the saves, but doesn't seem as dominating as he was the last two years - I wonder if he's still bothered by the injury that slowed him down at the start of this season.

Our offense was in the 4th inning.  We had more than that, but all we needed came in the third.  Raffy had another RBI, and Todd Zeile had a two run home run.  We did get a fourth run on a Royce Clayton RBI single in the 8th, but that was icing - Raffy & Todd gave us all we needed in the third.

Our pitching kept us in the lead (once we got it), and it was a very cool game to watch.  I hope to someday go to that hotel in Toronto and watch the Rangers play.  :)

Another road sweep for us, and we're 27 games over 500 for the first time in club history (not sure if that includes the Senators or not, but I would think it wouldn't).  On to Detroit - would be nice to sweep there, too.

-- Joe Siegler

Game Recap

TORONTO (TICKER) -- The Texas Rangers moved 27 games over .500 for the first time in club history as John Burkett survived an early jam to throw 6 2/3 effective frames in a 4-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Burkett (5-7) allowed the first four batters to reach in the first inning and Texas manager Johnny Oates got the bullpen going with Toronto leading 1-0 and the bases loaded. But Burkett struck out Tony Batista and induced Willie Greene to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

"It was pretty ugly out there in the first inning," Burkett said. "I'm sure a lot of people were thinking, 'Here we go, he's going to get ripped.' My fastball wasn't very good. I didn't know where it was going. I decided I was going to have to get out of it with my breaking stuff. Luckily, I was able to make a couple of key pitches and get out of it."

"I think that situation for me was tough," Batista said. "I tried to get some RBI but I didn't do that. It's not a good situation for me, but I tried to do my best."

Burkett allowed just one run and seven hits, walking one and striking out three. Tim Crabtree got the final out in the seventh and Jeff Zimmerman tossed a perfect eighth. John Wetteland gave up a run in the ninth but hung for his 36th save in 43 opportunities.

The win completed a three-game sweep and moved the Rangers to 79-52. That eclipsed their previous best of 26 games over .500, set when they ended the 1977 season 94-68.

Rafael Palmeiro continued his torried hitting with a run-scoring single in the fourth. It extended his hitting streak to nine games while the RBI was his 39th of the month, breaking the club record Juan Gonzalez set in July 1996.

"We're having a good year so far but there is a lot more to be done," Palmeiro said. "We can't be satisfied. We have bigger, better things to do, a lot of goals to achieve, and we are not there yet."

Blue Jays left fielder Shannon Stewart had a single in the first to extend his hitting streak to 26 games. It matches John Olerud's 1993 streak as the second-best in team history and trails only Shawn Green, who hit in 28 straight games earlier this season.

Blue Jays starter Roy Halladay (8-6) allowed three runs and eight hits over 6 2/3 innings. He hurt himself with five walks, struck out five and remained winless over his last four starts.

Toronto's nine-game home losing streak is the second-longest in team history. The Blue Jays dropped 11 in a row at Exhibition Stadium as an expansion team in 1977. Toronto also has dropped 12 of its last 16 overall and fell four games behind Boston in the wild card chase.

Texas has won four straight, 11 of 14 and leads the American League West by 7 1/2 games over Oakland.

"We knew coming in it was going to be a tough series," Palmeiro added. "But we were able to score some runs, hold them down and win the three games."

After Stewart opened the first with an infield single, Homer Bush singled to left. Green walked to load the bases and Carlos Delgado singled to right. Delgado's RBI was his 32nd this month, eclipsing the team record for any month, set by Dave Winfield in 1992.

After Burkett escaped the jam in the first, both pitchers traded zeros until the fourth. Gonzalez opened the inning with a double and scored on Palmeiro's single up the middle. Palmeiro took second when center fielder Jacob Brumfield bobbled the ball and scored on Todd Zeile's 18th homer.

"It was another tough one for us," Halladay said. "I made one bad pitch to Zeile and it ended up costing us the game."

