Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 36

AD Tuesday May 16 2000 I wwwstar-telegrancom 1 BASEBALL ii 1 7--) F-71 7 J-1 RAINIGERS DE11 RAYS 5 i 0 4 Jones makes Ballpark debut as coach HOPS BY SIMON GONZALEZ Stu-Telegram Staff nter Sosa Gonzalez and Rodriguez in the minor leagues Perhaps the most pleasant surprise was Sosa 'With Juan you knew he was going to play in the big leagues Sosa struck out 150 times for me one year and hit 220 230" Jones said "But his work ethic his determination and drive was outstanding Of course nobody could have predicted he'd hit 50 home runs And he could fly He'd hit a comebacker to the pitcher and make it a bang-bang play at first "Sosa is the same today as he was an 18-year-old He has the same personality" And Rodriguez? "Pudge was another very hard worker He didn't pull the ball as much as he does now" league team He had joined the staff on an interim basis last week after the retirement of third-base coach Ed Napo lean Jones 50 a former outfielder who spent parts of nine years with the Angels and Rangers will work with the outfielders the Rangers said He had been manager of the Rangers' Double-A team in Tulsa since 1995 managed at Oklahoma City in 1994 and 1993 and at Tulsa in 1991 and 1992 He has also managed at Charlotte and has a record of 832-866 with two championships the Florida State league title at Charlotte in 1989 and the Texas League championship at Tulsa in 1998 Also yesterday the Rangers said Charlotte manager James Byrd will manage the team at Tulsa effective tomorrow and that Bob Miscik roving minor BY CARLOS NiENDEZ Stx-Telegram Staff Writer ARLINGTON Bobby Jones is the wimiingest minor-league manager in the Rangers' organization If that doesn't impress Rangers fans maybe this does: Asked yesterday to name the best players he has managed he laughed and said "Sosa Gonzalez Pudge" That short list former Rangers outfielders Sammy Sosa and Juan Gonzalez and catcher Ivan Rodriguez demonstrates the depth of Jones' roots in the Rangers' organization He managed all three as they came up in the minor leagues Yesterday Jones further cemented his place with the Rangers when he was named a full-time coach with the major league instructor would assume the manager duties at Charlotte starting last night Assistant coach Moe Hill was scheduled to manage at Tulsa last night and tonight "Any time you're in the minor leagues as a player or a manager your goal is to get to the major leagues" Jones said "Since my first year of managing in '88 it's been a goal of mine to get back up here" Jones retired in 1986 as a 221 hitter with 23 career home runs but holds the Rangers' record for pinch hits (42) "He's been in the organization a long time It's good to see him get a chance" Rodriguez said "He knows a lot about the game He helped me a lot He taught me a lot about baseball He's a great guy" Jones who signed his first professional contract in 1967 with the Washington Senators remembers the rising careers of Rogers to miss start ARLINGTON Kenny Rogers will miss at least his next start because of a strained posterior cap sule in his left shoulder an injuty that occurred on a throw to first base in his outing against the Anaheim Angels on Friday An MRI revealed nothing worse than the shoulder strain UI just tweaked it" Rogers said let it calm down and be ready to go" Mark Clad( moves up a day to replace Rogers against Tampa Bay today and Doug Davis is scheduled to pitch tomorrow Rogers knew he was hurt when his shoulder tightened when he was in the dugout after making the throw to first for the final out of the seventh inning he but went out for the eighth inning and tried to pitch through the pain "It didn't help matters when I went out in the eighth" he said "A smarter guy wouldn't have gone back Out there" Rogers said making his next start will depend on if he's able to do his side work Carlos Mendez (817) 548-5413 cniendezstar-telegrcincom THE NUMBERS How the runs scored it? 1 A 1 A 41': i 1 Ji 'tm 1 i 0' 1 4: 4 i 1 :4 '''4-Ag I's i '1 A A '4 i 4: 1 i Lvill'-4) t-: i yr 4 i3 t4 'k qr 4" i I 4 0- 4' '11: V1 6 l''''' '1 '4r4111'" 11 A 1r1'11r 4' zi rer4) 'z i I NIlti' -4- i A 111 i i i 'w Devil Rays first: Williams homered to left on a full count Cairo doubled to right Vaughn grounded out first baseman Segui to pitcher Oliver Cairo to third Mc GM flied into a double play right fielder McDonald to catcher Rodriguez Cairo out Devil Rays 1 Rangers Rangers second: Mateo flied out to right fielder JGuillen Lamb grounded out second baseman Cairo to first baseman Mc Drift Clayton singled to center McDonald walked Clayton to second AbC811 singled to center Clayton scored McDonald to second Curtis flied out to left fielder Vaughn Rangers 1 Devil Rays 1 Rangers fourth: Lamb was hit by a pitch Clayton homered to left on a 3-0 count Lamb scored McDonald walked on a full count Alicea flied into a double play right fielder JGuillen to first baseman McGriff McDonald out Curtis grounded out pitcher Hand to second baseman Cairo to first baseman McGrrit Rangers 3 Devil Rays 1 Devil Rays seventh: Vaughn walked McGriff fined Out to center fielder Mateo Canseco homered to center on a 2-1 count Vaughn scored Castilla grounded out shortstop Clayton to first baseman Segui Flaherty flied Out to center fielder Mateo Rangers 3 Devil Rays 3 Rangers seventh: RWhite pitching McDonald grounded out pitcher RWhrte to first baseman McGrrit Alicea singled to center Curtis walked Alicea to second Rodriguez homered to center on a 1-0 count Alicea scored Curtis scored Palmeiro grounded out second baseman Cairo to first baseman McGriff Segui struck out Rangers 6 Devil Rays 3 Devil Rays eighth: Green in as right fielder McDonald in as left fielder JGuillen hornered to left on a 1-1 count Zimmerman pitching McCracken pinch-hitting for Stocker McCracken walked on a full count Williams fouled out to first baseman Segui Cairo grounded into fielder's choice third baseman Lamb to second baseman Aircea McCracken out Vaughn walked Cairo to second Venafro pitching McGriff singled to left Cairo scored Vaughn to second Crabtree pitching Canseco walked on a full count Vaughn to third McGriff to second Castilla grounded into fielder's choice shortstop Clayton to second baseman Alicea Canseco Out Rangers 6 Devil Rays 6 Catalanotto's back Frank Catalanotto was activated from the disabled list but his old role was not waiting for him Catalanotto was in a platoon situation before injuring his groin starting at second base against right handed pitchers with Luis Alicea moving to third Catalanotto also was playing well with a 500 batting aver' age (12-for-24) Since he went on the DL on April 22 however Mike Lamb has taken over at third and has played well with a 297 average before last night Alicea has continued to play well at second with a 326 average When Tampa Bay started right-hander Dave Eiland last night the switch-hitting Alicea and the left handed hitting Lamb were in the line if up with Catalanotto on the bench "It's frustrating but there's nothing I can do about it" Catalanotto said I'm not going to Use any sleep over it because I think things will work themselves out" -r Greer Kapier updates Left fielder Rusty Greer began a medical rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Tulsa yesterday and the Rangers hope to have him back in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Baltimore