Goodwin Shows Rangers He Can Produce

Last winter, the Texas Rangers weren’t interesting in paying the price to keep center fielder Tom Goodwin, who became a free agent. On Sunday, they paid for the slight.

Goodwin hit a two-run single, capping a four-run eighth inning as the Colorado Rockies rallied to their fourth straight win, 9-8, at Coors Field.

Jeffrey Hammonds’ two-run double preceded Goodwin’s hit as Colorado handed the Rangers their fifth loss in a row, matching their longest streak of the season.

“It doesn’t really matter if it came against my former team or not,” Goodwin insisted. “I still have a lot of friends over there, and I definitely wish them the best.

“We came in here thinking we could sweep the series, and we were able to come through in the clutch. It was definitely a group effort today. Being down as much as we were throughout the game, everybody just hung in there.

“Our big guys got the rally started that inning. Jeffrey obviously came through with a big double and I was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to get a hit to win the game.”

Colorado Manager Buddy Bell said Goodwin’s hit “has to make him feel good, coming against his former teammates. And Hammonds has been huge for us in the clutch. This game went from as bad as it gets to as good as it gets.”

Cincinnati 7, Cleveland 5--Aaron Boone delivered two-run single in the 13th inning at Cleveland as the Reds ended a five-game losing streak.

It looked as if the Reds were on their way to a sixth consecutive loss--all against AL Central teams--but Ken Griffey Jr. hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning when Cincinnati scored five runs to tie it at 5-5.

Griffey led off the 13th with a single and Michael Tucker followed with a perfectly placed bunt between the mound and first base.

Second baseman Roberto Alomar, who didn’t start because of a sore left wrist and entered in the 11th as a pinch-runner, fielded the bunt cleanly but tried to make a behind-the-back throw to Scott Kamieniecki covering the bag and the ball went into the Cincinnati dugout.

After an intentional walk, Boone singled down the left-field line to make it 7-5.

St. Louis 7, Detroit 3--Pat Hentgen took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Mark McGwire and Jim Edmonds homered to help the Cardinals avert a three-game sweep at Detroit.

The Cardinals, who lead the majors with 107 home runs, have homered in all but 12 of their 62 games. McGwire’s 22nd homer keyed a three-run first inning and the Cardinals scored four more in the second off Dave Mlicki (2-8).

Hentgen (5-6) allowed only two baserunners until Bobby Higginson’s one-out single in the seventh, started a three-run Detroit rally.

McGwire has hit homers in 37 major league ballparks, moving ahead of Fred McGriff, who has hit homers in 36.

Tampa Bay 7, Florida 6--Bubba Trammell hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning at St. Petersburg, Fla., as the Devil Rays won back-to-back series for the first time this season.

Trammell hit his sixth homer of the season off Ricky Bones (1-2) to snap a 4-4 tie. The last time Tampa Bay won two straight series was last August.

Fred McGriff doubled home a run in the third inning to give the Devil Rays a 2-0 lead. It was his first RBI since hitting his 400th career home run nine days ago.

Boston 5, Atlanta 3--Jose Offerman led off the eighth inning with a double and kept on running when Gold Glove center fielder Andruw Jones kicked the ball against the wall, enabling Offerman to score the tie-breaking run at Atlanta.

Boston starter Ramon Martinez yielded only one hit through five innings. The Braves scored in the sixth and seventh for a 2-2 tie, then made a couple of defensive miscues the to ruin their comeback.

After falling behind, 0-2, against reliever Rudy Seanez, Offerman lined a drive to the gap in right-center. Jones, who has won two straight Gold Gloves, sprinted to cut the ball off, only to have it carom off his leg for his first error of the season.

Toronto 8, Montreal 3--Tony Batista hit a grand slam in the eighth inning at Toronto as the Blue Jays won the three-game series, two games to one, and improved to 11-5 against the Expos.

After Guillermo Mota walked Homer Bush and Raul Mondesi singled, David Moraga, promoted from double-A Harrisburg Saturday night, made his major league debut.

Moraga gave up a tie-breaking single Carlos Delgado, Bush beating right fielder Vladimir Guerrero’s throw to the plate. Moraga then walked Brad Fullmer before Felipe Lira relieved. Batista hit the first pitch for the grand slam.

Seattle 9, San Francisco 2--Alex Rodriguez made himself at home in his first visit to San Francisco’s new ballpark.

Rodriguez doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs, leading the Mariners. He finished the three-game series going six for 11 (.545) and was on base in 10 of 15 plate appearances.

“It’s a beautiful place,” he said of Pacific Bell Park. “It’s nice to play here. It has a real personality.”

Aaron Sele (7-2) won his fifth consecutive decision and has not lost since May 5, a span of eight starts. He gave up two runs and six hits. Livan Hernandez (4-6) lost for the first time since May 14, six starts ago. He gave up five runs and nine hits walked seven.

Chicago Cubs 6, Chicago White Sox 5--Sammy Sosa tied the score with a two-run double in the seventh inning, and pinch-hitter Chad Meyers drove in the winning run with a ninth-inning grounder as the Cubs avoided being swept in the three-game series at Comiskey Park.

The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the White Sox and spoiled a two-homer day by Jose Valentin. The White Sox also got home runs from Ray Durham, Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez.

Pittsburgh 10, Kansas City 6--Brian Giles, whose run-scoring double tied the score at 5-5 in the ninth inning, homered during a five-run 10th inning as the Pirates avoided being swept at Kansas City.

Warren Morris, who was four for six after going five for six on Saturday, hit a two-run double over the head of center fielder Carlos Beltran. Adrian Brown, who had four hits, singled home Morris and Giles followed with a two-run homer.

Milwaukee 5, Minnesota 3--John Snyder ended an eight-game losing streak and Marquis Grissom homered and scored three times to help the Brewers win at Minneapolis.

Snyder (1-2), who hadn’t won since Aug. 9, 1999, yielded three runs and eight hits while walking four, two of them intentional, in 5 2/3 innings.

David Weathers replaced him with two out in the sixth with the Brewers ahead 4-3 and runners on first and third.

He got Ron Coomer on a high pop fly that second baseman Ron Belliard and shortstop Santiago Perez lost in the Metrodome ceiling. Belliard recovered and caught the ball as he was falling down after the lead runner had already crossed the plate with what would have been the tying run.

New York Mets at New York Yankees--The final game of the Subway Series was rained out before the teams could complete the third inning.

The Yankees led, 1-0, when the game was stopped with one out in the bottom of the third. Lightning flashed outside Yankee Stadium and there was a big clap of thunder before the umpires called for the tarp to be put on the field.

The rain got worse during the delay and the game was called after a wait of 1 hour 31 minutes. No makeup date was immediately announced.