Post by WVUfanPHILLY on Aug 22, 2007 23:20:42 GMT -5
By DAVID GINSBURG, AP Sports Writer
August 22, 2007
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Texas Rangers became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record Wednesday in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles.
Trailing 3-0 in the opener of a doubleheader, the Rangers scored five runs in the fourth inning, nine in the sixth, 10 in the eighth and six in the ninth.
It was the ninth time a major league team scored 30 runs, the first since Chicago set the major league record in a 36-7 rout of Louisville in a National League game on June 28, 1897, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Marlon Byrd and Travis Metcalf hit grand slams for the last-place Rangers. Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ramon Vazquez, the bottom two batters in Texas' lineup, each homered twice and had seven RBIs.
David Murphy had five of the Rangers' 29 hits, the most by a major league team since Milwaukee had 31 in a 22-2 victory over Toronto on Aug. 28, 1992, according to Elias.
Texas also set a team record for runs scored in a doubleheader -- before the second game even started.
Hours after announcing manager Dave Trembley would return for the 2008 season, the Orioles absorbed the most lopsided loss in franchise history and set a team record for hits allowed in a game.
Saltalamacchia, a rookie who came in batting .179, went 4-for-6 with a walk and scored five runs.
Kason Gabbard (6-1) allowed three runs and seven hits over six innings. He is 2-1 in six starts since Texas acquired him from Boston on July 31.
Even with the one-sided score, there was a save. Wes Littleton earned his second career save and first this season by pitching three scoreless innings.
Texas erased a 3-0 deficit by batting around in a five-run fourth. A walk to Byrd and an infield hit by Jason Botts preceded a two-run single by Saltalamacchia. After a visit from pitching coach Leo Mazzone, Daniel Cabrera (9-13) gave up a go-ahead, three-run homer to Vazquez.
Texas made it 14-3 by scoring nine runs on 10 hits in the sixth. The 10 hits matched a club record for one inning and were three more than the Rangers totaled in their previous two games.
Cabrera left after serving up a home run to Saltalamacchia. Brian Burres yielded two singles and a walk before Byrd hit his third career slam. Saltalamacchia, Vazquez, Frank Catalanotto and Ian Kinsler added RBI singles.
Texas got seven hits in the eighth. Metcalf, called up from Triple-A Oklahoma earlier in the day, hit his first career slam and Saltalamacchia added a three-run shot.
Vazquez's second homer highlighted a six-run ninth.
Baltimore's Kevin Millar went 1-for-4, extending his run of reaching via hit, walk or hit by pitch to 48 games -- one short of Ken Singleton's club record set in 1977. ... Melvin Mora ended an 0-for-16 skid with a fourth-inning bunt single.
