TCU WIN OUER PORTLAND ST. 55-13

Fan dies after fall at Rangers Ballpark

ARLINGTON -- A man died from injuries sustained when he fell approximately 20 feet from section 5 in the left field lower reserved seats to the area behind the out-of-town scoreboard at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Thursday night.

The fan was identified as Shannon Stone, a 39-year-old firefighter from Brownwood, Texas, according to The Associated Press.

The tragedy occurred in the second inning of the Rangers' 6-0 victory over the Athletics.

"As an organization, our team members and our staff, we are very heavy hearted about this," Rangers president Nolan Ryan said in addressing the media after the game. "Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the family. Our thoughts are with them."

The fan fell headfirst in the second inning while leaning over the front-row railing trying to catch a ball that had been tossed into the stands by left fielder Josh Hamilton. Athletics outfielder Conor Jackson had hit a foul ball that caromed out to Hamilton in left.

As most Major League players do, Hamilton flipped the potential souvenir into the stands. The fan reached over the railing, caught the ball and then fell headfirst into the opening behind the scoreboard.

Ronnie Hargis told the Dallas Morning News that he was sitting next to the man who fell.

"He went straight down," Hargis said. "I tried to grab him, but I couldn't. I tried to slow him down a little bit."

Another fan, David Dodson, told the Morning News that the man lost his balance as the ball hit his hand.

"It looked awful because you knew there was no way he was going to land on his feet," Dodson said.

The fan was immediately attended to by emergency personnel and taken to a Fort Worth hospital. According to the Arlington Police Department, the man went into full arrest on the way to John Peter Smith Hospital and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Stone fell and landed not far from the Athletics' bullpen.

"When they had him on a stretcher and they were carrying him out, he was saying stuff like 'Please check on my son, he's left up there by himself.'" Athletics reliever Brad Ziegler said. "The people that carried him out reassured him that, 'We'll get your son, we'll make sure he's OK.' We just kind of assumed that he's talking, he's conscious, he'll be OK. To find out he's not is just ... tough."

The Rangers were aware of the incident, but did not know the extent of the man's injuries.

It was only after the game that Hamilton and his teammates found out that the man had passed away. Ryan spoke to the players and the rest of the team in a postgame meeting in the clubhouse.

"We spoke to them, and they understand what happened," Ryan said. "Josh is very distraught over this, as is the entire team."

The Rangers did not open the clubhouse to the media after the game.

"It's always difficult when someone loses their life," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

"It filtered into our dugout, and talk about having an effect," Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. "It got through our dugout. Certainly, baseball's not very important in light of something like that.

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RANGERS BEAT A's 6-0

ARLINGTON -- The night should have been all about Derek Holland.

That's what the Rangers were talking about immediately after their 6-0 victory over the Athletics on Thursday night, and designated hitter Michael Young said in a postgame television interview that Holland's ability to rebound from his last start was "huge."

Then, the Rangers had a team meeting, and club president Nolan Ryan told them that a fan had died as a result of injuries sustained in a fall from the left-field seats in the second inning.

"I don't know how many saw what happened, but we certainly knew about it," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We just didn't know exactly what happened."

The Rangers found out afterward, and the clubhouse was closed to the media for the rest of the evening. Only Washington was made available to talk somberly about the Rangers' fourth straight victory and the brilliant performance by Holland.

"It was obvious, he was outstanding," Washington said. "He pounded the strike zone from the first pitch, and never looked back. He stayed focused."

Young hit a home run and scored his 959th run. That allowed him to set a new Rangers career record for most runs, passing Rafael Palmeiro. Josh Hamilton was 1-for-2 with four RBIs. He drove home a run in each of his four plate appearances.

In his last start, Holland had lasted just two-thirds of an inning, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks. He allowed four hits and two walks on Thursday night, but that was spread over nine innings, as he threw his second shutout of the season and third of his career. It was also the first shutout by a Rangers left-handed pitcher at the Ballpark since Kenny Rogers on May 3, 2004.

