Gonzalez Jolts the Rangers’ Offense

The Angels were only going to hold Texas Ranger outfielder Juan Gonzalez in check for so long. They can only hope that now he has it out of his system, at least for this weekend.

Gonzalez, by himself, did more damage to the Angels than most teams have during their recent hot streak. Only twice in the last 19 games have the Angels given up more than five runs. Gonzalez did that in two swings Friday in the Rangers’ 7-3 victory, which cut the Angels’ lead to a half-game in the AL West.

It was only the Rangers’ third victory in the last eight games.

They had hit only .245 in the previous seven games. But Gonzalez put some jolt back in the major league’s top offense.

He drove in three runs with a bases-loaded double off Chuck Finley in the seventh, breaking a 2-2 tie. He then hit a two-run homer in the ninth, giving the Rangers a 7-3 lead.

“Luckily, he’s on my team,” winning pitcher Rick Helling said. “I don’t have to worry about him.”

Finley didn’t have it so good.

He handled Gonzalez fairly well early. Gonzalez singled, walked and flied to right in his first three at-bats. But Finley had to face him with the bases loaded in the seventh. There was nowhere to hide.

“There are many guys I’d rather face in that situation other than Juan,” Ranger Manager Johnny Oates said. “It’s not like you can Buck Showalter him in that situation.”

Showalter, Arizona’s manager, gave San Francisco’s Barry Bonds an intentional walk with the bases loaded this season. With the score tied, 2-2, the Angels couldn’t consider such a radical move.

Gonzalez lined a double to right-center.

“I can look for a good pitch in that situation,” Gonzalez said. “It’s my job to drive in runs.”

He was working overtime in the ninth, launching Shigetoshi Hasegawa’s pitch well over the left-field fence.

“It was a good effort by both pitchers,” Oates said. “We just had a big hit at the right time by our big hitter.

“We’ve seen that a lot this year. We don’t get tired of it in our dugout.”

This was the fifth five-RBI game this season for Gonzalez, who has driven in 86 runs, tops in the major leagues. Still, he looked stunned that reporters wanted to talk with him afterward. It couldn’t have been that surprising.

After all, this was a big game for the Rangers. They spent 67 days in first place and led the Angels by six games on May 24. The fall has been quick, and they bottomed out last weekend. The Angels took three of four games in Arlington.

“Last week was tough for me,” Gonzalez said. “My timing was off and I wasn’t comfortable.”

Gonzalez had four hits in 15 at-bats during the series and drove in one run. It was part of a bigger slump, as he was hitting only .234 in his last 17 games before Friday and his average dipped to a season-low .298.

More worrisome was the fact that he wasn’t driving in runs at the same rate--although his early season pace had him on track to break Hack Wilson’s major league record of 190.

“He has been going through a dry spell,” Oates said. “He’d been getting one RBI in one game, then none for a couple games. Tonight, he threw five up there pretty quick.”