Texas left the bases loaded in the sixth and stranded two more in the seventh. The Rangers pushed across a run in the eighth when Zeile was hit by a pitch and Lee Stevens, Royce Clayton and Tom Goodwin strung together singles.

The Blue Jays had a chance to draw even in the ninth against Wetteland. Batista led off with a double and Greene grounded to first. Brumfield lofted a long sacrifice fly to slice the deficit to 4-2 and pinch-hitter Darrin Fletcher singled. But Wetteland struck out pinch-hitter Brian McRae to end it.

Recap #2

TORONTO (AP) -- While the Texas Rangers build momentum heading into the postseason, the Toronto Blue Jays might be letting their playoff hopes slip away.

Rafael Palmeiro set a team record with his 39th RBI of the month and Texas sent Toronto to its ninth straight home loss, 4-2 Sunday.

The AL West-leading Rangers swept the three-game series and won their fourth straight overall. Texas (79-52) moved 27 games over .500 for the first time in club history.

"We're trying to build momentum, and we're trying to get better and we're trying to figure out how to be on full speed when we enter the playoffs," Palmeiro said. "The Blue Jays are on a bad streak, but you can't count them out yet."

Toronto, which fell to four games back in the AL wild-card race, is in the midst of its second-worst home losing streak ever. The 1977 expansion Blue Jays dropped 11 in a row at Exhibition Stadium.

"We need to get going," Toronto starter Roy Halladay said. "It's weird that we're not winning at home."

Toronto's Shannon Stewart extended his hitting streak to 26 games with a first-inning single.

Texas scored three runs in the fourth inning on Palmeiro's run-scoring single and Todd Zeile's two-run homer, his 18th. Palmeiro broke the Rangers record of 38 RBI in a month, set by Juan Gonzalez in July 1996.

"We're not concentrating on individual accomplishments, we just want to keep winning," Palmeiro said.

John Burkett (5-7) allowed one run and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his 36th save, giving up Jacob Brumfield's sacrifice fly.

Halladay (8-6) gave up three runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

"Other than the homer, I thought I threw pretty good," Halladay said.

The Blue Jays loaded the bases with no outs in the first, but scored just one run on Carlos Delgado's RBI single. Burkett struck out Tony Batista for the first out and got Willie Greene to hit into a double play.

"I just decided I was going have to get out of it with my curve ball, because I didn't have command of my fastball," said Burkett, who struck out Batista on a 3-2 curveball. "To get out of it allowing just one run was a big key."

Royce Clayton's RBI single in the eighth made it 4-1 for the Rangers, who have won 11 of 13.

GAME NOTES: Only five of the Rangers' final 31 games are against teams with winning records. ... Toronto hasn't won at home since Aug. 1 against Detroit. ... Blue Jays rookie Casey Blake got his first major league hit, a fifth-inning infield single.

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

Raffy is tagged out at third	Toronto starter Roy Halliday after being pulled in the 6th	Todd Zeile scores in the 8th while doing his Kate Winslet imitation

Box Score

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

BATTERIES:  TEX - JOHN BURKETT, TIM CRABTREE (7TH), JEFF
                  ZIMMERMAN (8TH), JOHN WETTELAND (9TH) AND IVAN
                  RODRIGUEZ
            TOR - ROY HALLADAY, GRAEME LLOYD (7TH), PAUL
                  QUANTRILL (8TH) AND MIKE MATHENY

             WP - JOHN BURKETT (5-7)
             LP - ROY HALLADAY (8-6)
           SAVE - JOHN WETTELAND (36)

HOME RUNS:  TEX - TODD ZEILE (18) OFF HALLADAY IN THE 4TH, 1 ON
            TOR - NONE

     TIME:  2:40     ATT:  30,502

PROBABLES:  TEX - ESTEBAN LOAIZA (7-1, 4.71)
            DET - BRIAN MOEHLER (8-14, 5.50)

            MIN - JASON RYAN (0-1, 6.24)
            TOR - PAT HENTGEN (8-10, 5.23)

