Red Sox Finally Play, but Lose to Rangers

A lot of trends were reversed Monday night. The Texas Rangers won a one-run game, and did so while scoring less than six runs. And the Boston Red Sox even played a game.

After being rained out for four consecutive days, the Red Sox saw Rafael Palmeiro homer twice and Luis Alicea hit a two-run, tiebreaking single as the Rangers defeated them, 5-4.

Texas had lost its first four one-run games of the season and had dropped its first eight when the offense failed to score at least six runs. The Rangers had dropped six of their previous seven games overall.

“There’s no way to explain the last eight days,” Ranger Manager Johnny Oates said. “Coming out of spring training, I thought we’d have our share of low-scoring games like this one. But we’ll win our share of one-run games before it’s over.”

Palmeiro hit a two-run shot in the third inning and added a solo drive in the seventh for the 23rd two-homer game of his career. Palmeiro’s 369 home runs tie him with Ralph Kiner for 47th on the career list, two behind Gil Hodges.

“I wasn’t looking for them,” Palmeiro said. “They just gave me some pitches I was able to drive.”

Said Oates: “I’ve seen that many times before. When he gets to swing the bat, he can do a lot of damage.”

Boston Manager Jimy Williams refused to pin the loss on his team’s layoff.

“We have no excuses,” Williams said. “We played good tonight, we just got beat 5-4. It’s a nine-inning game.”

Ranger starter Kenny Rogers gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, striking out two.