Arlington, TX- Pinch-hitter Lenny Randle smashed a single past Aurelio Rodriguez at third base with the bases loaded, and the Texas Rangers beat the Tigers, 4-3 in 10 innings at Arlington Stadium.
The hit, with two outs, enabled the Rangers to beat the Tigers for just the second time in 12 games this season.
Victimized was Tigers reliever John Hiller (3-5), who loaded the bases with one out on two singles and a walk in the 10th inning. Hiller then struck out Elliott Maddox and it looked like he might wriggle off the hook. But Randle laced a curve ball through Rodriguez's legs and Dick Billings jogged home with the winning run. The play was ruled a hit, as not even the slick fielding Rodriguez could handle the smash.
Dick McAuliffe (3) hit two solo homers and scored all three runs for the Tigers (53-35), who will head into the All-Star break in first place for the first time since 1968, despite seeing their six-game winning streak halted. McAuliffe added a single to complete a three-hit night.
The Rangers jumped on Tigers starter Tom Timmermann with three runs in the first inning as the first four batters got base hits. The big blow was Dick Billings' two-run single.
The Tigers tied the game, 3-3, in the eighth inning when Jim Northrup doubled home McAuliffe, who singled and was moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Rodriguez.
Casey Cox picked up the win in relief by tossing a perfect 10th inning. Rich Hand started and went nine innings to register a complete game that wasn't yet complete.
The All-Star break comes at a good time for both teams, who battled each other for 28 innings over the past two nights. The Tigers survived an 18-inning affair, 5-4, on Saturday.
*****************************************
DET 101 000 010 0 3-7-0
TEX 300 000 000 1 4-12-1
WP: Cox
LP: Hiller (3-5)
HR: McAuliffe (DET [2]; 3)
Tigers overall: 53-35
Home: 27-17
Away: 26-18
Last 10: 7-3
No comments:
Post a Comment