Box Score
TEXAS (4) AT TORONTO (2) - FINAL

TEXAS                  ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Mclemore 2b             5  0  0  0   0  1   3  .279
I Rodriguez c           5  0  2  0   0  2   3  .329
Greer lf                5  0  0  0   0  1   5  .301
J Gonzalez rf           4  1  2  0   1  1   1  .310
R Palmeiro dh           4  1  1  1   1  0   3  .339
Zeile 3b                4  2  2  2   0  1   1  .305
L Stevens 1b            3  0  2  0   1  1   0  .290
Clayton ss              2  0  1  1   2  0   0  .265
T Goodwin cf            4  0  1  0   0  1   5  .236

Totals                 36  4 11  4   5  8  21

BATTING: 2B - J Gonzalez (26, Halladay); Zeile (36, Halladay).
HR - Zeile (18, 4th inning off Halladay 1 on, 0 out). RBI -
R Palmeiro (127), Zeile 2 (80), Clayton (34). Runners left in
scoring position, 2 out - T Goodwin 3, R Palmeiro 1, Greer 2.
Team LOB - 11.

FIELDING: DP: 1 (Burkett-I Rodriguez-L Stevens).

TORONTO                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
Stewart lf              4  1  1  0   0  1   2  .311
Bush 2b                 4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .315
Sh Green rf             3  0  0  0   1  0   0  .313
C Delgado 1b            4  0  1  1   0  0   0  .270
T Batista ss            4  1  3  0   0  1   3  .291
W Greene dh             4  0  0  0   0  0   5  .201
Brumfield cf            3  0  0  1   0  0   1  .244
Matheny c               3  0  0  0   0  0   0  .219
 a-Fletcher ph          1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .291
Blake 3b                3  0  2  0   0  1   0  .200
 b-Mcrae ph             1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .175

Totals                 34  2  9  2   1  4  13

a-singled for Matheny in the 9th; b-struck out for Blake in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - T Batista (16, Wetteland). SF - Brumfield. RBI -
C Delgado (121), Brumfield (18). GIDP - W Greene. Team LOB - 7.

FIELDING: E - Brumfield (3, ground ball). Outfield assists -
Brumfield (R Palmeiro at 3rd base). DP: 1 (C Delgado).

TEXAS                        ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Burkett (W, 5-7)              6 2/3   7   1   1   1   3   0   6.13
Crabtree (H, 14)                1/3   0   0   0   0   0   0   2.75
Je Zimmerman (H, 23)          1       0   0   0   0   0   0   1.16
Wetteland (S, 36)             1       2   1   1   0   1   0   4.05

TORONTO                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
Halladay (L, 8-6)             6 2/3   8   3   3   5   5   1   4.35
Lloyd                           1/3   3   1   1   0   0   0   3.12
Quantrill                     2       0   0   0   0   3   0   2.55

Lloyd pitched to 4 batters in the 8th.

IBB - L Stevens (by Halladay). HBP - Zeile (by Lloyd).
Pitches-strikes: Halladay 106-61; Lloyd 13-7; Quantrill 29-20;
Burkett 105-63; Crabtree 1-1; Je Zimmerman 8-5; Wetteland 24-18.
Ground balls-fly balls: Halladay 3-10; Lloyd 0-1; Quantrill 0-3;
Burkett 9-8; Crabtree 1-0; Je Zimmerman 2-1; Wetteland 1-1.
Batters faced: Halladay 31; Lloyd 5; Quantrill 6; Burkett 27;
Crabtree 1; Je Zimmerman 3; Wetteland 5.

UMPIRES: HP--Greg Kosc. 1B--Dan Morrison. 2B--Ed Hickox.
3B--Bill Miller.
T--2:40.  Att--30,502.   Weather: 70 degrees, sunny.   Wind: 19 mph,
in from center.

AL       TEXAS AT TORONTO
         NOTE:  TORONTO'S SHANNON STEWART SINGLED IN THE FIRST INNING TO
                EXTEND HIS HITTING STREAK TO 26 GAMES.

