Palmeiro’s Hit Has Dodgers Unlucky in 13

Dodger General Manager Kevin Malone said, in this troubling time for his ballclub, he has been reading the Bible a lot.

“There has been a lot of prayer time,” he said. “I have been spending a lot more time reading the scriptures, seeking God’s wisdom.”

It doesn’t take divine wisdom to ascertain that a team with shaky starting pitching and a catcher with an ineffective arm would need a miracle to be successful.

There were no miracles Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium, only another disappointing evening for the home team.

Despite rallying with runs in the eighth and ninth innings to tie the Texas Rangers, the Dodgers went on to lose, 7-6, in 13 innings in front of what was left of a crowd of 26,255 to fall below .500 at 28-29.

Rafael Palmeiro’s two-out single against reliever Alan Mills scored Rusty Greer with the winning run.

Mike Munoz turned the back the Dodgers in the bottom of the 13th to give him his first save and fellow reliever Jeff Zimmerman (6-0) the win.

The victory, the second in as many nights for Texas in this interleague series, improved the AL West-leading Rangers to 35-22 and turned the frustration level up another notch for the Dodgers.

Nobody is more frustrated than catcher Todd Hundley, who continues to struggle 21 months after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his throwing elbow.

And nothing could better demonstrate the futility enveloping the Dodgers than the game within the game Tuesday night between Hundley and Texas outfielder Tom Goodwin.

Goodwin came into the game with an American League-leading 24 stolen bases and had been successful on 21 of his previous 25 attempts. Hundley came in having thrown out only seven runners in 51 base-stealing attempts.

Talk about a match made in Ranger heaven.

The first confrontation wasn’t long in coming. Goodwin opened the game with a single and immediately tried to steal second. Not only was he successful, but Hundley’s attempt to get him wound up in center field.

It was the start of a long night for the Dodger catcher.

By the time it was over, the Rangers had stolen six bases, three by Goodwin, in as many attempts. Hundley’s success rate dropped to a meager 12% (seven for 57). He also was unable to hang on to a throw from right fielder Raul Mondesi in the fifth inning following a single by Todd Zeile, a run scoring on the play.

The Rangers scored two runs in the first inning. After Goodwin came home on Mark McLemore’s groundout, Juan Gonzalez one out later hit his 16th home run, getting his 999th career RBI.

Greer doubled in a run in the third and Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez and Zeile each singled home runs in the fifth.

The Rangers’ first six runs were charged to Dodger starter Darren Dreifort.

But the Dodgers hung close all night. Texas starter Mike Morgan handed the Dodgers their first run when, with Trenidad Hubbard at third in the third, Morgan balked the run home.

Before the inning was over, Mondesi had sent two more runs home in a more conventional manner, smacking a triple to the wall in left-center.

Eric Young singled home the Dodgers’ fourth run in the fourth and Mondesi’s 19th home run in the eighth left the Dodgers’ a run back at 6-5.

With closer John Wetteland on the mound in the ninth, the Dodgers got a leadoff single from Hubbard. But Wetteland struck out pinch-hitter Dave Hansen and Hubbard was thrown out trying to steal.

A check of the replay showed the play on Hubbard to be a questionable call at best since Texas shortstop Royce Clayton pushed Hubbard off the bag after the Dodger outfielder arrived there before the throw.

The Dodgers were down to their last out, but Young made the most of that last opportunity, hitting a 1-1 pitch from Wetteland over the wall in left field to tie the game.

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