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Wednesday, April 23, 1997

Mariners out of the gate early; Rangers stalled

By DENNE H. FREEMAN

AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Last year the Texas Rangers got off to a fast start that carried them to an AL West championship just ahead of the Seattle Mariners.

This year it's the opposite. The Mariners are out of the gate quickly and the Rangers are trying to stay in hailing distance.

If any team needed a day off to get its house in order, it's the Rangers. They blew a 5-2 lead Monday night, losing to the Detroit Tigers 7-6 and falling 2-1/2 games behind the Mariners.

"It's just April," said Texas manager Johnny Oates. "But we can't afford to be giving any games away."

The Texas bullpen, which had allowed just one run in 19 innings, fell apart against the Tigers.

"Our starting pitcher (John Burkett) was doing well then things happened that you don't like to see happen," Oates said.

Shortstop Benji Gil cost the Rangers a run by booting a grounder and failed to cover second base on a grounder to Mark McLemore that could have been a forceout.

The Rangers won last year by playing good defense, getting good starting pitching, hitting consistently, and doing all the little things that don't appear in the box score.

Against the Tigers, the Rangers had two fly balls hit in gloves and bounce out, including a bases-clearing double off Damon Buford's glove by Melvin Nieves.

The Texas offense also has been spotty as the team awaits the return of slugger Juan Gonzalez, who has missed every game because of a thumb injury suffered in winter ball. Gonzalez was expected to be back at the start of May.

Meanwhile, the Rangers are at the bottom of the league in batting average and runs scored.

"It's been frustrating for us," said McLemore, mired in a deep slump himself. McLemore went 0-for-21 before he broke the hitless streak with a bunt single.

Dean Palmer, who has been one of the Rangers' hottest hitters lately, said, "We've been getting a lot of chances to score runs and we've got to start coming through every time. We have to start capitalizing."

The Rangers loaded the bases twice and didn't score a run against Detroit. On one occasion, the Rangers had the bases loaded with no outs. The next three batters were guilty of first pitch outs.

The Rangers had 14 left on base.

"We needed to get runs in those bases loaded situations," Palmer said.

Texas returns to action Wednesday night when Darren Oliver of the Rangers faces Omar Olivares of Detroit. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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