Game Log

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, John Burkett RHP.

Toronto Starting Lineups -- Shannon Stewart LF, Homer Bush 2B, Shawn Green RF, Carlos Delgado 1B, Tony Batista SS, Willie Greene DH, Jacob Brumfield CF, Mike Matheny C, Casey Blake 3B, Roy Halladay RHP.

Umpires -- Kosc (HP), Morrison (1B), Hickox (2B), Miller (3B).

Gametime Weather: 70 degrees, Sunny, wind in from center at 19 mph.

TEXAS 1ST: Mclemore flied out to shallow right. I Rodriguez singled to shallow center. Greer flied out to center. J Gonzalez fouled out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, TORONTO 0.

TORONTO 1ST: Stewart reached on infield single. Bush singled to left, Stewart to second. Sh Green walked, Stewart to third, Bush to second. C Delgado singled to right, Stewart scored, Bush to third, Sh Green to second. T Batista struck out swinging. W Greene grounded into double play, pitcher to catcher to first, Bush out at home. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 2ND: R Palmeiro walked. Zeile struck out swinging. L Stevens singled to center, R Palmeiro thrown out at third. Clayton walked, L Stevens to second. T Goodwin struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 2ND: Brumfield flied out to deep left. Matheny grounded out to shortstop. Blake struck out looking. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 3RD: Mclemore popped out to shortstop. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. Greer grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 3RD: Stewart flied out to right center. Bush flied out to right. Sh Green grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 4TH: J Gonzalez doubled to deep right center. R Palmeiro singled to center, J Gonzalez scored. R Palmeiro to second on center fielder Brumfield's fielding error. Zeile homered to left center, R Palmeiro scored. L Stevens struck out swinging. Clayton grounded out to shortstop. T Goodwin flied out to left center. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 4TH: C Delgado grounded out to second. T Batista singled to center. W Greene flied out to center. Brumfield popped out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 5TH: Mclemore grounded out to first. I Rodriguez flied out to center. Greer lined out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 5TH: Matheny grounded out to second. Blake reached on infield single. Stewart struck out swinging. Bush grounded into fielder's choice to second, Blake out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 6TH: J Gonzalez singled to center. R Palmeiro lined into double play, first, J Gonzalez doubled off first. Zeile doubled to right. L Stevens intentionally walked. Clayton walked, Zeile to third, L Stevens to second. T Goodwin fouled out to left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 6TH: Sh Green fouled out to third. C Delgado grounded out to second. T Batista reached on infield single. W Greene grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 7TH: Mclemore flied out to deep right. I Rodriguez singled to center. Greer struck out swinging. J Gonzalez walked, I Rodriguez to second. Graeme Lloyd relieved Roy Halladay. R Palmeiro popped out to first. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 7TH: Brumfield fouled out to first. Matheny flied out to left. Blake singled to left. Tim Crabtree relieved John Burkett. Stewart grounded into fielder's choice to third, Blake out at second. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 3, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 8TH: Zeile hit by pitch. L Stevens singled to center, Zeile to second. Clayton singled to right center, Zeile scored, L Stevens to second. T Goodwin reached on bunt single to pitcher, L Stevens to third, Clayton to second. Paul Quantrill relieved Graeme Lloyd. Mclemore struck out swinging. I Rodriguez struck out swinging. Greer flied out to left. (1 Run, 3 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 8TH: Jeff Zimmerman relieved Tim Crabtree. Bush grounded out to second. Sh Green grounded out to first. C Delgado lined out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 1.

TEXAS 9TH: J Gonzalez struck out swinging. R Palmeiro flied out to shallow left. Zeile flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 1.

TORONTO 9TH: John Wetteland relieved Jeff Zimmerman. T Batista doubled to deep left. W Greene grounded out to first, T Batista to third. Brumfield hit sacrifice fly to deep left, T Batista scored. Fletcher hit for Matheny. Fletcher singled to left. Mcrae hit for Blake. Mcrae struck out looking. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, TORONTO 2.