Palmer Packs a Wallop, Then His Bags

L.A. Times Archives

July 26, 1997 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

Dean Palmer hit a three-run homer and a go-ahead single Friday night for the Texas Rangers, then learned of being traded minutes after the game to the Kansas City Royals for outfielder Tom Goodwin.

Palmer hit his 14th home run in the Rangers’ 8-5 victory over the White Sox at Chicago. It was his 154th homer, moving him into second place on the all-time Texas list.

Palmer singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth and pinch-hitter Mike Simms followed with a homer as the Rangers ended their losing streak at four games.

Palmer, in his sixth full season as a third baseman for the Rangers and eligible for free agency at the end of the season, declined comment as he packed his bags in the clubhouse shortly after the trade was announced.

“It’s the business of baseball. It’s not about loyalty,” Ranger first baseman Will Clark said. “You’re losing a guy like Dean who has been around so long and is a class individual and a hard worker, who has great power and drives in a lot of runs. It’s another one of the good guys gone. He’s the kind of guy you like to have on your ballclub.”

Palmer had struggled in the last 67 games, batting .223 as the Rangers have fallen five games under .500.

Chicago’s Robin Ventura, who won Thursday’s game with a double in his first appearance since breaking and dislocating his ankle in spring training, hit his first homer of the season.

Seattle 8, New York 1--Ken Griffey Jr.’s first home run in 15 games, a three-run shot, capped a six-run fourth inning for the Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

Griffey, who had been stuck on homer No. 30 since July 5, ended his longest drought this season with a shot off David Wells (10-5). Griffey had gone 59 at-bats since his last home run.

Jamie Moyer (11-3) held the Yankees to seven hits in 7 1/3 innings, his longest outing this year. After giving up a two-out single in the second, the left-hander allowed New York only one more hit until the eighth.

Minnesota 5, Baltimore 2--Brad Radke won his 10th consecutive start with his second complete game in a row at Minneapolis.

Radke (14-5) became the first Minnesota pitcher to win 10 consecutive starts and moved within two victories of Scott Erickson’s franchise-record 12-game winning streak in 1991.

Radke struck out six and walked one as he lowered his earned-run average to 2.09 during the streak, the second longest in the majors this season. Roger Clemens started the season by winning 11 consecutive decisions.

Paul Molitor, in his ninth two-homer game, hit solo shots. Terry Steinbach’s two-run home run in the third put the Twins ahead to stay.

Milwaukee 6, Detroit 1--Dave Nilsson hit two home runs and Scott Karl pitched seven solid innings at Detroit as the Brewers ended a losing streak at four games.

Nilsson, Jeromy Burnitz and Gerald Williams all homered in the fourth inning off Scott Sanders. Nilsson, who has hit three of his 16 homers the last two games, added a two-run shot off Glenn Dishman in the eighth.

Karl (5-10), pitching in Tiger Stadium for the first time, won his third consecutive start after losing his previous five decisions. He gave up a run on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.

Toronto 2, Kansas City 1--Despite being outhit for the fourth game in a row, the Blue Jays won their fourth consecutive game at Toronto.

With only five hits to the Royals’ 10, Toronto (49-49) reached the .500 mark for the first time since June 1.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Bests of the Day

BATTING

Player: Dave Nilsson

Team: Milwaukee

Performance: 2 for 4, 2 homers, 3 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

Player: Tim Salmon

Team: Angels

Performance: 4 for 7, 5 RBIs in 2 games