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GAME LOG
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Ron Coomer made sure the Minnesota Twins
wouldn't go winless against Texas again this year.
|  | | The Twins' mighty bats earned them a victory despite a rough outing for starter Joe Mays. |
Coomer had two homers and a career-high seven RBI Friday night
as the Twins beat the Rangers 10-5 for their first win against Texas since 1998.
Minnesota, which has won four straight, lost all 12 games to
Texas in 1999, and 13 in a row in the series since September 1998.
"They were just better than we were, but you'd think you could
mix one win in there somewhere," Twins manager Tom Kelly said.
"Hopefully that won't be the only one we win this year."
Coomer hit a two-run homer in the third inning to tie the game
at 3 and added a three-run shot in the ninth. He added an RBI
single in a three-run sixth that put the Twins ahead to stay, and
then drove in another run on a groundout an inning later.
"That's a good day, isn't it? At least it's a good day for
me," Coomer said after a lengthy postgame stay in the training for
treatment, an almost nightly occurrence these days as he plays
through an injured knee and foot.
"Our team stayed in the game. We got guys on base and hit the
ball well and good things happened," he said. "You have to score
runs against Texas because they have such a great team they can
score at any time."
But Texas, swept in a three-game series against the New York
Yankees earlier this week, has lost five straight for the first
time since July 12-16, 1998. The Rangers blew a 3-0 first-inning
lead, and then failed to hold on after going ahead 5-3 in the
fifth.
"It's been a rough five days. A lot of things are going to have
to change, including the manager," Texas manager Johnny Oates
said. "The bottom line is we're not playing very well. We're not
getting hits at crucial times."
Minnesota chased Texas starter Mark Clark (2-1) with its sixth-inning rally.
Clark, who had won his first seven career decisions against the
Twins, left the game after Coomer's RBI single tied the game at 5.
Coomer scored the go-ahead run on a groundout.
Clark gave up six runs and six hits in five-plus innings. He
struck out two and walked one.
Hector Carrasco (3-1) pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings for the win.
Texas led 2-0 in the first when Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-run
homer, his sixth of the season. Rodriguez had also homered in his
previous at-bat, the first pinch-hit homer of his career with two
outs in the bottom of ninth of Wednesday's 5-4, 10-inning loss to
the Yankees.
Rafael Palmeiro, just 2-for-20 in the previous five games, followed with a double and scored on Frank Catalnotto's double to
make it 3-0.
Palmeiro was thrown out at the plate to end the seventh inning
while trying to score on Ruben Mateo's double. Palmeiro apparently
beat the throw, but was pushed away from the plate by Minnesota
catcher Marcus Jensen.
Minnesota tied the game at 3 on a pair of homers, Jensen's solo
shot in the third and Coomer's two-run shot.
"He's not the greatest player in the world, and not the worst
player in the world, but he comes to play," Kelly said of Coomer.
"He got some real timely hits tonight. When they go over the fence
with a couple of men on, the manager immediately gets a lot
smarter."
The Rangers regained the lead on back-to-back RBI singles by
Mateo and Catalanotto in the fifth.
Game notes
Coomer has seven career multihomer games. ... Texas
shortstop Royce Clayton, who had batted .164 in the leadoff spot
the first 14 games, was moved to the No. 9 spot and went 3-for-4.
Luis Alicea was 1-for-4 in the top spot and grounded into two
double plays. ... For the first time in eight games, the Rangers
didn't face a starting pitcher who had won at least 12 games last
season. Joe Mays was 6-11 last season. ... Mays gave up runs in the
first inning in his third straight start. He gave up five in the
first inning of a 5-0 loss to Baltimore on Sunday, and two at
Boston in a 7-3 loss on April 11.
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