Phillies were this close to evening series
One strike, and the Phillies would face Phil Coke, not Mariano Rivera, to start the ninth inning.
One strike, and Charlie Manuel's decision to start Joe Blanton in Game 4 would start looking like a managerial masterstroke.
One strike, and Brad Lidge would be a postseason hero in Philadelphia once again.
And the Phillies almost got it. Instead, all they had after Sunday night was a bitter 7-4 defeat and 3-1 series deficit.
"Real close," Lidge would say later, and he was absolutely right.
Lidge was on the mound in Sunday's ninth inning. It was his first World Series appearance since throwing the final pitch of last season. None on. Two out. A 4-4 tie.
His fastball looked good. His slider looked even better. He had just used it to strike out Derek Jeter, and now Johnny Damon was about to meet a similar fate.
Lidge moved ahead of Damon, 1-2. He snapped off another slider, low and out of the strike zone. It would have been nearly impossible for Damon to put the ball in play, but he swung. His bat nicked the ball. Barely.
Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, a terrific receiver, reacted as he should have. His glove tracked the ball downward. He almost squeezed it for a foul-tip third strike. We're talking about a difference of inches -- maybe four, maybe three, maybe two, maybe less.
But the ball skipped away, and this World Series probably won't ever be the same.
Damon battled his way to a ninth-pitch single. Then Lidge came apart. He hit Mark Teixeira at 1-1. He gave up the tiebreaking hit to Alex Rodriguez. He surrendered a two-run single to Jorge Posada. Now the Yankees are one win from their 27th world title, and it certainly looks like they are going to get it.
As Mariano Rivera set down the Phillies in order, I thought back on the near-strikeout of Damon more than any other play in the dramatic ninth. Yes, even more than Damon's shift-breaking steal of second and third that will be discussed at every spring training site in February -- and on plenty of high school ballfields thereafter.
Ruiz did nothing wrong on the play. Catching a foul tip, or not, is a matter of instinct. Low sliders are particularly difficult to handle.
"Not impossible, but it's hard to catch that," said Phillies bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer, a former catcher. "The ones going down, they have bite to them. That's just luck.
"A foul tip -- it's luck."
The Phillies were a very good, very lucky team in 2008, and they won the World Series. Their combination of considerable talent and a little destiny was on display as recently as the National League Championship Series, when it took a ninth-inning meltdown by Jonathan Broxton to prevent the Dodgers from regaining home-field advantage in a near-mirror-image Game 4.
The Phillies still have the same talented players that carried them through the NL playoffs. But they have stopped hitting consistently, particularly against left-handed pitchers. Their worst fears about Lidge -- that he might unravel at a crucial postseason moment -- were realized on Sunday.
And when Ruiz opened his glove, hoping to catch a little good fortune, he ended up with dust.
"But that didn't lose the game," Billmeyer said.
He was right. It didn't. Yet, the missed play told us a little about this team: It might be a little more talented and a little less karmic than it was last October.
A number of moments swung Game 4 to the Yankees, and most of them had to do with Philadelphia's big hitters failing in the clutch.
First inning: Chase Utley was standing on second base after a one-out, run-scoring double. Ryan Howard (strikeout) and Raul Ibanez (strikeout) stranded him there.
Fifth inning: Jimmy Rollins led off with a single, Shane Victorino walked, and the Phillies appeared to be on the verge of a big inning. But they didn't score at all. CC Sabathia retired Utley, Howard and Jayson Werth to end the threat.
Too many innings when it seemed like the Phillies didn't have a real chance to score. Too many innings when Sabathia toyed with their left-handed hitters. Too many innings -- namely the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and ninth -- in which Philadelphia couldn't produce an extra-base hit.
Rollins, Victorino, Howard and Ibanez -- two switch hitters and two left-handed hitters -- have combined to bat .190 in the World Series. If you had known that was going to happen prior to Game 1, you would have predicted that the Phillies were going to be in trouble.
Well, that has happened, and the Phillies are in trouble.
"We all know what we have to do," Rollins said.
More specifically, they must win three games in a row. Two of them could be started by left-handed pitchers at Yankee Stadium: Andy Pettitte in Game 6, Sabathia in Game 7.
Take away Utley's impressive production -- three solo home runs, one double -- and Sabathia has allowed exactly two hits to left-handed batters in 13 2/3 innings.
The lack of production by Howard and Ibanez is a much bigger influence on the Phillies' current predicament than Manuel's choice to start Blanton in Game 4, rather than short-rested Cliff Lee.