Holland allowed just two hits and a walk through eight innings. The Athletics were able to load the bases with two out in the ninth, but Holland -- down to his last batter of the night -- got Conor Jackson to fly out to end the game.

"He threw more curveballs than we saw in our reports," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "Good changeup, really both sides of the plate. He was able to pitch in as a left-hander, and make right-handers aware of the inside. It opens up for balls away. His offspeed stuff, we were just in between. This was the first game in a while where I just didn't feel we were in it."

Holland outpitched former Rangers teammate Rich Harden, who allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks. He is now 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in two starts for the Athletics, after missing the first three months of the season with a strained right shoulder.

"Rich was Rich," Washington said. "We made him get the ball up, and made him work hard. He certainly wasn't erratic, and it was a different Rich than what we saw last year. He competed hard."

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Ian Kinsler led off with a double. It was the fifth straight game that Kinsler has reached leading off the first inning. He went to third on Elvis Andrus' sacrifice bunt, and scored on Hamilton's grounder to short.

In the third, Andrus singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Hamilton's single. A double by Mitch Moreland and a single by Mike Napoli made it 3-0 in the fourth, and the Rangers added another run that inning on a sacrifice fly by Hamilton.

Young's home run gave the Rangers a 5-0 lead in the fifth, and Hamilton added another sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Rangers scored in five of their first six innings, and did not go down in order until the seventh.

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RANGERS WIN 5-4 IN EXTRAS

ATLANTA -- Rangers reliever Neftali Feliz sat on a big leather sofa with his feet propped up on a table. He had a smile on his face and his body gently rocked to the sound of the victorious Latin music pounding through the Rangers' victorious clubhouse.

"Long day .. but a great day," Feliz said. "I was very happy to get that save ... very happy to get it here against the Braves."

On a night when Rangers starter Matt Harrison deserved a medal of valor, Feliz and Adrian Beltre deserved gold stars for finally bring this one to a triumphant end. Feliz drove in the winning run with a one-out single in the 10th and Feliz closed it out in the bottom of the inning to preserve Texas' 5-4 victory over Atlanta on Saturday at Turner Field.

The game was delayed two hours and 16 minutes by rain during the fifth inning before needing to be decided in extras. But the Rangers have won two straight over the Braves after bringing a five-game skid with them. They are 3-6 with one game left on a 10-game trip.

"A great victory for sure," said shortstop Elvis Andrus, who had three hits, two runs scored and his second career steal of home. "We have been grinding it out this whole road trip. Now we've won two games here, we have a chance to swing momentum back our way when we go home."

Andrus, working with Josh Hamilton on the double steal, swiped home in the third. It was his second steal of home this season and helped give the Rangers a 4-0 lead. But they almost let this one slip away. Three unearned runs helped the Braves rally and force extra innings before Texas pulled it out.

"It was a battle, it really was," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

"If you're going to sit here all day, you might as well win it," reliever Darren Oliver said. "That was a long day."

Mark Lowe earned the victory with a scoreless ninth after the Braves tied it up with an unearned run in the eighth off Oliver. But the pitcher who impressed the most was Harrison.

He had a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the fifth and retired the first two hitters he faced as the rain started coming down. The Rangers needed just one more out, but the rain started getting heavier and home-plate umpire Brian Gorman waved both teams off the field.

That forced Harrison to sit around before rain stopped and the grounds crew finally got the field in shape. The Braves did not bring back starter Derek Lowe after the delay, but Harrison kept his body loose and kept playing light catch every 15-20 minutes. He was willing to go out there despite some qualms from pitching coach Mike Maddux.

"I wanted to make sure I didn't get stiff and have to come out of the game," Harrison said. "That's why he went to the mound to watch me warm up. He thought about not sending me back out there, but I was able to stay loose, go back and get some outs."

Harrison ended up going 6 1/3 innings. He gave up a solo home run to Brian McCann in the sixth and left with a 4-3 lead.