Orioles Greer out since April 13 because of pulled hamstring and ankle surgery went 0-for-5 as the designat ed hitter last night and is scheduled to play left field tonight the Drillers I and return to Arlington tomorrow to work out with the team Barring set backs he then would be activated Right fielder Gabe Kapler who went on the DL on May 4 because of a partially tom upper right quadriceps muscle could be ready to return when he's eligible Friday He ran in the outfield yesterday at about 90 percent without any problems The final test will be running the bases at full speed which he'll do either tomorrow or Thursday Star-TetegraMMITERY WASHINGTON Royce Clayton gets congratulations from third-base coach Jerry Narron after a two-run home run in the fourth inning Rangers 6 Devil Rays 5 RANGERS 131 1 0 A 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 TODAy TODAY BS SO 0 0 2 1 00 2 1 00 00 0 From Page 1D 0 1 2 0 0 Avg 282 281 297 273 261 225 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 8 81 BB I I 4 1 I 1 I 1 of I i- i fr' 1 irA0- i A Tampa Bay AB GWuIhams 4 Cairo 2b 4 Gliaughn It 2 McGrill lb 4 Canseco dh 2 Castilla 3b 4 Flaherty 4 JOullen 4 Stocker as 2 a-McCracken ph 0 OGuillen se 0 b-Trarnmell ph 1 Totals 31 Texas AB Alicea 2b 4 Curtis a 3 SGieenvt 0 Rodeguez 4 Paknetro dh 4 Segui lb 4 Mateo 4 Larnb 3b 3 Clayton ss 4 McDonald r1-11 1 Totals 31 Devil Rays at Rangers 'fikk 7:05 pm 1i The Ballpark in Arlington TV: Fox Sports Net Radio: KRLD1080 AM KESS1270AM (Spanish) Tickets: Available at The Ballpark in Arlington and ETMs at Tom Thumb by calling (817) 273-5100 and via the Internet (wwwtexasrangerscom) Records: Rangers 18-20 Devil Rays 13-24 tx: I )anish) ton and 00 and Radio Ticket ETMs at via the hit 3 PUP 4 1 0 302 3 143 0 265 0 000 267 1308 6 So Avg 0 331 0 284 0 100 353 1 295 1359 0 322 0 284 1 257 196 3 302 143 285 000 267 308 1 1 1 1 0 0 Trachsel Clark 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 6 3 1 0 1 0 2 0 10 0 I 2 6 Today: Right-hander Mark Clark (3-2 704 earned-run average) pitches for the Rangers against Tampa Bay's Steve Trachsel (3-2 417) Clark is making his first start since May 3 also against Tampa Bay It was the most effective of his five starts as he pitched six shutout innings in a 5-1 victoryTrachsel is coming off two stellar outings a complete-game 1-0 victory against Pedro Martinez and the Boston Red Sox and seven shutout innings in a 1-0 victory against Orlando Hernandez and the New York Yankees Tomorrow: 2:05 pm vs Tampa Bay Doug Davis (1-1 825) vs Bryan Rekar (0-1 109) Thursday: 7:05 pm vs Baltimore Rick Helling (5-1 228) vs Sidney Ponson (2-2 516) Friday: 7:05 pm vs Baltimore Esteban Loaiza (1-2 524) vs Mike Mussina (1-5 468) Saturday: 7:05 pm vs Baltimore Darren Oliver (1-2 519) vs Jason Johnson (0-2 466) Sunday: 7:05 pm vs Baltimore Kenny Rogers (3-4 463) vs Scott Erickson (0-1 1246) TV: KDFIChannel 27 Fox Sports Net ESPN Tampa Bay 100 000 220 5 6 0 Texas 010 200 30x 10 0 a-walked for Stocker in the 84h b-struck out tor 0Guillen In the 9th Bay 4 Texas 5 (5) JGuillen (1) oft Oliver: Rodriguez (15) oft RAWhite Canseco (7) off Oliver: Clayton (8) oft Eitand: GWilhams (5) off Oliver (20) McGritt (25) Canseco 2 (17) JGuilten (1) Alicea (19) Rodriguez 3 (35) Clayton 2 (21) (1) Runners left In scoring Bay 2 (Castilla 2) Texas 3 (Curtis Segui Mateo) Runners moved Segui Bay 1 )1Guillen and McGrill) Texas 2 (McDonald and Rodriguez) (Clayton and Sewn Tampa Bay IP ER BB SO NP ERA Band 6 7 3 3 2 1 87 739 RAWhite 1 1-3 1 2 3 3 1 1 23 352 Guthrie 1 1 000 1 121350 Texas IP ER BB SO NP ERA Diver 1-2 7 5 4 4 2 4 114 519 Zimmerman StO 1 1 2016716 Venatro 0 1 0000 1 426 