ARLINGTON, Texas -- Ryan Drese looked as if he was in for another short outing.
Instead, he recovered from a four-run first with six shutout innings and the Texas Rangers rallied past the Anaheim Angels 9-7 Thursday to take three of four from the World Series champions.
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| Carl Everett hits a home run and scores the game-winning run for the Rangers. (AP) |
David Eckstein hit a leadoff home run and Troy Glaus added a two-run shot as the Angels quickly jumped ahead 4-0. But that's all they managed against Drese (1-1).
The Rangers' No. 5 starter, who got only one out and gave up six runs in his first outing against Seattle, struck out eight while throwing 137 pitches in seven innings. By the time he left, Texas led 9-4.
"It's a confidence builder, especially after that first inning," Drese said. "I felt good, I felt strong and felt in command."
After Texas tied it with a four-run fourth, Drese found himself in a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. He struck out Benji Gil to end the inning, and the Rangers went ahead to stay in the bottom half.
"He trusted his stuff more. He continued to pound the strike zone and stayed aggressive," Showalter said. "He was frustrated after the first, but he had good stuff. Sometimes they hit it, and you just have to trust it's good and let it play out."
Carl Everett homered for the Rangers and scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error.
Everett drew a one-out walk in the fifth and went to third on Alex Rodriguez's single that chased Mickey Callaway (1-1). Reliever Scott Schoeneweis tried to pick off Rodriguez at first, but his wild throw allowed Everett to score and make it 5-4.
Schoeneweis didn't retire any of the three batters he faced. He hit Rafael Palmeiro with a pitch and walked Hank Blalock before rookie Mark Teixeira's two-run single up the middle.
Ryan Christenson added an RBI single off Ben Weber for an 8-4 lead.
Christenson, recalled from the minors Tuesday and making his third straight start for injured center fielder Doug Glanville, also had a two-run single in the fourth.
Michael Young led off the inning with a single and Everett hit his fifth homer, his fourth in the series. Christenson's two-out single tied it at 4 as the Rangers batted around after Callaway faced the minimum nine batters through the first three innings.
"I got ahead in the first three innings and fell behind in the fourth against almost every hitter," Callaway said. "I'm not going to be successful doing that."
Callaway allowed six runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. He gave up just three earned runs in 11 1/3 innings in his first two starts while replacing Aaron Sele in the rotation as the right-hander recovers from offseason shoulder surgery.
The Angels got the rest of their runs in the ninth after C.J. Nitkowski gave up three straight one-out hits, including Garret Anderson's RBI double. Ugueth Urbina took over, allowing Glaus' RBI single and Scott Spiezio's sacrifice fly before finishing for his sixth save in as many tries.
Blalock led off the seventh with his fifth homer, hitting the first pitch from Scot Shields over the center-field fence. Blalock was 2-for-3, improving his average to .423.
Angels first baseman Brad Fullmer has reached base in 10 straight plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with two walks for the second straight day.
Notes
- Angels manager Mike Scioscia was ejected by plate umpire Greg Gibson in the fifth for arguing a called third strike against Tim Salmon. After being tossed for yelling at Gibson from the dugout, Scioscia came out for a face-to-face discussion. "Man, everybody thought it was low," Scioscia said.
- Texas increased its major league-leading home run total to 32.
- It was Eckstein's second career leadoff homer. The other was last Sept. 7 at Baltimore.
- Glanville was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Tuesday, with a strained right hamstring. Outfielder Kevin Mench was activated and went 1-for-3 in his first game of the season.
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2003, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
