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Tuesday, Aug. 22 7:05pm ET
Rangers pretend it's October, beat Yanks | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) -- The Texas Rangers know they won't be making another postseason trip to Yankee Stadium, so they played this game with October intensity. Rafael Palmeiro hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning after Tim Crabtree got out of a bases-loaded jam to give the Texas Rangers a 5-4 victory over the Yankees on Tuesday night. "That was pretty much our playoffs there," Crabtree said. "In that situation, with the game on the line and the crowd really excited, it really had a playoff atmosphere." The Rangers, who had been swept out of the first round the past two seasons by the Yankees, are in last place in the AL West and will likely be sitting at home when the playoffs start. Injuries, poor pitching and an offense that hasn't been as explosive as in recent years have given Texas as many losses this year as they had in all of 1999. "A lot of things have gone wrong this year," Crabtree said. "This was a reflection of what went right last year. Rick (Helling) pitched strong, the bullpen shut them down and Raffy got the big hit." The Rangers wasted a 4-0 lead and appeared to be on the way to their 32nd loss in 40 games at Yankee Stadium when New York loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. Crabtree (2-6) relieved Helling and fell behind Derek Jeter 3-1 before striking him out on a high fastball. Crabtree pumped his fist as he left the mound, having retired Jeter for only the fourth time in 12 career at-bats. "That wasn't really the matchup I wanted," Texas manager Johnny Oates said. "Jeter has had some success against Crabtree." Palmeiro, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, then put them back ahead leading off the eighth. On a 2-0 pitch from Denny Neagle (3-4), Palmeiro hit a high fly to right field that drifted about three rows into the stands. It was Palmeiro's 32nd homer of the season and 393rd of his career. "I got behind and I just threw the ball over the plate," Neagle said. Helling took advantage early of a Yankees' lineup missing Bernie Williams and David Justice, out with minor injuries. The right-hander retired 17 straight batters after Luis Polonia led off the first with a double. With two outs in the sixth, Polonia homered to right field, his first since joining the Yankees on Aug. 3, to make it 4-1. After Jeter walked, O'Neill lined his 15th homer into the right-field seats to cut Texas' lead to one. "I pitched as well as I have all season for 5 2/3 innings," said Helling, who gave up four runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings. "Then I made a couple of mistakes." Tino Martinez doubled and scored on Luis Sojo's double in the seventh to tie the game. But Crabtree kept it that way. "The pitch was up a little bit," Jeter said. "He throws a hard sinker and I was trying to protect the plate." Mike Venafro pitched a scoreless eighth and John Wetteland went the ninth for his 27th save in 35 chances as Texas won for just the 13th time in 53 games against the Yankees. Neagle, who hadn't allowed a first-inning run since June 21 when he was still with Cincinnati, was touched for four in the first against Texas. Luis Alicea led off with a double and went to third on Rusty Greer's single to left. One out later, Palmeiro lined an RBI single that got by Clay Bellinger -- making his fourth career start in center -- for a two-base error allowing Greer to score and Palmeiro to reach third. Gabe Kapler added an RBI double, and former Yankee Ricky Ledee had an RBI single to make it 4-0. Neagle settled down after that, giving up only two hits until Palmeiro's homer in the eighth. Neagle, who has lost four of five starts, gave up five runs and eight hits in seven-plus innings. "From the second through seventh inning that was me," Neagle said. "I had a good rhythm going and threw strikes. Then I made one bad pitch to Palmeiro and that was it." Game notesJorge Posada was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. ... Kapler, who went 2-for-4, had been in a 4-for-21 slump since his 28-game hitting streak ended last Wednesday. ... Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre returned from cancer treatment to join the team. 3B coach Willie Randolph missed the game with a broken rib. Chris Chambliss coached third in his place. ... Williams missed his fourth straight game since feeling a twinge in his rib cage Saturday. Justice missed his second straight game with a sore neck. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Texas Clubhouse NY Yankees Clubhouse Knoblauch likely won't return to Yankees lineup till September
Strawberry lost kidney during cancer surgery
RECAPS Anaheim 11 Boston 4
Texas 5
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