Rangers squeeze past Tigers
DETROIT - Alberto Gonzalez squared to bunt, hoping to drive in the go-ahead run on a squeeze play. The ball hit his bat and glanced off his right leg before bouncing off the ground and out toward the pitcher.
Then the Texas Rangers caught a break.
Instead of being called a foul ball, Gonzalez's bunt went for an RBI single in the 11th inning, lifting the Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Gonzalez admitted after the game the ball hit him around the knee - and a replay confirmed that - but the play stood.
"As soon as he hit the ball and saw the ball was fair, he didn't stop himself," Gonzalez's translator said. "He was trying to go to first base. He knew the job was done."
The bases were loaded with nobody out when Gonzalez bunted. Right-hander Thad Weber (0-1), who was making his major league debut, had no play at the plate on runner Nelson Cruz. Weber froze with the ball, and first baseman Miguel Cabrera struggled to get back to the bag in time as all Gonzalez reached safely.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland came out to argue, but to no avail.
"I saw just what it did: The ball came down and hit him on the back knee. Clearly. Clearly. That's not even a question," Leyland said. "The ball clearly hit him, and four guys happened to miss it. That's part of the game."
Home-plate umpire Tim Welke had a chance to watch the replay afterward and said the ball did hit Gonzalez, but his crew hadn't seen that initially.
"We did not see the ball hit anybody on the field," Welke said. "We called what we saw."
Gonzalez appeared to be in the batter's box still when the ball hit him, meaning it would been ruled a foul ball if an umpire had seen the contact.
"I had warned him that if this situation came up, look for the squeeze on the first pitch," Texas manager Ron Washington said.
Robbie Ross (3-0) pitched a scoreless 10th inning for Texas, and Joe Nathan finished for his fourth save.
Josh Hamilton gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the first with his seventh homer of the year.
The Tigers led 2-1 in the eighth, with rookie starter Drew Smyly in line for his first career win. But Texas tied it when Elvis Andrus drew a walk, went to second on a wild pitch and took third when catcher Alex Avila's throw to second went into the outfield for an error.
Hamilton followed with a sacrifice fly.
AROUND THE MAJORS
AMERICAN LEAGUE
■ Rays 6, Twins 2 - At St. Petersburg, Fla., Desmond Jennings homered and had one of Tampa Bay's team-record four sacrifice flies. Josh Willingham went 0-for-2, ending his season-opening 15-game hitting streak.
■ Blue Jays 5, Royals 3 - At Kansas City, Mo., Ricky Romero won his third straight start (3-0) and Brett Lawrie stole home and drove in two runs, sending the Royals to their 10th straight loss.
■ Orioles 3, Angels 2 - At Anaheim, Calif., Nick Markakis hit a two-run single in the eighth inning and a run-scoring single in the 10th to lift Baltimore.
■ Athletics 5, Indians 1 - At Oakland, Calif., Seth Smith hit a two-run homer, helping Tyson Ross (1-0) get his first win in nearly a year as the Athletics avoided a series sweep.
■ White Sox 7, Mariners 4 - At Seattle, Alex Rios had three hits and three RBIs as Chicago completed a series sweep.
■ Yankees-Red Sox, ppd., rain - At Boston, the game was called approximately five hours before the scheduled first pitch. No makeup date was announced.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
■ Cardinals 5, Pirates 1 - At Pittsburgh, Kyle Lohse (3-0) gave up six hits in seven-plus innings and David Freese had a two-run single.
■ Astros 12, Dodgers 0 - At Houston, Jordan Schafer hit his first career grand slam, and Wandy Rodriguez (1-2) pitched three-hit ball for seven innings.
■ Rockies 4, Brewers 1 - At Milwaukee, Michael Cuddyer lined a two-run double in the eighth, and Jeremy Guthrie (2-1) pitched seven strong innings.
■ Reds 4, Cubs 3 - At Chicago, Johnny Cueto (2-0) threw 6 1/3 strong innings, and Cincinnati scored two unearned runs in the sixth without the benefit of a hit.
■ Padres 6, Phillies 1 - At San Diego, Nick Hundley homered, tripled and drove in four runs.
■ Diamondbacks 6, Braves 4 - At Phoenix, Gerardo Parra hit his first career grand slam, and Arizona broke a five-game skid.
■ Giants at Mets, ppd., rain - At New York, the game was postponed and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader today beginning at 1:10 p.m.
■ Marlins at Nationals, ppd., rain - At Washington, the game was washed out, with no makeup date announced.