"What he did for us tonight was huge," Ian Kinsler said.

"Harrison gave us exactly what we needed," Washington said. "We needed him to get us into the seventh and he did that."

It was the longest a Major League starter has endured a rain delay this season and returned to the game.

"I've never really seen somebody come back after that long of a rain delay," Braves second baseman Dan Uggla said. "I thought he was just going to go that extra out. He ended up pitching in two more innings. He showed a lot of what he's made of tonight and pitched a great game."

Kinsler started the rally in the 10th with a double down the right-field line against Braves reliever Scott Proctor. Andrus missed two bunt attempts trying to get Kinsler over and then grounded out to third. Josh Hamilton was intentionally walked and Beltre lined a single to center to put the Rangers ahead.

"I think anytime you lose an extra-inning game, that's a tough loss," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "Especially after you battle back against a pretty good opponent. A real good opponent. Maybe the best opponent we've seen so far as far as a 25-man roster. ... You battle back, you battle back and have a chance a couple of times in the eighth and ninth inning and don't get it."

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THE MAVS NBA CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THE FACTS: The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat 105-95 in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, winning the series 4-2. It is the first title in franchise history. Guard Jason Terry scored a game-high 27 points off the bench while forward Dirk Nowitzki, who was named Finals MVP, added 21 points and 11 rebounds.

After struggling against the Heat's defense the first four games of the series, the Mavs topped 100 points for the second straight game. They shot 50 percent from the field, including 11 3-pointers. They took control of the game in third quarter behind strong play from Terry and J.J. Barea.

The Heat were led by LeBron James, who scored 21 points and had six assists. Forward Chris Bosh added 19 points and eight rebounds while Dwyane Wade added 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

QUOTABLE: "It took so long for us to get here. I don't really know if it would have made a difference [winning in Miami]. Just this feeling to be on the best team of the world is just undescribable."
-- Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki

THE STAT: The Mavericks were 11 of 26 from the 3-point line. It was their second consecutive game of hitting at least double-digits from behind the arc.

TURNING POINT: Dallas refused to rattle despite blowing a 12-point in the first half. The Heat at the time had all the momentum but the Mavericks still led at halftime. The most impressive part was Nowitzki was 1 of 12 from the field.

QUOTABLE II: "They just played the best basketball. Dirk constantly knocked down open shots. I mean, today he showed a lot of perseverance in just bouncing back. They made our defense work at the end of the day."
-- Heat forward Chris Bosh.

HOT: Jason Terry backed up all the talking he's done in the series. He made 11 of 16 shots, including 3 3-pointers. It was his most efficient game of the series. He was effective on the perimeter and driving to the basket.

NOT: Wade and James both struggled. They combined to shoot 15 of 31 from the field, but neither had that breakout performance needed to win. James started hot, scoring nine of the Heat's first 14 points. He then struggled in the second and third quarters. Wade never found his groove.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Wade had a solid all around game. He had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Heat probably would have liked to see more scoring from Wade.

GOOD MOVE: The Mavs put guard J.J. Barea in the starting lineup in Game 4. The move was probably the most important change of the series. His speed changed the pace, allowing the Mavs to play more fastbreak offense.

BAD MOVE: The Heat's offense sputtered once again. Too much standing around in halfcourt sets, and not enough fastbreak points. At some point, the offense is going to have to catch up to their defense.

 FROM  mavs.com

RANGERS LOSE TO TWINS 4-5

MINNEAPOLIS -- Another year and another loss for the Rangers at Target Field. The hometown team can't win here but neither can the Rangers.

"It stinks, huh?" outfielder Josh Hamilton said. "What is it, eight in a row? Something like that. I don't know. It seems like we're getting hits and our pitchers do well, but we lose in the ninth inning or extra innings. There's no rhyme or reason."

