A Giant Call Does In the Rangers, 5-3

For the second time in a week, Mark Teixeira thought he had a game-winning or go-ahead hit in the ninth inning for Texas.

Both times, the umpires ruled otherwise.

Teixeira hit a liner down the right field line with the bases loaded in the ninth Tuesday night that appeared to land fair off the chalk but it was ruled foul, preserving the San Francisco Giants’ 5-3 victory over the Rangers at AT&T; Park.

Texas would have taken the lead on the play.

Infuriated with the call, Teixeira sprinted toward first base umpire Tim Hallion to argue in an animated tirade and was thrown out -- one of four Rangers ejections in the game.

Last Tuesday night, it looked as if Teixeira connected for a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth, but as the ball passed over or near the right field foul pole, first base umpire Bill Welke ruled it foul.

“That was a separate incident, but that still doesn’t make it any easier,” Teixeira said. “Everyone saw it. ... I honestly couldn’t believe it. It blew my mind that that was the call. I didn’t know what to do.”

Gerald Laird finished Teixeira’s at-bat and flied out to left to end the game.

Detroit 4, Houston 0 -- Roger Clemens threw six strong innings before giving up a pair of one-out walks in the seventh, and the Tigers made him pay for it. Craig Monroe hit an RBI double off reliever Dan Wheeler in the three-run seventh and Nate Robertson threw seven scoreless innings for the Tigers at Detroit.

San Diego 3, Oakland 0 -- Chris Young (7-3) outdueled Barry Zito (8-4) and the host Padres ended the six-game winning streak of the Athletics’ ace.

The victory allowed the Padres to leap over the Dodgers and take over first place in the division.

Seattle 11, Arizona 7 -- Kenji Johjima drove in a career-high five runs with his second two-homer game in as many starts and the Mariners won at Phoenix.

Boston 9, New York Mets 4 -- Mike Lowell and Alex Gonzalez homered to back rookie Jon Lester (3-0) and the host Red Sox won their 10th consecutive game -- all against the National League.

Kansas City 9, Cincinnati 8 -- Emil Brown drove in four runs to lead the Royals’ comeback, and Matt Stairs hit a two-run homer in the ninth that gave Kansas City a rare road victory.

Cleveland 3, St. Louis 1 -- C.C. Sabathia (6-4) worked eight dominant innings to help the Indians win consecutive games for the first time since the beginning of June and send the host Cardinals to their eighth consecutive loss.

Atlanta 5, New York Yankees 2 -- Horacio Ramirez (3-2) won for the first time in three weeks, giving up eight hits over eight innings at Yankee Stadium.

Toronto 6, Washington 0 -- A.J. Burnett (1-1) pitched a shutout in his second start since returning from the disabled list, leading the host Blue Jays over Nationals.

Florida 8, Tampa Bay 4 -- Miguel Olivo hit two home runs and Miguel Cabrera added another to help the Marlins to their eighth consecutive home victory.

Chicago White Sox 4, Pittsburgh 2 -- Mark Buehrle (9-4) limited the host Pirates to two runs over seven innings and the White Sox ran Pittsburgh’s losing streak to 12 games.

Philadelphia at Baltimore, ppd., rain -- The teams will attempt to play a day-night doubleheader today.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Milwaukee 8, Chicago 5 -- Ryan Dempster and Ronny Cedeno committed costly run-scoring errors for the Cubs and the Brewers scored four unearned runs in the ninth to win at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs have lost nine in a row at Wrigley Field, and 12 of 14 overall to fall a season-high 20 games under .500.