GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: TEXAS (18-33) at OAKLAND (25-25)

AL: TEXAS at OAKLAND

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TEXAS (4) AT OAKLAND (0) - HOW THEY SCORED
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TEXAS 6TH: M Kata walked. I Kinsler sacrificed to pitcher, M Kata to
second, I Kinsler safe at first on error by pitcher L DiNardo. M Kata to
third, I Kinsler to second on wild pitch by L DiNardo. M Young grounded out to
third. M Teixeira intentionally walked. S Sosa singled to left, M Kata,
I Kinsler and M Teixeira scored, S Sosa to second on error by left fielder
S Stewart. C Lewis relieved L DiNardo. V Diaz grounded out to shortstop. M Byrd
singled to center, S Sosa scored. G Laird flied out to center. (4 Runs,
2 Hits, 2 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.</div>

 

AL: TEXAS at OAKLAND

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TEXAS (4) AT OAKLAND (0) - EVENT LOG
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Texas Starting Lineups -- I Kinsler 2B, M Young SS, M Teixeira 1B, S Sosa DH,
V Diaz RF, M Byrd CF, G Laird C, N Cruz LF, M Kata 3B, M Wood RHP.

Oakland Starting Lineups -- S Stewart LF, T Buck RF, N Swisher CF, D Johnson
1B, E Chavez 3B, B Crosby SS, J Cust DH, M Scutaro 2B, A Melhuse C,
L DiNardo LHP.

Umpires -- Kerwin Danley (HP), Mike Muchlinski (1B), Dana Demuth (2B),
Derryl Cousins (3B).

Gametime Weather: 59 degrees, Partly Cloudy, wind out to right at 16 mph.


TEXAS 1ST: I Kinsler grounded out to second. M Young grounded out to
shortstop. M Teixeira grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 1ST: S Stewart singled to left. T Buck grounded into double play,
shortstop to second to first, S Stewart out at second. N Swisher walked.
D Johnson walked, N Swisher to second. E Chavez walked, N Swisher to third,
D Johnson to second. B Crosby grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 2ND: S Sosa struck out looking. V Diaz struck out swinging. M Byrd
singled to left center. G Laird flied out to left. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 2ND: J Cust grounded out to shortstop. M Scutaro lined out to
first. A Melhuse struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 3RD: N Cruz struck out swinging. M Kata flied out to right.
I Kinsler grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 3RD: S Stewart flied out to center. T Buck reached on infield
single to second. N Swisher flied out to left. D Johnson singled to center,
T Buck to third. E Chavez grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 4TH: M Young singled to center. M Teixeira grounded into fielder's
choice to shortstop, M Young out at second. S Sosa grounded into double play,
third to second to first, M Teixeira out at second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 4TH: B Crosby grounded out to third. J Cust grounded out to
pitcher. M Scutaro singled to right. A Melhuse singled to right, M Scutaro to
second. S Stewart lined out to left. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0,
OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 5TH: V Diaz grounded out to third. M Byrd singled to left. G Laird
flied out to center, M Byrd to second. N Cruz grounded out to second. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 5TH: T Buck struck out swinging. N Swisher walked. D Johnson
grounded out to first, N Swisher to second. E Chavez intentionally walked.
B Crosby struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 0, OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 6TH: M Kata walked. I Kinsler sacrificed to pitcher, M Kata to
second, I Kinsler safe at first on error by pitcher L DiNardo. M Kata to
third, I Kinsler to second on wild pitch by L DiNardo. M Young grounded out to
third. M Teixeira intentionally walked. S Sosa singled to left, M Kata,
I Kinsler and M Teixeira scored, S Sosa to second on error by left fielder
S Stewart. C Lewis relieved L DiNardo. V Diaz grounded out to shortstop. M Byrd
singled to center, S Sosa scored. G Laird flied out to center. (4 Runs,
2 Hits, 2 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 6TH: C Wilson relieved M Wood. J Cust struck out swinging.
M Scutaro grounded out to second. A Melhuse grounded out to third.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 7TH: R Flores relieved C Lewis. N Cruz flied out to right. M Kata
flied out to left. I Kinsler struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 7TH: S Stewart singled to center. T Buck grounded into double
play, shortstop to second to first, S Stewart out at second. N Swisher reached
on infield single to third. D Johnson lined out to right. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 8TH: J Witasick relieved R Flores. M Young grounded out to shortstop.
M Teixeira singled to left. S Sosa fouled out to first. M Teixeira to second
on wild pitch by J Witasick. V Diaz struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 8TH: R Vazquez at third base. N Cruz in right field. M Kata in left
field. E Chavez struck out swinging. J Benoit relieved C Wilson. B Crosby
struck out looking. J Cust grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

TEXAS 9TH: M Byrd flied out to left. G Laird fouled out to first. N Cruz
flied out to right. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.

OAKLAND 9TH: M Scutaro singled to center. A Melhuse struck out swinging.
S Stewart walked, M Scutaro to second. E Gagne relieved J Benoit. T Buck
singled to center, M Scutaro to third, S Stewart to second. N Swisher grounded
into double play, shortstop to second to first, T Buck out at second.(0 Runs,
2 Hits, 0 Errors) TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0.</div>

 

Sosa steps up, helps Rangers snap six-game skid

<h3>TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0</h3>OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Not much has went right for theTexas Rangers this season. However, one of the brighter spotsso far has been the re-emergence of Sammy Sosa.

Sosa had three RBI and Marlon Byrd had three hits as the Rangersposted a 4-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.

