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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
TORONTO (AP) – Brad Fullmer hadn't had a good time at the plate
in a while. He thinks he might be ready to break out of his slump.
|  | | Brad Fullmer, right, gets kudos Alex Gonzalez after driving him in on a three-run homer. |
Fullmer hit a three-run homer and added a go-ahead infield
single in the eighth inning to lead the Toronto Blue Jays over the
Texas Rangers 8-5 Wednesday night.
"I haven't been swinging the bat all that well so this feels
nice," said Fullmer, who is hitting .247 with two homers. "I'm
going to get locked in. I'm not going to feel uncomfortable the
whole year. The hits and the homers are going to come."
Fullmer homered in the first off Kenny Rogers (1-2), and put the
Blue Jays ahead 6-5 in the eighth following a one-out walk to Raul Mondesi, who took third on a a two-out infield single by Jose Cruz Jr. that went off Rogers' glove past second baseman Randy Velarde,
who may have been distracted by the runner.
Fullmer then singled to left side of the infield and beat the
throw from shortstop Alex Rodriguez, helping sent the Blue Jays to their fifth straight win over Texas.
"Our pitching has been great. We just haven't been clicking offensively, but once we get that going we'll be tough to beat," Fullmer said.
Darrin Fletcher added a two-run single off Rogers, who gave up
eight runs and eight hits in 7 2/3 innings.
"My stuff was as good as I'm going to get, but the results were just bad," Rogers said. "I just didn't get into a rhythm in the first inning. I was crossed up, and that didn't help my rhythm."
Paul Quantrill (3-0) got one out for the win, and Billy Koch
worked a hitless ninth for his sixth save in seven chances.
Cruz tied a career-high by extending his hitting streak to 18 games, the longest in the major leagues this season.
Toronto took a 4-0 lead in the first on Carlos Delgado's
sacrifice fly and Fullmer's home run.
Frank Catalanotto hit an RBI single for the Rangers in the
second, and Texas closed to 4-3 in the third on Velarde's
run-scoring single and Ivan Rodriguez's RBI double.
Andres Galarraga gave Texas a 5-4 lead in the sixth with a two-run homer off Chris Carpenter, but Cruz tied it with an RBI single in the bottom half.
Carpenter allowed five runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Game notes
Carpenter, Dan Plesac and Quantrill combined to strike out
the side in the eighth. Plesac got Rafael Palmeiro for his 900th
strikeout. ... Cruz also had an 18-game hitting streak in 1998. ...
Attendance was just 15,021. ... Texas manager Johnny Oates expects
3B Ken Caminiti to return to the lineup Friday. Caminiti left last
Friday's game with a strained right groin. ... Alex Rodriguez went
0-for-4, ending his hitting streak at 12 games. ... Rogers retired
14 of 15 batters before Delgado doubled in the sixth.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Texas Clubhouse
Toronto Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 6
Boston 4
Anaheim 3
Cleveland 1
Baltimore 6
Detroit 4
Seattle 7
NY Yankees 5
Toronto 8
Texas 5
Tampa Bay 5
Kansas City 3
Chi. White Sox 2
Oakland 1
Atlanta 11
Houston 3
Milwaukee 7
NY Mets 2
St. Louis 5
Montreal 2
Colorado 6
Chicago Cubs 5
Arizona 10
Florida 7
Philadelphia 5
San Diego 3
Cincinnati 7
San Francisco 5
Los Angeles 6
Pittsburgh 5
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