O's take 2 of 3 tight games from Rangers

Game 1 – Memorial Stadium
Garver  vs Ogando
Baltimore 4  Texas 3  
 

Baltimore opens the series scoring 1 in the bottom of the first on three straight singles off of Texas starter Alexi Ogando.  Baltimore starter Ned Garver’s season opening streak of shutout innings stops at 26 when he allowed an unearned run as a result of Baltimore second baseman Jerry Adair’s error, a Bump Wills stolen base and a Mike Hargrove RBI single. In the fourth inning Eddie Murray regained the lead for Baltimore on a solo homerun, his third of the season.  Texas immediately countered in the fifth off of Garver on a two run shot by Mark Texiera.  Baltimore tied it up in the sixth on Jim Gentile’s solo shot to close out the scoring for both teams until the 13th inning.  Combined, both teams bullpens allowed only 1 run over 13 1/3 innings of relief.  Curt Blefary’s  13th  inning pinch hit double opened the bottom of the 13th and pinch runner Don Baylor drove in the winning run on Jeffery Hammonds game winning RBI single.  A well pitched game by both sides. 

Game 2 – Memorial Stadium
Barber v Goglewski
Baltimore3 Texas 2

Another tightly contested, one run game on 33rd Street in Charm City.  Texas opened the scoring in this one when Pete Incaviglia walked and moved to second on a Clint Courtney passed ball. Mike Lamb was then walked by Baltimore starter Steve Barber before George Wright singled home Incavigilia.  Lamb later scored from third on a groundball out spotting Texas an early two run lead.  Baltimore immediately struck back in the bottom of the inning when Eddie Murray hit his second homerun in as many days to pull Baltimore within one.   Texas starter Pete Gogolewski was touched up again the next inning for two runs on two walks, a single and an Eddie Murray RBI double to close out the scoring for the game.  Both starters pitched effectively deep into the game before turning it over to the respective bullpens, which combined yielded only 1 hit and no runs for 1 2/3 innings, Baltimore’s Greg Olson earning his fifth save of the season.   

Game 3
O’Dell vs Darvish
Texas 4 Baltimore 1

Yu Darvish was on his game in this one, yielding only one Baltimore hit over seven innings and completely dominating this game.  On the Baltimore side, Billy O’Dell could not match Darvish and yielded three runs  over 5 2/3 innings.  Before yielding to Jim Palmer O’Dell was touched for a two run homerun by Ruben Sierra and another RBI double by George Wright.  In the eighth inning Texas padded it’s lead on a George Wright single, a walk that move him to second, a bunt by Texas catcher Paul Casnova that moved Wright to third and a suicide squeeze by Bump Wills that plated the run.  Mitch Williams and Neftali Feliz continued Darvish’s dominance of the O’s by pitching a perfect 8th and 9th inning.
--submitted by Mark Nixon--