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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Ivan Rodriguez doesn't waste time
discussing the inner game of baseball. The Texas Rangers catcher
insists it's simple.
The defending American League MVP snapped a tie with a three-run
double in the eighth inning, and he homered in his third straight
game as the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 9-7 Tuesday
night.
|  | | Ivan Rodriguez watches his two-run home run in the first inning Tuesday night. |
"I feel good at the plate," said Rodriguez, who is in a
29-for-66 streak to raise his average from .319 to .367. "I'm just
trying to do my job. I'm not a power hitter. I'm not looking for
home runs. I'm just concentrating on swinging at strikes and
hitting the ball hard."
Rodriguez drove in five runs and went 4-for-5, including a
two-run homer that keyed a five-run first and tied him with
Oakland's Jason Giambi for the major league lead with 16.
"Unbelievable," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "This guy
is starting to do something pretty special, if he hasn't already.
The season is so long, you have a multitude of streaks. It seems
like his only bad streak is one at-bat. Sometimes you have to just
sit there in awe."
With the score 6-6 in the eighth, Jason McDonald got the two-out
rally started with a single, and he stole second. Albie Lopez (2-4)
walked Luis Alicea and pinch-hitter Frank Catalanotto to load the
bases, and Rodriguez cleared them with a double to right-center on
an 0-2 pitch. Lopez allowed three runs and three hits in 1 2-3
innings.
"With the bases loaded, I swung at (and fouled off) a pitch
outside," Rodriguez said. "But then I stayed back, he threw a
fastball down the middle and I was able to hit it into the gap."
Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild was befuddled by the fat
pitch Lopez threw to Rodriguez with the game on the line.
"You put yourself in tough situations," Rothschild said. "I
can't explain it. I'm sure he's frustrated, but that's what games
are decided on: executing pitches. We didn't execute our pitches."
Jeff Zimmerman (1-4) allowed one run in a scoreless eighth for
the victory, and John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his seventh
save. The Devil Rays closed to 9-7 on Gerald Williams' RBI double.
Ozzie Guillen drove in three runs and hit his first homer since
1998 for the Devil Rays, who lost their fourth in a row.
Rangers starter Mark Clark left in the sixth with a 6-5 lead,
but the Devil Rays tied it on Guillen's RBI single off Francisco
Cordero.
Texas snapped a string of 17 straight scoreless innings by Tampa
Bay starter Steve Trachsel with its five-run first.
Alicea led off the game by reaching first on third baseman Vinny
Castilla's fielding error, and after Chad Curtis lined out, six of
the next seven Rangers reached base.
Rodriguez's fifth homer in his last six games gave Texas a 2-0
advantage.
The Rangers loaded the bases when Rafael Palmeiro and David
Segui singled and Ruben Mateo was hit by a pitch. Mike Lamb
followed with two-run single, and Royce Clayton added a sacrifice
fly to make it 5-0.
Tampa Bay answered with a four-run second on Fred McGriff's solo
homer, Guillen's RBI single, Miguel Cairo's run-scoring double and
Williams' RBI groundout.
Texas made it 6-4 on McDonald's RBI single in the third, but
Guillen's fourth-inning homer narrowed the deficit to 6-5.
Trachsel gave up six runs and nine hits in six innings.
Game notes
McGriff's homer was the 396th of his career, tying him with
Joe Carter for 33rd. ... Wetteland recorded his 303rd save, moving
him past Doug Jones and into 10th place on the career list.
Wetteland is one behind Jeff Montgomery for a ninth-place tie. ...
Two of Texas' five first-inning runs were unearned due to
Castilla's error. ... Guillen's homer was his first since June 24,
1998. ... The Rangers have won five of seven.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Tampa Bay Clubhouse
Texas Clubhouse
RECAPS
Kansas City 8
Oakland 7
Cleveland 11
Detroit 9
Chi. White Sox 4
NY Yankees 0
Toronto 7
Boston 6
Texas 9
Tampa Bay 7
Baltimore 4
Anaheim 3
Seattle 9
Minnesota 5
Cincinnati 6
Pittsburgh 2
San Diego 7
Florida 3
Montreal 2
Arizona 0
St. Louis 8
Philadelphia 2
Colorado 4
NY Mets 3
Atlanta 9
San Francisco 7
Los Angeles 6
Chicago Cubs 5
Milwaukee 6
Houston 5
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