Blanton's performance was almost exactly what the Phillies expected: six innings, four earned runs. He was not great. He was not awful. He was OK. And that was good enough for his teammates to have a chance.
Remember: The score was tied, 4-4, with two out in the top of the ninth. Lidge needed one more out. Correction: He needed one more strike. Even after Damon singled, he had a chance.
But then the Phillies failed to properly defend Damon's steal of second base, and he darted to third when they left it uncovered. His presence there -- a wild pitch away from scoring -- probably contributed to the fact that A-Rod saw two fastballs (as opposed to sliders in the dirt) during the game-winning at-bat.
Lidge admitted later that he "probably should have gone to the slider sooner." If he had, maybe Rodriguez would have rolled a comebacker to the mound. Maybe Rollins would have become a walk-off hero once more. And maybe the Phillies wouldn't need to wake up on Monday, wondering if they are about to lose their crown.
(c) 2009 Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. All rights reserved.
Poor D squashes Halos' rally hopes
NEW YORK -- The Angels were one run away from tying Game 6 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees on Sunday night at Yankee Stadium.
Then came the meltdown.
No word more appropriately describes what happened in the bottom of the eighth inning, as the Angels imploded with two errors on what should have been easily handled sacrifice bunts.
Those errors opened the door to the Yankees' two insurance runs that all but put Game 6 to bed, earning the Yanks, who won by a 5-2 count, a World Series berth and the Angels a one-way ticket to the offseason.
The trouble began when Scott Kazmir relieved Ervin Santana with Robinson Cano on first and none out. Nick Swisher put down a bunt to the right side, and first baseman Kendry Morales fielded it. But when Morales threw to first, second baseman Howard Kendrick dropped it, allowing Swisher to reach with Cano safe at second.
"I just made a mistake," Kendrick said. "There's nothing to explain. I dropped the ball. I don't have any excuse for it."
It was not the last mistake of the inning.
Melky Cabrera stepped up and put down a sac bunt of his own. Kazmir fielded this one on the right side, but his throw sailed over a leaping Morales, who couldn't quite reach the lofted toss. The ball scooted away, allowing Cano to score, pinch-runner Brett Gardner to move to third and Cabrera to reach second.
"I was kind of in-between," Kazmir said. "I wanted to step and throw, then I saw [Morales] was still on the move, so I wanted to ease up. I ended up airmailing it."
After Derek Jeter grounded out and Johnny Damon walked to load the bases, Mark Teixeira lifted a high fly to deep center. The ball nearly carried out for a crushing grand slam. Instead, it fell into the glove of Torii Hunter, and Gardner easily tagged up for a sacrifice fly.
The Angels got out of the inning without further damage, but enough damage was done. The Yankees took advantage of the Halos' miscues and scored two runs without getting a hit, while hitting just one ball out of the infield.
For all intents and purposes, the game was over, as Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, who had given up a run in the top of the eighth to make it 3-2 New York, had no trouble protecting the three-run lead in the ninth.
The defensive troubles were reminiscent of what transpired here in Games 1 and 2, when an Angels defense that is normally fundamentally sound came unraveled under the pressure of the ALCS. In Game 1, shortstop Erick Aybar and third baseman Chone Figgins somehow let an infield popup fall for an RBI single. And in Game 2, second baseman Maicer Izturis' throwing error on a fielder's choice allowed the Yankees to score the winning run in the 13th inning.
This is the same Angels team that set a franchise record for fielding percentage and made just 85 errors during the regular season. And yet, in six games in this series, Los Angeles made eight errors.
"We should have done better defensively," Hunter said. "I can sit here and make excuses all day. Just looking back, we didn't play Angels-style baseball. We might have played one game or two games the Angels way. We just got away from that a little bit, and they capitalized on every mistake we made."
Especially in that eighth-inning meltdown in Game 6.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Heartbreaker puts Halos down 2-0 in ALCS
NEW YORK -- Opportunity lost.
The Angels made mistakes that cost them, in the field and on the mound, but their sinking feeling late Saturday night was centered on the offense's inability to produce with repeated chances to send the American League Championship Series to the West Coast dead even.
In the aftermath of a 4-3 loss in 13 innings that lifted the Yankees to a commanding two games to none lead, the Angels refused to pin blame on second baseman Maicer Izturis or closer Brian Fuentes and instead focused on an attack that fizzled in pressure situations after sizzling all year.
"It shouldn't have come down to that," Chone Figgins said when asked about the wild throw by Izturis resulting in the winning run scored by Jerry Hairston Jr. "We had too many opportunities that got away from us. That's why we lost."
