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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- If all pitchers could throw as
effectively as Jeff Suppan threw Wednesday night, people would stop worrying about rabbit balls.
"That's why it doesn't matter if the ball is juiced or the bats
are juiced," the Rangers' Rafael Palmiero said. "If a guy can hit
his spots, stay ahead in the count and change speeds, he can win."
Winless in his eight previous starts, Suppan shut out the
Rangers on six hits in eight innings as Kansas City snapped Texas'
seven-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory.
"He was magnificent," said Royals manager Tony Muser, who got
a two-year contract extension earlier in the day. "That was really
a beautiful ballgame."
Suppan (2-4) struck out six, walked three and kept the Rangers
off-balance all night with unerring offspeed pitches. Jerry
Spradlin pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
"That's called pitching," Texas manager Johnny Oates said.
"He threw a lot of 3-1 and 2-0 changeups. It's pitching when you
locate the ball, change speeds and throw what the hitter isn't
looking for. He did it very well tonight."
The Rangers, who had won 10 of their last 12, entered with a
major league-leading .302 batting average. They were shut out for
only the second time this season.
"You know what they're doing," Suppan said. "You know who's
hot in their lineup."
Suppan ended the second, third, fifth and seventh innings with
strikeouts, stranding four runners. The Rangers stranded 10
runners, at least one in every inning, and squandered a chance to
move ahead of Seattle into first place in the AL West.
"I think I was bearing down the whole game," Suppan said. "I
felt like I had to be on top of my game the whole game against this
lineup."
With one out in the seventh, Kansas City's Rey Sanchez reached
when shortstop Royce Clayton booted his grounder for an error.
Johnny Damon then lined a hot grounder off starter Kenny Rogers'
right knee for an infield single.
Rogers (3-5), who missed his previous start because of a
strained muscle in his left shoulder, left the game. He was
replaced by Francisco Cordero. Oates said he was not seriously
hurt.
Carlos Febles bounced into a forceout before Mike Sweeney's
double made it 3-0.
Dave McCarty led off the third with his first major league
triple since he was with Minnesota in 1995. Two pitches later,
Brian Johnson doubled off Rogers for a 1-0 lead.
In 6 1/3 innings, Rogers gave up seven hits and three runs -- only one earned -- with one walk and two strikeouts.
Texas' Ivan Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a double, raising his
average to from .366 to .375. He leads the majors with 131 total
bases and a .744 slugging percentage.
Game notes
Rain delayed the start of the game by 59 minutes. ...
Royals 3B coach Rich Dauer took a tumble and got a big hand from
the crowd when he jumped out of the way of a sharply hit foul ball
in the first inning. ... The Rangers are in a stretch of nine
straight games against the AL Central. ... Texas' Chad Curtis has
reached base via a hit or walk in 18 straight games. ... Royals 2B
Carlos Febles, who turned 24 on Wednesday, made a fine leaping catch of Mike Lamb's line drive in the fourth.
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