Rangers 8 Yankees 4 ARLINGTON – Pin it on a faulty pen. Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez was far from sharp, but wasn’t the reason the Yankees had a six-game winning streak stopped last night.
No, blame the 8-6 loss to the Rangers in front of 33,038 at The Ballpark squarely on the shoulders of relievers Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson since Stanton flushed a one-run lead in the seventh and Nelson allowed that to swell to 8-4.
The loss, which Stanton (1-2) absorbed, lowered the AL East-leading Yankees’ record to 13-6. They had won 14 of the last 18 games against the Rangers. The Rangers, who are atop the lowly AL West, improved to 12-9. They are the only team in that division with a winning record.
Mike Munoz (1-0) was the winner. He replaced starter Mark Clark in the sixth. John Wetteland, who flushed a save chance Tuesday, recorded the final three outs for his seventh save in eight chances.
Tino Martinez homered twice and Jorge Posada added a two-run shot. It was Posada’s first hit of the year from the left side of the plate in 26 at-bats.
Todd Zeile hit his sixth homer and added a two-run double.
Stanton worked one-third of an inning, allowing four runs and three hits and watched his ERA balloon from 7.20 to 11.82. Nelson, who has had problems in five of his last six outings, surrendered one run and two hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Used to get one batter out in each of his last four outings, Stanton gave up consecutive singles to Lee Stevens, Royce Clayton and pinch-hitter Roberto Kelly in the seventh. After getting Mark McLemore on a grounder to Derek Jeter, Stanton fell behind Rusty Greer, 3-0, before issuing the final ball intentionally.
With the bases loaded, interim manager Don Zimmer called for Nelson to face Juan Gonzalez, a .368 (7-for-19) hitter against the slider specialist.
At 2-1, Gonzalez snapped a 4-4 tie with a two-run single to left. Nelson walked Rafael Palmeiro on a 3-2 pitch in front of striking out Ivan Rodriguez for the second out. Having buried Zeile in the count, 0-2, Nelson left a pitch up that Zeile drove to right for a two-run double and an 8-4 bulge.
El Duque’s rocky sixth was his last inning and he escaped unscathed when he worked out of a first-and-third, one-out situation. Gonzalez singled softly to left and Palmeiro walked.
Following a visit to the mound by pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre that appeared to be designed to give Jason Grimsley more time to get ready in the bullpen, Rodriguez’ fly ball to right-center advanced Gonzalez to third. Even at 2-2, El Duque fed Zeile a sinker that resulted in a grounder to third for the final out.
In six innings, El Duque allowed three runs and seven hits and didn’t figure in the decision when the Rangers scored five in the seventh.
Rodriguez opened the fifth with a double and scored on Stevens’ RBI double into the left-field corner to cut the Yankees’ advantage to 4-2.
El Duque, who fanned Zeile with Rodriguez on second, popped up Clayton for the second out in front of the slumping Tom Goodwin’s single to center that scored Stevens to make it a one-run game. Goodwin swiped second but was stranded there when El Duque got McLemore to chase a sweeping breaking ball.
Chili Davis’ leadoff single to center sparked a three-run rally for the Yankees in the fifth and broke a 1-1 tie.
Posada, who had fanned looking in the first to run his strikeout total to 14 in 32 at-bats, hit a monster homer that collided with an empty seat in the second deck of the right-field seats, travelling 413 feet. Posada was the second hitter this year to reach that part of The Ballpark and only the 35th since the place opened in 1994.
Chad Curtis followed the blast with a single to left and moved to second when Clark uncorked a wild pitch. Luis Sojo scored Curtis for a 4-1 lead with a single to left.
Clark stopped the bleeding by getting Chuck Knoblauch looking at a 2-2 pitch and ended the rally when Jeter lined to first baseman Stevens to start a double play.
Zeile’s sixth homer was an opposite-field production in the third inning and landed in the first rows of seats in the right-field pavilion to tie the score, 1-1.
Martinez’ second homer and first in 51 at-bats staked the Yankees to a 1-0 lead in the second inning after Paul O’Neill’s line drive to second base with Jeter on the move resulted in an inning-ending double play in the first.
Jeter, whose .414 batting average was tops in the majors when last night’s action started, singled with one out. He has reached base in each of the Yankees’ 19 games.