The team that led the Majors in hitting with runners in scoring position at .297 was 3-for-15. The Angels stranded 16 runners, including two each in the 11th, 12th and 13th.
"We got guys on base, but we didn't get 'em in," said Figgins, whose RBI single in the 11th gave the Angels a lead that lasted as long as it took Alex Rodriguez to send a Fuentes pitch over the wall in right to tie it leading off the bottom half of the inning.
"I was trying to elevate and didn't get it up enough," Fuentes said of the pitch that enabled A-Rod to extend his arms and go the other way. "I felt like I threw the ball really well minus the one pitch. Unfortunately, it cost us the game. I take full responsibility for that."
Following the longest postseason game in franchise history, 5 hours and 10 minutes, Izturis also was willing to take the blame for making a throw from the hole on Melky Cabrera's one-out grounder with runners on first and second that sailed wide of shortstop Erick Aybar covering second.
Figgins tried to pick it up and thought he had a play on Hairston at home but had no shot when he was unable to grip the ball cleanly.
"I thought I had a shot at him," Figgins said, "but I lost control of the ball. And just like that, it was over."
Izturis had no complaints about a field made less than pristine by persistent rains late in the game into extra innings.
"I was being aggressive, playing the way I always play," Izturis said. "I just didn't make the play, and it's sad that the run scored and we lost the game."
In Figgins' mind, the defeat belonged to an offense that was unable to produce more than three runs with eight hits and seven walks.
"A loss is a loss, any way you cut it," Figgins said. "What happened to Izzy, that was just one of those freak things. But not getting big hits, that was what hurt us. That's not us."
Cleanup man Vladimir Guerrero was left feeling especially empty after stranding eight runners -- one in the first inning, two in the fifth, three in the seventh and two in the 13th.
Hairston's pinch-hit single started the decisive rally against Ervin Santana, making his first relief appearance since 2007. Starter Joe Saunders had given the Angels seven strong innings, yielding two runs, and Kevin Jepsen and Darren Oliver kept the Yanks off the scoreboard until A-Rod unloaded.
Hairston was bunted to second by Brett Gardner and, following an intentional walk to Robinson Cano, came racing around to score when Izturis -- who committed two errors in 296 chances at second this season -- pivoted and missed his target at second.
"I think he was trying to make a little too much of that play," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "You're not going to turn two. If we get an out on any base, we're in good shape. It's a way out of the inning.
"I think he just reacted. ... But obviously, in that situation, the force isn't really an advantage. If it's another time of the game, it might be. But you just want to get an out there. Izzy just tried to do too much."
Santana had worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the 12th, retiring A-Rod on a fly ball after David Robertson, the seventh New York reliever, had left two runners stranded when he struck out Gary Matthews Jr. in the top half.
Robertson left two more stranded in the 13th, retiring Guerrero on a grounder to end the threat after Cano's second error had opened the door.
The Angels had taken the lead in the top half of the 11th when Figgins, ending an 0-for-18 postseason drought, singled home Matthews, who'd walked leading off against Alfredo Aceves.
Saunders kept the Yankees silent after Derek Jeter's solo homer in the third had handed A.J. Burnett a 2-0 lead.
Burnett had limited the Angels to one runner in scoring position -- Torii Hunter with a two-out double in the first -- before they rallied to draw even with a pair of fifth-inning runs.
Izturis opened the inning with a ground-rule double to right. With one out, Aybar slapped an RBI single through the middle. After Aybar stole second, Figgins was hit by a pitch. After Hunter walked, Burnett's wild pitch to Guerrero allowed Aybar to score with the tying run.
Guerrero then grounded out to leave two men in scoring position.
Burnett departed with one out in the seventh after second baseman Robinson Cano's error on Aybar's grounder. Phil Coke walked Figgins and struck out Bobby Abreu, bringing on Joba Chamberlain to face Hunter, whose infield hit loaded the bases.
Falling behind, 0-2, in the count, Guerrero went down swinging on a breaking ball to leave the bases loaded.
"We're fortunate to come out on top in this game, because it was a great game," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "And there were some miscues. Fortunately we were on the right side of it."
Jeter's milestone homer came after Cano's two-out triple in the second to the right-center gap had cashed in Nick Swisher after his walk.
Going the other way, in his familiar fashion, Jeter launched his second homer of this postseason and 19th of his career, moving him into third place on the all-time list behind Manny Ramirez (29) and Bernie Williams (22).
