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Wednesday, May 3 7:15pm ET
Ailing Rangers stay fit against Rays | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- The Texas Rangers are running out of healthy players, though not ways to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Royce Clayton homered off Dwight Gooden and Mark Clark pitched six scoreless innings Wednesday night to pace a 5-1 win that gave the defending AL West champions a season-best three-game winning streak. It was a satisfying victory, too, because the Rangers were down to just one healthy reserve by the end of the night. "It's a pick-me-upper in the fact that you see guys dropping like flies," manager Johnny Oates said. "It seems like it's somebody new every inning." Texas played without designated hitter Rafael Palmeiro, who has not started three of the last four games because of a slight left hamstring strain, and outfielder Gabe Kapler, who strained his right hip flexor Tuesday night. When second baseman Luis Alicea left the game in the sixth inning because of tightness in his left calf and was replaced by Scott Sheldon, it left backup catcher Bill Hasselman as the only healthy position player on the bench. "Certainly if you lose on top of that, it becomes demoralizing," Oates said. "But you win in spite of it ... it gives you a pick-me-up." The loss was the fourth straight for the Devil Rays, who fell to 3-8 at home and have dropped eight straight to the Rangers at Tropicana Field the last two seasons. Tampa Bay avoided being shut out for the first time in 58 games when Greg Vaughn delivered a run-scoring RBI single off Jeff Zimmerman in the eighth. Ivan Rodriguez and Ruben Mateo had RBI singles off Gooden (2-1), who also allowed Clayton's fourth homer with two outs in the fifth inning. Gooden's throwing error allowed the Rangers' fourth run to score. Clark (3-2) allowed six hits in six-plus innings. He left after allowing a leadoff single by Steve Cox in the seventh. John Wetteland got five outs to earn to 299th career save. The loss was Gooden's first in four starts since the 35-year-old right-hander was obtained from Houston on April 13. He settled down after allowing a run and three hits in the first inning to shut the Rangers down until Clayton hit his 408-foot homer to center for a 2-0 Texas lead. Rodriguez led off the sixth with a double, giving him seven extra-base hits in his last three games. The AL MVP scored when Mateo singled to extend his hitting streak to a career-best seven games. Gooden's throwing error on a pickoff play allowed Mateo to score from second base to make it 4-0. Clark gave up 12 runs and 13 hits in 6 1-3 innings in losses to Minnesota and Boston, but rebounded with his longest outing of the season. He allowed one baserunner to reach as far as second base. The Devil Rays finished with 11 hits, all singles, and have scored one run in each of their last three home games. They managed only two hits in an 8-1 loss to the Rangers Tuesday night. "When the hitters aren't doing that, it's our job to pick them up," Gooden said. "Early on, the pitchers struggled a little bit and the hitters were scoring a lot of runs. Now it's just a matter of putting it all together. We've got to come together as a team, forget what happened tonight and tomorrow just come out and play." Gooden allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. "He basically gave us what we needed," Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild said, "but we didn't get him enough runs to give him a chance to get the win." Wetteland, who has earned three saves in five opportunities, entered the game with two runners on and one out in the eighth. He retired Vinny Castilla on a foul ball and got pinch hitter Jose Canseco to hit into a force play to get out of the jam. Sheldon drove in the Rangers' last run with a RBI single off Bryan Rekar in the ninth. Game notesDavid Segui extended his hitting streak to seven games for Texas. He's 14-for-28 during the streak and has now reached base in 24 of 26 games ... Devil Rays leadoff man Gerald Williams snapped an 0-for-11 slump with an infield single in the eighth ... Gooden has allowed five homers in his last 15 innings. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Texas Clubhouse Tampa Bay Clubhouse RECAPS Anaheim 6 Baltimore 5
Texas 5
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