Monday, September 23, 1996

Rangers, Gonzalez break out of slump
By KEN PETERS
Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Juan Gonzalez snapped out of his slump over the weekend. So did the Texas Rangers.

No coincidence, manager Johnny Oates said Sunday after the Rangers continued to pull out of their AL West tailspin with their second straight win, 4-1 over California.

The victory, only the third for the Rangers in 11 games, gave them a two-game lead over Seattle, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped Sunday with a 13-11 loss to Oakland.

Gonzalez, batting .213 in 15 games heading into Sunday's matchup with the Angels, hit his club-record 47th homer, singled twice and drove in two runs to raise his season total to 141.

"When we get guys on base and score some runs, Juan's usually in the middle of it," Oates said.

Gonzalez, who also homered in the Rangers' 7-1 win over California on Saturday, rewrote his own team mark with Sunday's shot off California rookie Jason Dickson (1-4).

"I'm concentrating more, being more patient now," said Gonzalez, who raised his average to .320. "It's very important for us now for me to hit, because we're trying to stay in first place."

The Rangers, who led Seattle by nine games on Sept. 11, had lost all but one game of that pad before Sunday.

The two wins over the Angels, coming after a 6-5, 10-inning loss at Anaheim on Friday, put the Rangers in a considerably more optimistic frame of mind.

"We're playing much better, the chemistry's better, and everybody's playing with more intensity. To have come back and won these last two games was very important for us," Gonzalez said.

Texas got a complete-game, eight-hit performance from Ken Hill (16-10). Gonzalez hit a solo homer in the fourth, and Dean Palmer followed with his 37th.

Kevin Elster's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning made it 3-1, and Gonzalez added a run-scoring single in the ninth.

Hill struck out eight and walked two in his seventh complete game as he followed a strong outing by John Burkett.

"Kenny Hill was on top of his game today, just like Burkett was last night, and those are the kind of outings their staff is going to have to have if they're going to win the division," said Rex Hudler, who doubled and scored the Angels' only run.

The Rangers play their next two games in Oakland before returning home to close out with four against California. The Angels will play Seattle three times before finishing the season in Texas.

"We're going to put the best lineup that we possibly can put out there on a nightly basis until this thing is decided, one way or the other," said Angels interim manager John McNamara.

Gonzalez' 81st extra-base hit of the season also broke his own team record set in 1993.

The homer by Gonzalez, a native of Vega Baja, P.R., matched the highest single-season total ever by a player from Latin America. George Bell, born in the Dominican Republic, hit 47 for Toronto in 1987. The Colorado Rockies' Andres Galarraga, a Venezuelan, is just one homer behind, leading the NL with 46.

Rodriguez's next at-bat will break Hall of Famer Johnny Bench's single-season major league record for catchers, 621 in 1974.

Hill tied a career high for victories. He's now won 16 in three times.

Tim Salmon was the Angels' designated hitter for the first time this season and went 2 for 3 with a walk.

Only two third basemen in AL history have hit more home runs in a season than Palmer - Minnesota's Harmon Killebrew and Cleveland's Al Rosen. Jim Thome of the Indians also has 37 homers this season.