Saunders escaped a big jam in the fifth after successive singles by Cabrera and Jose Molina. Saunders started a double play on Jeter's grounder and struck out Johnny Damon with a fastball to shut down the threat.
Another double play, started by Kendry Morales at first, got Saunders out of the sixth after a throwing error by Figgins. A third double play in three innings, started by Izturis at second, erased pinch-runner Gardner after Swisher's leadoff single in the seventh.
Saunders, who walked one and yielded six hits while striking out seven, fanned Cabrera to keep the game even at 2.
"It's hard to believe we lost, after the way we played tonight, the way we battled our brains out," Saunders said. "It's tough to not get that big hit when we needed it. Obviously, it's deflating."
Peerless Mariano Rivera delivered seven outs of relief, coming on to shut down a two-on disturbance by retiring Aybar in the eighth.
Rivera then kept the Angels scoreless in the ninth and 10th.
Game 3 arrives on Monday after in Anaheim, the Angels needing to take two out of three at home to bring the show back to the Big Apple.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Phils take Game 3, on verge of NLCS
DENVER -- Brad Lidge had cleared his mind the moment the Phillies had clinched their third consecutive National League East championship this month.
He had suffered through a miserable season, but he figured the postseason would be his shot at redemption. So he forgot about the 11 blown saves, the eight losses and the 7.21 ERA. He focused on the future, which came Sunday night at Coors Field. Lidge had the opportunity to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five NL Division Series against the Rockies if he could get the save in the ninth.
He got it. Lidge had runners on first and second with two outs when he got Troy Tulowitzki to fly out to left field to give the Phillies a 6-5 victory in a game that matched the lowest game-time temperature in a postseason game in baseball history at 35 degrees.
"It felt great," Lidge said. "When the postseason starts it's a completely new slate."
Lidge put the Phillies in position to clinch a berth in the National League Championship Series with a victory Monday (6:07 p.m. ET, TBS and Postseason.TV).
How the ball got to Lidge is equally as fascinating as how Lidge got the save.
Phillies left-hander J.A. Happ allowed five hits and three runs in just three innings. He threw first-pitch strikes to just five of the first 17 batters he faced. He threw 35 pitches in the first as the Rockies scattered four hits to take a 2-1 lead. He threw 17 more pitches in the second inning, which included a five-pitch walk to Rockies starter Jason Hammel.
The Rockies had a 3-1 lead in the fourth when the Phils scored three runs to take a 4-3 lead. Happ had a chance to hit with runners at the corners with two outs, but manager Charlie Manuel pulled him for pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs.
Right-hander Joe Blanton replaced Happ in the fourth and allowed a solo homer to Carlos Gonzalez to make it 4-4.
"I felt like J.A. had good stuff," Manuel said. "I felt that he was having command problems, but every pitch he threw was around the plate. He definitely wasn't wild. The reason I brought Blanton in the game, we had a chance to score. Once I got Blanton hot and the situation for us to score some runs, I felt I wanted Dobbs to hit."
The Phillies had a 5-4 lead when left-hander Scott Eyre allowed a leadoff double to Gonzalez in the seventh. Dexter Fowler then bunted a ball to the right-side of the mound. Eyre, his body falling toward the third-base line, tried to move back toward the first-base line to get the ball, but he sprained his right ankle in the process.
The Phillies said Eyre has a mild right ankle sprain, and will be evaluated again Monday.
Eyre said he will be OK.
Eyre was gone, but the Rockies had runners at the corners with no outs. Right-hander Chad Durbin had been warming up in the bullpen, but Manuel went a different route. He wanted right-hander Ryan Madson, who wasn't warming up. He was sitting on the bench in the bullpen.
The Phillies signaled for Madson by raising their arms way over the heads, showing they wanted the 6-foot-6 Madson.
"Madson, you're in," Brett Myers told Madson.
"Yeah, right," Madson replied. "Good one."
"They're calling for you, dude," Myers said. "Really, it's you."
Madson was surprised to get the call because Durbin had warmed up. But Manuel wanted Madson because he is a strikeout pitcher. He struck out Todd Helton, got Tulowitzki to hit a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game and struck out Yorvit Torrealba to end the inning. Madson wasn't happy with his at-bat against Tulowitzki, but he got out of a major jam with just one run scoring.
The Phillies took the lead in the ninth when Jimmy Rollins, who was hitting .179 (10-for-56) in his previous 13 postseason games, hit a leadoff single up the middle. Shane Victorino bunted Rollins to second to put him in scoring position.
