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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Ah, the beauty of the home opener. A sunny day, balloons, bunting and baseball.
Nice, all right. But after playing in their third opening day game this season, the Cleveland Indians have seen enough pomp and pageantry to last them until October.
|  | | Texas pitcher Rick Helling retired 18 of the last 21 Cleveland batters he faced. |
"We're opening dayed out," Richie Sexson said Friday after Rick Helling and the Texas Rangers spoiled the first game of 2000 at Jacobs Field with a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Helling (2-0) allowed four hits in eight innings and David Segui, Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez all homered for the Rangers, who prevented the Indians from beginning a new era of baseball in Cleveland with a victory.
"You want to do better on opening day, especially this one," said Indians catcher Sandy Alomar. "But it was a boring game for us. We didn't pitch good and we didn't hit."
Helling was the main reason for that.
After giving up a two-run homer to Omar Vizquel in the first, Helling didn't let another runner get to second and retired 18 of the final 21.
The right-hander entered the game with a 7.84 ERA at Jacobs Field, his highest at any AL ballpark, but once he got past the first, Helling was in total control. With the ball carrying well to right, he kept the ball low and finished with two walks and nine strikeouts.
"I don't want to pat myself on the back," Helling said. "But when you face a lineup like that, if you can throw up seven zeros in a row, you're doing a pretty good job. I haven't had much success against those guys."
Rangers manager Johnny Oates said it was the best he's seen Helling in two years.
"I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone pitch that well against that lineup," Oates said. "He was in command."
The Indians began their 100th season on the road by going 7-2 on a trip that included opening day matchups in Baltimore and Tampa Bay. Despite having a day off Thursday, Helling made the Indians look tired.
"He went at our hitters hard," said Indians rookie manager Charlie Manuel. "He got ahead in the count and then used changeups. He hit the outside corner real well. Travis Fryman came back to the dugout and said, 'Watch out, boys. He's on that outside corner."'
On a cloudless, 70-degree day, Cleveland's opener began sentimentally as former owner Richard Jacobs was introduced to the 374th consecutive sellout crowd at the ballpark bearing his name.
Jacobs had to be talked into taking part in the pregame festivities by Larry Dolan, who purchased the Indians from him this winter for $323 million.
Standing alone in the middle of the diamond, Jacobs, who owned the Indians since 1986 and was responsible for Cleveland's baseball renaissance, was visibly moved when the crowd saluted him with a long standing ovation.
"He sincerely enjoyed it," Dolan said. "I thought he deserved that moment."
In a symbolic passing of the torch, the 74-year-old Jacobs then bounced his pitch to Dolan, who made a nice bare-handed stop.
Indians starter Dave Burba didn't pitch much better.
Burba (1-1) fell behind 3-0 in the first inning when Segui connected for a two-run homer and was gone in the fifth after Palmeiro homered and Segui doubled off the wall.
Burba gave up six runs and nine hits in four-plus innings. He walked three and struck out four. During Cleveland's six-game winning streak, Indians starters went 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA.
"The majority of my pitches were up in the strike zone," Burba said. "When you are fighting yourself on the mound, you are going to have problems. I wanted to win, give the fans and the city some excitement. This just wasn't my day."
Chad Curtis doubled with one out in the first and Rodriguez followed with an RBI single. After Palmeiro flied out, Segui drove a 1-0 pitch from Burba over the wall in right.
The Indians got two runs back in the bottom of the inning on Vizquel's second homer this season. Vizquel, who had his most productive offensive season in 1999 with 66 RBI, has already driven in 15 runs.
Game notes
The Indians observed a moment of silence before the game for Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Lemon, who died on Jan. 11. ... The Rangers (17-13) and the New York Yankees (21-9) are the only opposing teams with winning records at the Jake. ... Cleveland's Jim Thome, who stranded 10 runners at Oakland on Monday night when the A's played three infielders on the right side, unsuccessfully tried to bunt his way on in the first when the Rangers shifted against the pull hitter. ... Reliever Tom Martin committed just the Indians second error this season.
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Baseball Scoreboard
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RECAPS
Texas 7
Cleveland 2
Oakland 13
Boston 6
Chi. White Sox 9
Anaheim 4
Detroit 10
Tampa Bay 5
NY Yankees 7
Kansas City 5
Seattle 11
Toronto 9
Minnesota 10
Baltimore 9
Florida 9
Chicago Cubs 4
Los Angeles 8
Cincinnati 1
Atlanta 6
Milwaukee 3
Montreal 4
Philadelphia 0
NY Mets 8
Pittsburgh 5
Colorado 6
St. Louis 2
Houston 10
San Diego 4
Arizona 3
San Francisco 1
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