Crabtree '4000 1 0 8 866 Wefteland 6 1 0 0 0 0 2 13 551 Oliver pitched to 1 batter in the 8th Venatro pitched to 1 batter in the 8th Inherited 2-1 Crabtree 2-0 bland (Lamb) Cuzzi First Craft Second Lampugh Third Schnabel' A-26683 (49166) Rangers statistics 28 38 HR RBI 2 1 1 8 12 0 3 23 10 2 15 35 6 1 1 19 10 0 8 17 00 0 3 2 1 0 0 IR RBI 1 8 3 23 15 35 1 19 8 17 032 88 4 19 8 12 9 053 10 30 22 4 16 13 2 11 7 "Every year a player learns some new thing" said Rodriguez who is one home run behind Oakland's Jason Giambi for the major-league lead "Every year I just work more as a hitter and work more physically I feel stronger" The blast off reliever Rick White (1- 3) which erased a 3-3 tie made a winner of Darren Oliver (1-2) for the first time this season The bullpen once again made it closer than it had to be by allowing a run in the eighth but John Wetteland worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save Oliver won for the first time since Sept 29 last season and for the first time as a Rangers pitcher since July 29 1998 "It had been awhile" Oliver said "Hopefully now they'll come in bunches" His outing was marred only by home runs He went seven innings plus one batter in the eighth and allowed just five hits But three of them left the park including one by Gerald Williams to lead off the game a two-run homer by Jose Canseco to tie the game in the seventh and a solo shot by Jose Gull len the only batter he faced in the eighth The Rangers offset those with two of their own The first one was a two-run shot in the fourth inning by Royce Clayton who continued his recent power surge with his third in the past four games The home run came after Devil Rays starter Dave Eiland appeared to deliberately hit Mike Lamb in the back with a pitch in retaliation for two brushback pitches Oliver threw to Greg Vaughn "I just try to hit the ball solid and get my base hits" Clayton said "If I hit it solid and it goes out I'll take it" The second was Rodriguez's three-run homer a blast that traveled 429 feet to center field after Luis Alicea singled and Chad Curtis walked and proved to be the game winner Rodriguez's 15th homer came in the Rangers' 38th game It's still entirely too early to project totals over the full season even with the rabbit ball so Rodriguez isn't really "on pace" to hit 64 so 3 21 17 28 27 1 3 19 23 10 13 0 1 0 0 0 1 Duval takes his hacks PGA Tour golfer David Duval took his swings with the Rangers yesterday and did something rare for a golfer: miss Duval the worlds second-ranked golfer spent about 45 minutes in batting practice with the Rangers before last night's game and got the bat on the ball consistently Bid he did swing and miss twice once as he was late on a fastball and once when he missed a bunt Duval who competed in the GTE Byron Nelson Classic in Irving last weekend and is scheduled to compete in the MasterCard Colonial in Fort Worth this week participated at the invitation of Rangers pitching coach Dick Bosman The best shot off the bat of Duval who said he last played baseball in Little League was a ball that fell a little shy of the warn" ing track in left-center field "Any time I can come to a ballgame I like to" he said it happened that the Rangers were coming back in town I had a day off and I could do it I didn't know I could take batting practice" Carlos Mendez (Through yesterday) Player AB Catalanotto 24 5 12 Seoul 142 28 52 Rodriguez 153 35 54 Alicea 138 18 45 Mateo 152 25 49 Haselman 16 0 5 Sheldon 16 3 5 Pa Munro 129 23 38 Curtis 116 20 33 Lamb 67 13 19 Evans 54 10 15 Clayton 148 25 37 Greer 25 5 6 Kap ler 90 11 18 McDonald 51 8 10 Green 10 0 1 Droner! Idi 1 0 0 Totals 1334 230 400 Opponents 1358 