The Phillies caught a break when Chase Utley checked his swing on a pitch from Rockies closer Huston Street. The ball hit him on the right knee while in the batter's box, which should have ruled the ball dead. But nobody saw it. Utley sprinted to first to put runners at the corners with one out.
"I'm pretty sure it hit me," said Utley, who hit a solo home run in the first inning. "I've been on the wrong end of that where I don't run and nobody sees it and it's an easy out. I figured the best way to go about that was to run hard until they tell you not to."
Ryan Howard followed with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Rollins to give the Phillies the lead.
Then came Lidge.
He got Brad Hawpe to ground out for the first out. He walked Gonzalez, who is hitting .615 (8-for-13) against the Phillies this series. Gonzalez stole second to put the tying run 180 feet away. But Lidge got pinch-hitter Jason Giambi to foul out to Pedro Feliz on a 1-1 cut fastball. Lidge started throwing the cutter in his final regular-season appearance Oct. 3 against the Marlins and carried the pitch into the postseason.
"The good thing about that pitch is that I've actually thrown it quite a bit down in the bullpen over the last couple of years," Lidge said. "It's a pitch that helps me with lefties. I think they're pretty used to seeing a fastball and slider from me. Fastballs and sliders, they're my bread and butter and I'm real comfortable and feel confident getting people out with those pitches. But occasionally if you want to mix in another look to some of those good hitters, those lefties, it's a productive pitch."
Lidge walked Helton, which he said didn't upset him too much. They had the open base, which set up a force out. Tulowitzki stepped up and flied out to left fielder Ben Francisco on a 1-0 fastball.
Lidge roared as Francisco squeezed his glove to end the game.
He started the season with a clean slate. He now has one save in one scoreless inning. He hopes it is a sign of things to come.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Twins edge Tigers to reach US MLB playoffs
DETROIT, Michigan --- The Minnesota Twins completed an astounding late-season rally to reach the Major League Baseball playoffs by edging Detroit 6-5 in 12 innings in a tie-breaker showdown.
Alexi Casilla singled home Carlos Gomez from second base with the winning run, lifting the Twins to their 17th triumph in their past 21 games to overtake the Tigers and capture the American League Central division title.
"This is absolutely the most unbelievable game I have ever played and seen," Minnesota's Orlando Cabrera said on Tuesday.
"I'm really proud of my teammates. We came back in September. When we were down we came together and said we had to pull this out and we came back. We didn't give up."
Minnesota advanced to a first-round American League best-of-five playoff series against the New York Yankees that starts Wednesday in New York, the Twins having just 20 hours from winning joy before the first pitch in New York.
Before a Metrodome record baseball crowd of 54,088, the Twins delayed their final start in the stadium. A new open-air ballpark will debut next April but at least one playoff game will be played there.
The Yankees, who went 7-0 this season against the Twins this season, have won 23 of their past 26 games against the Twins and will start rested ace C.C. Sabathia against Minnesota in game one.
The Twins, who lost a one-game playoff to Chicago for the division crown last year, won their fifth division title in eight seasons and became the first team down three games with four to play to rally for a division title.
"That's one of the greatest games I will ever play in," Twins catcher Joe Mauer said. "They have nothing to hang their heads about. It feels great for us right now."
With the game deadlocked 5-5 at the start of the 12th inning, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera walked and took third on a hit that left Don Kelly on second base with one out.
The Twins intentionally walked Ryan Raburn to load the bases in search of a double play. Brandon Inge chopped a ground ball that Nick Punto threw home for a force out to deny a run and leave the bases loaded.
Gerald Laird was then struck out by Bobby Keppel to keep the game deadlocked.
Minnesota's Gomez singled and reached second on a ground out in the 12th. Delmon Young was intentionally walked and Casilla then singled to right field to score Gomez with the winning run.
Inge doubled home Kelly with the go-ahead run for Detroit in the 10th inning but the Twins extended the game in their half of the inning.
Detroit leftfielder Raburn missed a sliding catch attempt and the ball rolled past him to the wall for a triple by Michael Cuddyer. A walk put Casilla on first and Matt Tolbert singled up the middle to send home Cuddyer, tying the game 5-5, and putting Casilla on third.
Punto flew out to Raburn and Casilla tried to score from third but was thrown out at home plate by Raburn to extend the drama.
Orlando Cabrera smacked a two-run home run in the seventh inning to give the Twins their first lead at 4-3, but Detroit's Magglio Ordonez led off the eighth inning by belting a solo homer to equalize at 4-4.
