ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- A.J. Pierzynski and Mitch Moreland hit
consecutive home runs off birthday boy Jeremy Hellickson and the Texas
Rangers held on for a 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay when Joe Nathan got his
300th career save on a disputed game-ending strike.
After Ben Zobrist took a full-count
pitch, a breaking ball that appeared to be outside, he started toward
first base and even Nathan appeared to anticipate a ball being called.
But home plate umpire Marty Foster then called strike three.
Zobrist put both hands on his helmet and
took it off in disbelief. Manager Joe Maddon argued with Foster and the
other umpires for several minutes after the game ended.
Soon after that Maddon tweeted, "That can't happen in a major league game."
Pierzynski, the Rangers catcher, said he heard the umpire call strike three, and went out to congratulate Nathan.
When asked if he had seen a replay of the final pitch, Rangers manager Ron Washington said he wasn't interested.
Nathan gave up a run in the ninth, and there was still a runner on base when the game ended.
After Pierzynski's first homer for
Texas, a two-out solo shot in the fourth that made it 2-1, Moreland
pulled a 428-foot shot deep into the Texas bullpen in right-center
field.
Alexi Ogando (2-0) allowed only one run
on three hits but needed 89 pitches to get through 5 1-3 innings. The
right-hander walked three and struck out two five days after getting a
career-high 10 strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings at Houston.
Hellickson (0-1), who turned 26, gave
up three runs and five hits over five innings. He needed 30 pitches to
get out of the first, including a nine-pitch leadoff walk by Ian
Kinsler, and threw 98 pitches overall.
Elvis Andrus, in a 2-for-18 slide
before singling in the fifth, added a two-run single in the Rangers
seventh for a 5-1 lead.
Pierzynski became the seventh different
player to homer for the Rangers in their seven games. Moreland then hit
his second homer of the season, part of his three hits against the Rays
after going 2 for 21 the first six games.
Even though Kinsler got caught stealing
in the first, Texas went up 1-0 when Lance Berkman scored from first
base on Adrian Beltre's two-out bloop double. Left fielder Sam Fuld made
a diving attempt to catch the ball, which instead went under his glove
and rolled behind him.
Tampa Bay got even in the second. Evan
Longoria drew a leadoff walk in the second, and scored when second
baseman Kinsler made a throwing error when trying to complete a double
play.
Yunel Escobar reached second base on
that misplay. But Escobar didn't score in part because of a running,
over-the-shoulder catch by right fielder Nelson Cruz only steps from the
wall for the second out, a play that had third-base coach Tom Foley
shaking his head in disbelief.
Longoria was 3 for 3, all singles,
including one in the eighth when the Rays loaded the bases and scored
twice. He is hitting .417 (10 of 24) with only singles and is longer
into any previous season without a home run.
Ogando, an All-Star starter in 2011
before working out of the bullpen last season, got into the sixth before
walking Ben Zobrist and giving up another single to Longoria.
Joe Ortiz, the 22-year-old rookie lefty
who is only 5-foot-7, got out of that jam with a pair of grounders and
then worked a 1-2-3 seventh.
Hellickson pitched on his birthday for
the second year in a row. On his 25th birthday, his 2012 debut, he
pitched 8 2-3 scoreless innings in the Rays' 3-0 win over the New York
Yankees.
NOTES:
Beltre, the Gold Glove-winning third baseman, started the game with a
standout play. He was up on the grass when Desmond Jennings hit a shot
down the line. Beltre dove at an angle going backward to make a
backhanded stab, then got up and threw out the leadoff hitter. ... Tampa
Bay's first error of the season came in the second inning when 2B
Zobrist was unable to snag Pierzynski's grounder. ... Nick Tepesch, a
24-year-old right-hander, will be called up for the Rangers to start in
his major league debut Tuesday.