Signed to a minor league contract in the spring just for achance to make the team that he broke into the majors with in1989, Sosa has been one of the team's most consistent runproducers. He is tied for the team lead in homers and hastallied 40 RBI, the best mark on the team.

Sosa broke open a scoreless tie in the sixth off Athleticsstarter Lenny DiNardo (1-2). The 38-year-old slugger clearedthe bases with a three-run double, taking advantage of a walkand a fielding error by Oakland, staking Texas to a 3-0advantage.

Byrd followed with an RBI single to center to plate Sosa,increasing the Rangers lead to 4-0. The single was the last ofthree hits for the 29-year-old, who has recorded a hit in eachof the four games he has played this season for Texas sincehaving his contract purchased from the minors on Saturday.

Rangers starter Mike Wood (1-1), allowed five hits and five<div class="pre">walks to pick up his first win as a Ranger. Relievers C.J.</div>Wilson and Joaquin Benoit yielded three hits and a walk over thenext 3 1/3 innings before turning the game over to closer EricGagne, who worked around one hit in two-thirds of an inning tonotch his third save in as many chances.

The pivotal moment was in the sixth, as DiNardo and the Oaklanddefense seemed to melt down after surrendering just three hitsin the first five frames. Matt Kata led off the inning with awalk and moved to second following a fielding error from DiNardothat allowed Kinsler to reach base.

A wild pitch from the A's starter let Kinsler and Kata to moveup to second and third, respectively, leading to an intentionalwalk to Mark Teixeira. Sosa then singled to left center andadvanced to second when left fielder Shannon Stewart permittedthe ball to roll past his glove as he was attempting to fieldit.

Travis Buck and Stewart each tallied two hits for the Athletics,who were shut out for the first time this month.

 

Sosa steps up, helps Rangers snap six-game skid

<h3>TEXAS 4, OAKLAND 0</h3>OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Not much has gone right for theTexas Rangers this season. However, one of the brighter spotsso far has been the re-emergence of Sammy Sosa.

Sosa had three RBI and Marlon Byrd had three hits as the Rangersposted a 4-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday.

Starter Mike Wood (1-1), allowed five hits and five walks topick up his first win for the Rangers, who had a six-game losingstreak snapped.

Signed to a minor league contract in the spring just for achance to make the team that he broke into the majors with in1989, Sosa has been one of the team's most consistent runproducers. He is tied for the team lead in homers and hastallied 40 RBI, the best mark on the team.

Sosa broke open a scoreless tie in the sixth off Athleticsstarter Lenny DiNardo (1-2). The 38-year-old slugger clearedthe bases with a three-run double, taking advantage of a walkand a fielding error by Oakland, staking Texas to a 3-0advantage.

"I have a chance to drive in some runs and I came through for myteam," Sosa said. "We really needed to win this one today andtake the monkey off our backs. Hopefully, everybody can relax,especially the manager."

"We haven't been able to catch many breaks and we caught a breaktonight and took advantage of it," Rangers manager RonWashington said.

Byrd followed with an RBI single to center to plate Sosa,increasing the Rangers lead to 4-0. The single was the last ofthree hits for the 29-year-old, who has recorded a hit in eachof the four games he has played this season for Texas sincehaving his contract purchased from the minors on Saturday.

Relievers C.J. Wilson and Joaquin Benoit yielded three hits anda walk over the next 3 1/3 innings before turning the game overto closer Eric Gagne, who worked around one hit in two-thirds ofan inning to notch his third save in as many chances.

"It's always special to pitch against the A's because that's theteam I came up with," Wood said. "But it was weird, I came outof the chute overthrowing. I was a little excited. That'swhen I backed off. My sinker was low and I couldn't make theadjustment. But once I got out of that inning, I was able toraise the level."

"We just waited to have an opportunity," Sosa said. "We won thegame and especially against the Oakland A's - a team that playsvery hard everyday - a good team and when you do that you haveto feel that you're competing."

The pivotal moment was in the sixth, as DiNardo and the Oaklanddefense seemed to melt down after surrendering just three hitsin the first five frames. Matt Kata led off the inning with awalk and moved to second following a fielding error from DiNardothat allowed Kinsler to reach base.

"I threw the ball OK until the last inning," DiNardo said. "I(messed up) by walking the first guy and that's never a goodthing. Then, I botched the double-play ball. I was thinkingdouble play all the way but I rushed myself and started thinkingbefore I got the ball in my glove. I flushed that down thetoilet right after it happened and was thinking about the nextguy."

A wild pitch from the A's starter let Kinsler and Kata to moveup to second and third, respectively, leading to an intentionalwalk to Mark Teixeira. Sosa then singled to left-center andadvanced to second when left fielder Shannon Stewart permittedthe ball to roll past his glove as he was attempting to fieldit.

"Sammy did a good job of hanging in there and making sureDiNardo gave him a strike," Washington said. "He did and he hitit pretty good to left field and the left fielder messed it upand gave us an opportunity to score some runs, and then MarlonByrd came up and got another base hit up the middle with twoouts, something we've been missing a lot, two out base hits. Sowe finally put a solid game together."

Travis Buck and Stewart each tallied two hits for the Athletics,who were shut out for the first time this month.

"I thought DiNardo did an outstanding job; he pitched wellenough to win," A's manager Bob Geren said. "Offensively, wejust didn't seem to have any luck whatsoever, all the way downto the last out of the game. We got walks, we hit the ball hardbut it didn't work out for us."