Detroit's Granderson singled, broke up a possible double play to reach second base and extend the third inning, then opened the scoring on a single by Ordonez.
Miguel Cabrera followed with a towering two-run homer off Twins pitcher Scott Baker and the Tigers jumped to a 3-0 lead.
Minnesota answered in the bottom half of the inning, pulling within 3-1 when an error by Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello allowed Tolbert to score.
Minnesota's Jason Kubel smacked a solo homer with two out in the sixth inning to pull the Twins within 3-2, sending off Porcello after he matched a career high with eight strikeouts.
(c) 2009 AFP. All rights reserved.
Rays top Orioles 3-1 in bid to finish strong
ST. PETERSBURG - Yes, it's only the hapless Orioles, and the games mean nothing. But as Manager Joe Maddon pointed out, the Rays are winning in the final week of the season, and that beats the alternative.
With rookie Wade Davis (2-1) turning in another quality start and Carl Crawford finally breaking his club record for stolen bases with his 60th, the Rays beat Baltimore 3-1 on Tuesday night and assured themselves at least a .500 record.
A season-low crowd of 10,349 at Tropicana Field - three fewer than the number for Monday night's game - watched the Rays (81-76) win their third in a row after getting obliterated 15-3 at Texas on Saturday.
"Obviously, the season has been a disappointment," a reflective Maddon said. "I talked to every one of our guys, and none of us can watch TV right now. I can't watch 'SportsCenter,' I can't watch MLB Network. I can't read the papers. I'm really soured by the fact we did not get back (to the playoffs), because I truly believe we could have. ...
"But I like what we're doing right now. It speaks a lot for the culture we've created. We easily could have mailed all these games in."
The Rays have two games remaining against the Orioles, whose 12-game losing streak is the longest in the majors this year, and three against the Yankees, who have clinched the AL East and figure to make liberal use of their bench.
If the Rays win them all, they will finish 11 games shy of last year's division-winning 97-win mark.
Davis again gave the Rays reason to be encouraged about their starting rotation for next year. While not as dominant as he was in his four-hitter at Baltimore on Sept. 17 - he allowed nine men to reach in the first three innings, while somehow giving up only a run - he settled in and lasted seven innings, handing the bullpen a 3-1 lead.
Five relievers got the final six outs, and Grant Balfour earned a save for a second consecutive night.
"I picked a little rhythm in the fourth inning, kept the ball down, got some ground balls and we made some pretty good plays," said Davis, who has allowed one earned run or fewer in three of his five major-league starts and would have a 1.26 ERA if not for a bad start at Boston on Sept. 12.
The Rays scored two runs in the opening frame against Jeremy Guthrie (10-17) on a double by Ben Zobrist, who is hitting .375 in his last 13 games, and a single by Willy Aybar. In the seventh, Reid Brignac tripled to the right-field corner and scored on a sacrifice fly by B.J. Upton.
Crawford, who had been thrown out in his previous two attempts to get his 60th steal, got it easily this time after walking in the first inning.
Five years after setting the club mark, he became only the third American League player this decade to reach 60 steals, joining Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury (this season) and Anaheim's Chone Figgins of Brandon (62 in 2005).
"I never have a goal, man, I just like to try to steal as many as I can and try to help the team out," Crawford said.
"He's an unbelievable ballplayer," Upton said of Crawford. "He's done it year in and out. I think, obviously, he should be an MVP candidate every year."
Davis benefited from some stellar defense. Gabe Gross made a strong throw to the plate in the first inning on a Matt Wieters single, allowing Gregg Zaun to make a sweeping tag on Ty Wigginton; and Upton made a racing, over-the-shoulder catch on a drive to right center by Jeff Fiorentino in the seventh.
(c) Tampa Bay Online.
MLB: Texas 9, Oakland 8
The Rangers won for only the third time in 10 games and inched within 6 1/2 games of the division-leading Los Angeles Angels in the American League West. Texas trails Boston by seven games in the AL wild-chard chase.
Texas took a 4-0 lead, only to have the Athletics score five times in the fourth inning. The Rangers came back with four runs in the fifth, one of them scoring on a double by Blalock. He also had an RBI double in the first.
Just four of the Texas runs were earned courtesy of three Oakland errors.
Tommy Hunter (9-4) got the win despite allowing seven runs on nine hits 5 2/3 innings. Frank Francisco worked the ninth for his 24th save.
Clayton Mortensen (2-3) allowed six runs, but just three were earned over 4 2/3.
(c) 2009 by United Press International.
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