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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) – Nothing has come easily for Texas this season.
And even after holding on for an 11-9 victory over the Cleveland
Indians on Friday night, the Rangers were worried.
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| Ivan Rodriguez |
All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez jammed his left heel while running out a grounder in the top of the ninth inning and left Jacobs Field to have precautionary X-rays taken at Lutheran Hospital.
"It's a concern because it's been bothering me for a couple of weeks already," Rodriguez said. "It's been sore, but that's what happens to catchers who squat for 30 pitches an inning."
Rodriguez was running out a grounder to second with two outs in
the ninth when he misstepped while approaching first.
"I missed the bag," said Rodriguez, replaced in the bottom of
the inning by Doug Mirabelli. "But if I can walk, I'm going to play."
As he dressed, Rodriguez appeared to be annoyed with one of his teammates, who may have questioned his toughness.
"I'm not going to name names," said the nine-time All-Star,
who played in just 91 games last seasons when he was sidelined for
the rest of the year with a fractured right thumb. "I'm human. I'm
not an animal. I'm going to show people what kind of player I am."
Rusty Greer homered twice, Gabe Kapler hit a grand slam and Alex Rodriguez had a two-run shot to power the Rangers.
Greer led off the third and sixth innings with homers and added
an RBI double in the eighth for Texas, which nearly blew an
eight-run lead.
It was a typical win for Texas. The Rangers have the worst ERA
in the majors but they entered Friday's action leading the AL in
hits, doubles, homers, RBI, batting average and on-base
percentage.
Texas has 40 homers in 23 games and 31 extra-base hits in its
last six. The Rangers pounded rookie Tim Drew (0-1) for six runs in
three-plus innings, but nearly gave back all of a 9-1 lead.
"I think that after three innings we thought we could kick back
and take the rest of the night off," reliever Jeff Zimmerman said.
"But once the Indians posted that five-spot, things got kind of quiet in the bullpen."
Ellis Burks had two hits -- a single and a disappearing double for Cleveland. Burks led off the fifth with a drive to left-center that vanished into the wall, dropping into an opening between the padded wall and scoreboard.
Reliever Pat Mahomes (1-2) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth and Zimmerman went 1 2/3 innings for his second save.
The Indians closed to 11-9 in the eighth and had two on with one
out, but Zimmerman retired Burks and Juan Gonzalez.
"We were a hit from going ahead," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "we just fell too far behind. It was uphill all night."
Kapler's first homer this season and first career slam gave the
Rangers an 8-1 lead in the fourth. Andres Galarraga and Frank
Catalanotto hit consecutive singles to chase Drew and Justin Speier relieved.
Speier hit Ruben Mateo, loading the bases, and Kapler unloaded
them with a 406-foot shot onto the home-run porch in left.
The Rangers went up 9-1 in the inning when Rodriguez walked,
went to third on a single and scored on a wild pitch.
But the Indians closed to 9-6 in the bottom of the inning by
scoring five times off Texas starter Darren Oliver, who was trying to go 5-0.
Marty Cordova and Jolbert Cabrera hit RBI singles and another
run scored on third baseman Catalanotto's throwing error before Kenny Lofton hit a two-run double.
The Indians pulled to 9-7 in the fifth on Einar Diaz's
run-scoring single and had the bases loaded with one out. But
Mahomes got Omar Vizquel to pop out and struck out Jolbert Cabrera.
Vizquel, who was dropped from the No. 2 spot to No. 8, left the
bases loaded in the fourth and fifth and is batting .195.
"Omar knows what he has to do," Manuel said. "He's fishing right now."
Greer then put the Rangers ahead by three with his second homer
and then made it 11-8 in the eighth with a two-out double.
Facing one of the AL's tougher lineups, Drew was in immediate
trouble when he walked Greer leading off the first and Randy
Velarde hit an RBI double.
Rodriguez then lined his seventh homer over the wall in straightaway center. It was Rodriguez's first homer this season against someone other than Oakland.
Game notes
The Rangers have homered in 13 straight games. ... Gonzalez
is batting .452 (19-for-42) during a 10-game hitting streak and has
17 RBIs in his last 15 games. ... Greer has nine career two-homer
games. The last came on Aug. 21, 1999, against Boston.
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OTHER GAMES
Baseball Scoreboard
Texas Clubhouse
Cleveland Clubhouse
RECAPS
Boston 9
Kansas City 2
Texas 11
Cleveland 9
Detroit 4
Tampa Bay 2
NY Yankees 3
Oakland 2
Toronto 12
Anaheim 4
Seattle 8
Chi. White Sox 3
Minnesota 6
Baltimore 3
Florida 9
Houston 8
Montreal 6
Milwaukee 1
St. Louis 9
NY Mets 0
Cincinnati 12
Colorado 9
Atlanta 9
Arizona 0
Pittsburgh 3
San Diego 0
Chicago Cubs 7
San Francisco 3
Los Angeles 4
Philadelphia 3
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