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Monday, Apr. 3 3:05pm ET
Kapler, Pudge homer twice as Rangers roll | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Gabe Kapler isn't wasting any time making Texas Rangers fans forget Juan Gonzalez. Kapler became the first player to homer in his first two at-bats as a Ranger, added an RBI single and showed some strong defense and aggressive baserunning in leading Texas over the Chicago White Sox 10-4 in Monday's opener. AL MVP Ivan Rodriguez chipped in with two homers and five RBI, and Kenny Rogers was superb in his return to his original team, giving manager Johnny Oates and the largest regular-season crowd in Rangers history even more reasons to smile. "This was one of those days where a lot of things went right for us," Oates said. "For some reason, I've got that gut feeling that we're going to be a little bit better than most people think. And we were today." Kapler was a big reason for it, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, three runs and thousands of new fans won over in his first game replacing Gonzalez in right field. He received standing ovations from the folks in right field when he came out following each of his homers and drew oohs and aahs throughout the stadium for two strong throws. Fittingly, he made a running catch for the game's last out. "I think today was huge," said Kapler, acquired in the November trade that sent Gonzalez, a two-time AL MVP, to Detroit. "It's a really big deal for me." Kapler has been known mostly as a muscular guy with a lot of skills but only some appearances on the cover of fitness magazines to show for it. He hit .245 for the Tigers last year in his first big-league season. Although the Rangers aren't expecting him to put up Gonzalez-like numbers, Kapler had Gonzalez-like power show by hitting a solo homer off loser Mike Sirotka in the second inning and another on the next pitch he saw two innings later. But Kapler was most proud of his third at-bat, when he was down in the count 1-2 and drilled an outside pitch up the middle to drive in another run. "That felt good because I knew they were pitching me away because they thought they could get me out," he said. "It didn't work out that way." He came around to score on a goofy play where he ran through a stop sign from third-base coach Jerry Narron, but jarred the ball from the catcher's mitt. Kapler didn't realize it, though, and ran past home plate, going back only after on-deck hitter Royce Clayton told him to. "I got a really good break and was sure I was going to score easily," Kapler said. "I apologized to Jerry because to me it makes the third-base coach not look so good. I know that's not going to happen again." Rogers kept the ball down, coaxing most of his outs on ground balls -- including four double plays -- as he won his first game for his original team following a four-year absence. Rogers allowed one run in eight innings to earn his 19th straight home victory, the third-longest streak in history. It was a nice start for the lefty, whose final 1999 performance for the New York Mets saw him walk home the winning run against Atlanta in the clinching Game 6 of the NLCS. "I don't feel I was as sharp as I wanted to be, but I got ground balls when I needed them," Rogers said. "It's a great feeling to be back here." Chicago got its first run on a double-play groundout by Mark Johnson in the second, then didn't have another runner past first until the seventh. The White Sox scored three times off three relievers in the ninth. "We lost to a veteran big-league starter who really changed speeds well and worked in and out and kept hitters off balance," said Chicago's Frank Thomas. "It was the seventh inning before we knew it." Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in the third inning that put Texas up 4-1. His two-run shot in the fifth started a four-run rally that really broke the game open. Nothing seemed to go right for Chicago. Third baseman Craig Wilson, who beat out hot-hitting Greg Norton because of his glove, set up Texas' four-run fifth by booting a likely double play grounder and made another error on a routine ball in the seventh. Sirotka walked the leadoff hitter and went downhill from there, allowing seven runs -- six earned -- in 4 1-3 innings. He gave up four homers, two more than ever before, walked two and hit a batter. "When I made bad pitches, they didn't miss them," Sirotka said. The opener drew 49,332 fans, more than 2,000 more than last July 4, and featured former President George Bush throwing out the first pitch. They also saw the Rangers debut new blue alternate jerseys. About the only things that didn't go great for Texas were the weather and the bullpen. In addition to clouds and cooler-than-usual temperatures, high winds forced a pregame parachute jump to be canceled. Game notesBush's ceremonial first pitch was high and outside, much better than the one-hopper he tossed out before the Rangers' 1991 season. ... The teams got a taste of the new unified umpire crews. Three of the four working this series used to be NL guys. ... Reliever Kelly Wunsch made his big-league debut for Chicago in the eighth, retiring the side. ... This was the 10th multihomer game of Rodriguez's career. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Chi. White Sox Clubhouse Texas Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 4 Baltimore 1
Texas 10
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