Elster sparks Rangers to 7-0 start

By RICK GANO
Associated Press

CHICAGO - No blemishes so far for the Texas Rangers. They just keep winning.
"I'm just going to enjoy it and not try to figure it out," manager Johnny Oates said after Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox gave the Rangers a 7-0 start, the best in club history.

"It's one of those things about a winning streak. It seems like everything goes right. You get all the good bounces, all the good calls. It's a great feeling," said shortstop Kevin Elster, who drove in the winning run and also made a slick fielding play to stop a Chicago rally.

For Elster just playing is satisfying in itself. He missed most of three years with shoulder problems and then was released twice last season.

The last time Elster was in Comiskey Park, in 1993, he was an actor with a role in the movie "Little Big League."

"I got to come down here and hang out in the clubhouse. It's funny to be back here, this time as a real ballplayer," he said.

Kevin Gross pitched six strong innings as the Rangers spoiled Chicago's home opener before a crowd of just 34,750 on a sunny but chilly day at Comiskey Park.

The 1987 Milwaukee Brewers were the last American League team to start 7-0 when they set a league record by winning their first 13 games. The Atlanta Braves in 1994 were the last major league team to start 7-0.

"We're doing a lot of things well and I hope it lasts for a lot longer. The pitching and the defense have been there every day," Oates said.

"Now the idea is to be consistent and do it over the long haul as opposed to short term. We've done it for seven games now and we have to keep building and go on from here."
The White Sox, meanwhile, are 2-5 and all of their losses have been by one run.

"I think we're pressing a little bit," said Frank Thomas, who doubled in Chicago's runs but grounded into a double play to end the game.

"It's a little frustrating. We are a very aggressive team. Our streak is coming and when it comes, we've got to roll with it."

Gross (2-0) allowed six hits and two runs. He's won his first two starts for the first time since 1983 when he made his major league debut with the Phillies. The victory also gave the Rangers the team's first seven-game winning streak since May 21-29, 1992.

Chicago's Kevin Tapani, the scheduled starter, was a late scratch because of a groin injury and was replaced by Kirk McCaskill, who started just one game last season.

It was the end of a six-year stretch of durability for Tapani, who hadn't missed a start because of injury since August, 1990, a span of 161 outings. He suffered the injury after pitching three innings in Seattle six days ago.

With the score tied 2-2 in the seventh, Rusty Greer singled and, one out later, scored the go-ahead run when Elster lined a double to wall in left center off Larry Thomas (0-1).

McCaskill hit Dean Palmer to open the fifth, Greer doubled and after Palmer was almost picked off third, Mark McLemore delivered a two-run single to right. That finished McCaskill.

But the Sox tied it in their half when Tony Phillips and Darren Lewis singled and Thomas poked an opposite-field, two-run double.