Round 1–“05 Rangers defeat Twins in 4

Game 1 – Texas 6, Minnesota 4

Texas took a 3-0 lead off Jim Kaat in the 1st.  Doubles by Mark DeRosa and Michael Young plated one, then Kevin Mench’s 2-run HR added two more.  Alfonso Soriano singled home another run in the 3rd to make it 4-0.  Minnesota broke through in the 4th.  Bob Allison singled, stole 2nd, scored on Harmon Killebrew’s double, 4-1.  Bernie Allen singled Killebrew to third, then Earl Battey’s sac fly scored Killebrew to make it 4-2.  Bottom of the 5th, Star-of-the-Game Kevin Mench led off with a triple.  He scored on Sandy Alomar’s fly ball, 5-2 Texas.  This run was big because in the 6th, the Twins cut the lead to 5-4.  Killebrew singled, Battey doubled, and Jimmie Hall blasted a 2-run triple!  Rangers’ starter Kenny Rogers retired Kaat to maintain the 1-run lead, but his day was done.  The Twins got their leadoff man on base in the 7th, moved him to 2nd, but Joaquin Benoit struck out Allison and Killebrew to keep the lead at 5-4.  In the bottom of the 7th, Rod Barajas gave the Rangers some breathing room with a solo HR to make it 6-4.  Benoit got into trouble in the top of the 8th.  Allen singled, Battey walked, putting two on with no one out.  Rich Rollins followed with a grounder to 2nd.  Kinsler tagged Battey then threw to first to complete the double play.  Hall struck out to keep it a 6-4 game.  Top of the 9th and Francisco Cordero came on to close it out.  He walked PH Don Mincher, then struck out Oliva, Versalles, and Allison to give Texas a 6-4 win.

Game 2 – Texas 6 Minnesota 3

Michael Young was the hero as he homered twice and knocked in three runs to lead Texas to a 6-3 win.  Texas took a 2-0 lead in the 1st when David Dellucci walked, and with two outs, Alfonso Soriano and Hank Blalock hit back-to-back doubles.  Young’s solo HR in the 3rd made it 3-0, while his namesake, Chris Young, retired the first ten Twins hitters before allowing a double to Zoilo Versalles in the 4th.  Bob Allison singled him in to put Minnesota on the board at 3-1.  Things settled down as Camilo Pascual and Chris Young held the score to 3-1 through 6.  Bottom of the 7th, the Rangers broke it open.  Gary Matthews singled and went to 2nd on a bunt.  With two out, Dellucci doubled him in, 4-1 Rangers.  Michael Young followed with a 2-run HR to make it 6-1.  The Twins would get two more runs on solo HR by Bill Kostro and Harmon Killebrew, and that’s how it ended, 6-3 Texas.

Game 3 – Minnesota 5 Texas 1

This one belonged to Mudcat Grant, who after giving up a 1st inning run and surviving a 4-hit second inning with no runs, held the Rangers to just two hits through the next five innings.  Meanwhile the Twins scored single runs in each of the first five innings.  Tony Oliva led off the Twins first with a solo HR, another scored in the 2nd on an error and DP grounder.  A bases-loaded walk to Earl Battey accounted for the 3rd inning run, and Oliva’s 2nd HR of the day merited the 4th inning run.  Bob Allison started the 5th by getting hit by a pitch, then stole 2nd, took 3rd on a passed ball, and scored on Battey’s single to make it 5-1 Twins.  That’s how it ended as Roland and Klippstein closed out the final two innings.  Twins win, 5-1.

Game 4 – Texas 4 Minnesota 3 in 11 innings

The Rangers appeared poised to cruise to an easy victory but that fell apart late in the game.  John Wasdin threw 6.1 innings of 1-hit ball, leaving with a 3-1 lead.  Texas scored two in the 1st on Mark DeRosa’s double and Kevin Mench’s 2-run HR.  DeRosa homered in the 5th to make it 3-0 Texas.  In the 7th, Jimmie Hall walked, Bob Allison singled, and Earl Battey double in a run to cut the lead to 3-1.  In the 8th a walk and singled by Oliva and Versalles made it 3-2 against Kameron Loe.  Harmon Killebrew led off the 9th with a triple, and Battey walked.  Loe’s day was done and in came Shouse to face Rollins.  He got the DP grouder, but the Twins tied the game 3-3.  In the 10th, both teams got a single but nothing else.  Top of the 11th, Roland gave up a leadoff double to Teixeira.  Worthington entered and struck out Mench.  Gary Matthews was next and hit a double to score Teixeira and make it 4-3 Rangers.  Worthington got the next two hitters to end the inning.  Bottom of the 11th, Juan Dominguez pitching for Texas.  Allison drew a lead off walk.  Killebrew sent a deep fly to the wall, but Matthews caught it for the 1st out.  Allison stole 2nd, then Battey grounded out putting the tie run on 3rd.  A walk to Rollins brought Bernie Allen to the plate.  Dominguez got him to fly out to right to end the game and allow Texas to advance to the next round.  The final was 4-3.

Rangers win series in 4 games

--submitted by Jesse Elicker--
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