Stevens the Key to Rangers’ Win

For the first time all year, the Texas Rangers won a low-scoring game.

Lee Stevens singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Texas beat the Minnesota Twins on Sunday, 3-2.

The Rangers had been 0-11 when they were held to less than four runs.

“It’s nerve-racking, but when it’s over, it’s fun. That kind of a game helped,” Texas Manager Johnny Oates said. “Success breeds confidence, and right now, this ballclub is showing a lot of confidence.”

The win was the Rangers’ sixth in a row, matching their longest run since August. The Rangers improved to 7-0 this season against the Twins, who lost their fifth in a row.

Stevens also was flawless at first base, making several exceptional plays.

Minnesota Manager Tom Kelly said Stevens “got us with a blooper. He did a great job on defense. You had to figure something good was going to happen to him.”

The eighth-inning single extended Stevens’ hitting streak to eight games, tying a career high.

Rafael Palmeiro opened the Texas eighth with a single off Joe Mays (0-1) and Juan Gonzalez also singled. After Todd Zeile sacrificed, Stevens singled.

Jeff Zimmerman (4-0) pitched the eighth inning for the win.

John Wetteland earned his 16th save.

Minnesota mistakes gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the first and a 2-1 edge in the fifth.

In the first, Luis Alicea reached when shortstop Denny Hocking’s relay to first was too high to complete a double play. Gonzalez doubled, putting runners on second and third, and Alicea scored on a wild pitch by Dan Perkins.

“My foot slipped,” Perkins said. “I’m surprised I didn’t toss it in the eighth row.”

He retired the next 11 batters before Roberto Kelly’s one-out single in the fifth. Then Perkins hurt himself again with a wild pickoff throw that let Kelly go to second, where he was able to score on Gregg Zaun’s single.

“A couple of bad things happened to him, with the wild pitch and the pickoff throw,” Tom Kelly said. “He just needs to settle down. He tries to overdo things at times.”

Mark Clark, the Texas starter, retired 16 of 18 batters through the sixth inning. The Twins’ only baserunners in that stretch were consecutive doubles by Brent Gates and Marty Cordova in the fourth that produced a 1-1 tie.

Cordova is 14 for 28 with six RBIs in his last seven games.

Perkins left in the sixth after giving up a two-out double to Gonzalez, balking and then hitting Zeile. Perkins gave up four hits, struck out four and walked two.