226 387 Pitching IP 12 52 54 45 49 5 24 9 Rangers upcoming schedule 5 1 19 1 IS 3 12 3 7 1 00 0 15 14 2 0 Avg 500 359 353 331 322 313 313 295 284 284 278 250 240 200 196 100 000 300 285 ERA 77 6 57 217 141 231 83 5 60 210 140 230 ER BB SO homers "When we moved him into the two-hole last year we talked about running as much as possible and scoring 100 runs" manager Johnny Oates said "This year I told him I was considering hitting him third He couldn't run but he's expected to hit the ball into the seats Whatever you tell him he does it Steal bases he steals bases Hit home runs he hits home runs" The 35 homers last year were a career best by 14 and he's already almost halfway to that total He has more homers than the likes of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa It's not because they're not hitting them like they used to It's just that Rodriguez is hitting them more frequently "McGwire and Sosa are in another class" Rodriguez said "I don't look for home runs I just look to hit the ball hard try to swing at strikes and make contact" Whether he's trying to or not he's hitting more than ever before "He had an MVP season last year and he's way ahead of last year's pace" Clayton said "Ile's just amazing" Today Tampa Bay 7:05 pm Tomorrow Tampa Bay 2:05 pm Thursday Baltimore 705 pm Friday Baltimore 7:05 pm Saturday Baltimore 7105 pm Sunday Baltimore 7:05 pm May 23 at Kansas City 7:05 pm May 24 at Kansas City 705 pm May 25 at Kansas City 705 pm May 28 at Minnesota 705 May 27 at Minnesota 605 gm May 28 at Minnesota 1:05 pm May 29 at Detroit 6:05 gm May 30 at Detroit 6:05 gm May 31 at Detroit 6'05 pm June 2 Arizona 735 pm June 3 Arizona 735 pm June 4 Arizona 705 pm June 5 Los Angeles 7:35 pm June 6 Loa Angeles 735 pm June 7 Los Angeles 205 pm June 9 al Colorado 8-05 pm June 10 at Colorado 705 pm June 11 at Colorado 205 pm June 13 at Baltimore 635 gm June 14 at Baltimore 6:35 June 15 at Baltimore 635 gm June 16 at Tampa Bay 615 pm June 17 at Tampa Bay 1215 pm June 18 at Tampa Bay 1215 June 20 Minnesota 735 June 21 Minnesota 735 pm June 22 Minnesota 7:35 pm June 23 Tampa Bay 7:35 pm He king 513 35 21 13 25 38 5 1 228 Cordaro 19 14 7 5 13 16 1 1 229 Venatro 1214 17 7 8 7 9 0 0 426 Rogers 583 69 33 30 14 20 3 4 463 Oliver 503 32 29 18 28 1 2 519 Lowe 48'A 50 29 27 12 34 1 2 524 We tleland 163 21 13 10 5 16 3 1 551 Zimmerman 163 19 14 13 9 22 0 4 716 Clark 23 33 20 18 10 10 3 2 704 Davis 12 12 11 11 10 12 1 1 825 Crabtree 17 27 17 17 4 17 0 1 866 Perisho 12 25 18 14 10 7 0 0 10 50 Munoz 4 11 6 8 3 1 0 1 13 50 Totals 340 387 228 199 140 230 18 20 827 Opponents 338 400 230 213 141 231 20 18 587 Stolen bases-attempts: Rangers 16-20 (Mateo 44 Kepler 3-4 nayt011 2-4 Curtis 2-4 Palmetto 1-1 Alice 14 Green 1-2 McDonald 1-2 Rodriguez 1-2 Segui 0-1 Evans 0-3) Opponents 19-29 Errors: Rangers 35 (Alicea 6 Clayton 5 Evans 5 Curtis 3 Lamb 3 Mateo 3 Catalanotto 2 Kepler 2 Venafro 2 Greer 1 Hailing 1 Rodriguez 1 Rogers 1) Opponents 34 Double plays: Rangers 37 Opponents 56 Saves: Rangers 6 (Wetteland 6) Opponents 6 Complete games: Rangers I (Rogers 1) Opponents 4 Shutouts: Rangers Opponents 1 Horns attendance: 796766 for 23 dates (34642 avg) 1999 attendance 790279 for 23 dales (34360) 228 229 426 463 519 524 551 716 704 825 666 1050 1350 527 587 Evans considers options Tom Evans who went on the DI to make room for Catalanotto hasn't decided whether to try to rehabilitate his partially tom right rotator cuff or undergo season-ending surgery The Rangers are trying to schedule an appointment with Birmingham Ala orthopedist Dr James Andrews who performed shoulder surgery on Evans in September 1997 Simon Gonalez (817) 390-77M1 gonzaleAostar-telegramcom 1 8.