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Friday, Jun. 16 7:15pm ET
Plunging Rangers drop ninth straight | |||||
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- At least for the moment, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Texas Rangers are last-place teams seemingly headed in different directions. The Devil Rays are streaking with eight wins in 11 games, while the Rangers are sinking fast after a 9-2 loss Friday night extended their losing streak to nine games -- matching the longest in the majors this season. The streak matches Kansas City's nine-game skid from April 14-23, and it's the longest for the defending AL West champions since a 10-game slide from July 17-26, 1995. "Hey, a month from now they're probably going to lose seven or eight in a row and we won't remember. And we'll probably win seven or eight in a row. That's the way the game is played. You come and you go," Texas manager Johnny Oates said, trying to put the plunge in perspective. "This is one thing you need to keep in mind: When you're really going good, you're never that good. ... When you lose nine in a row, you're not that bad." Jose Guillen tripled, homered and drove in two runs for the Devil Rays, who beat the Rangers for only the second time in seven meetings this season. Esteban Yan (4-4) allowed seven hits, struck out four and walked two in 6 1-3 innings to get the win with help from reliever Jim Mecir, who bailed the starter out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh. Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth. Starting pitching has been a key to Tampa Bay's recent success. Friday night was the 19th straight game a starter has gone five or more innings, and the Devil Rays are 11-8 in those games. "We're just putting it all together," Guillen said. "When you put it all together, something good is going to happen." Tampa Bay scored five runs in the first inning off Darren Oliver (2-4), four on consecutive doubles by John Flaherty, Bobby Smith and Steve Cox. Fred McGriff also had a RBI single, while Randy Winn finished the Texas starter with a two-run single in the fourth. "Any time you give up five runs in the first, you're kind of flirting with disaster," Oliver said. "You give up a couple of runs any time after tht, the manager's got to make a decision." Guillen hit his fourth homer off Mark Clark for an 8-1 lead in the sixth. He added a RBI triple in the seventh. The victory was the third straight for Tampa Bay, 10-5 since May 31, when the Devil Rays were a season-low 18 games under .500. Texas fell to 0-7 on a nine-game road trip, the first time it has dropped seven in a row away from home since 1994. Yan allowed Frank Catalanotto's solo homer in the second, then retired 13 of 14 batters before Ivan Rodriguez reached base on an infield single that gave him a 24-game hitting streak against Devil Rays pitching. Yan faded in the seventh, giving up singles to Catalanotto, Mike Lamb and Gabe Kapler that loaded the bases. Yan left after forcing in a run with a walk to Luis Alicea, and Mecir came on to get Dave Martinez to ground into an inning-ending double play. "You'd like to be a little bit closer when you get the bases loaded and nobody out, and we get one run out of it," Oates said. Five runs in the first inning were a season-high for Tampa Bay, which started a lineup far less imposing on paper than the power-laden group the club hoped would lead it to playoff contention. With Greg Vaughn sidelined by a right hamstring strain, and Jose Canseco and Vinny Castilla both on the disabled list, McGriff and Flaherty were the only established veterans. Still, the only out Oliver was able to get among the first seven batters was Guillen on a sacrifice. McGriff drove in the first run of the inning with a single and the next three hits doubled with Smith driving in two runs and Flaherty and Cox one each. Tampa Bay made it 7-1 in the fourth on Randy Winn's two-run single that finished Oliver, who allowed seven runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings. The Texas starter struck out one and walked two. Game notesTexas DH David Segui was scratched from the Rangers lineup after fouling a pitch off the top of his left foot for the second straight night. He did it during Thursday night's loss to the Orioles in Baltimore and again in batting practice before Friday's game. X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day ... Oliver has allowed at least four earned runs in six straight starts and 10 of 13 overall. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Texas Clubhouse Tampa Bay Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 7 Toronto 4
Tampa Bay 9
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