This time it was the bottom of the ninth. Alexi Casilla lined a single down the left-field line off reliever Arthur Rhodes with two out to give the Twins a 5-4 victory over the Rangers on Thursday night at Target Field.

The Rangers are now 0-7 at Target Field since it opened last year and have lost eight straight in Minnesota, going back to their last game at the Metrodome in 2009. The Twins were 6-15 at home this season before their walk-off win on Thursday.

"I heard some stuff happens here," Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said. "It's unfortunate. We'll just have to come back [Friday] and win. They're playing good baseball, but we know we're good enough to beat them."

Some stuff happened on Thursday night and two calls had the Rangers grumbling afterwards. Beltre was upset with what happened in the ninth. Luke Hughes led off for the Twins with a grounder down the third-base line that Beltre thought went foul before it bounced over the bag. Third-base umpire Doug Eddings pointed fair and Hunter had a leadoff double against Rangers reliever Mark Lowe.

"It was foul," Beltre said. "I know for sure it was foul. I was playing on the line and my first step was toward the line ... the ball was to the right of me. How could it be fair? I was one step behind the bag ... the bounce was way before the bag. Clearly the replay showed it was foul."

Lowe then struck out pinch-hitter Brian Dinkelman, but walked Matt Tolbert, the Twins' No. 9 hitter. Manager Ron Washington brought in Rhodes to face Ben Revere and Casilla. He did so because Revere was a .200 hitter off lefties while Casilla, a switch-hitter, was hitting .216 off them. Rhodes retired Revere on a fly to left, but Casilla singled down the left-field line to end the game.

"I wanted a lefty on Revere and I wanted to keep Casilla on the right side," Washington said. "It wasn't like he was facing [Miguel] Cabrera."

"What can you say," Rhodes said. "It was a close game ... the thing to do is keep your head up and go get them tomorrow."

The Rangers were also not thrilled about a crucial play in the fifth inning. Hamilton's home run in the first off Twins starter Nick Blackburn and Delmon Young's homer off Derek Holland in the second made it a 1-1 game going into the bottom of the fifth.

Rene Rivera led off the inning with a double and then Tolbert hit a high chopper over Holland's head that was headed up the middle. Rivera thought about breaking for third and double-hesitated while shortstop Elvis Andrus slipped in behind him to field the ball.

Andrus fielded the ball at the bag. Rivera was off the bag. Andrus tagged Rivera and threw to first. But second base umpire Paul Nauert ruled Rivera safe and Andrus' throw to first was too late.

"His explanation was he saw his foot get back to the bag," Washington said. "His foot never got to the bag. At the end of the conversation, he admitted he might have missed it."

That left runners at first and second. Revere forced Rivera at third with an attempted sacrifice bunt and the Rangers just missed turning an inning-ending double play on Casilla's grounder. That left two on and Michael Cuddyer followed with a three-run home run to give the Twins a 4-1 lead.

That was the big blow of the night off Holland.

"He started me off with curveballs the first two at-bats, so he started me off a curveball again for the third time, and that one was a ball," Cuddyer said. "So, I thought he'd come back with another curveball, but it was a changeup, so I was sitting on the right speed and fortunately I didn't miss it."

Holland ended up going 7 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. He tied a career high with 10 strikeouts.

"I feel bad about the outcome, but I feel good about the start," Holland said. "One walk ... I felt I attacked the zone and made pitches, just a couple of pitches got away from me."

The Rangers still came back. They took advantage of a couple Twins errors to score two in the sixth on an RBI single by Beltre and sacrifice fly by Mitch Moreland. That put the Rangers in position to tie the game in the eighth on a one-out home run by Nelson Cruz.

But that was the best they could do. Offensively, the Rangers were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base.

"We had some opportunities ... it would have been nice to go back and capitalize on it," Michael Young said. "They made some pitches when they had to. We'll go out and play hard tomorrow."

And maybe get their first win at Target Field in two years. Of course they were 0-6 in Minneapolis last year and still somehow found a way to overcome it.

"I don't care about that," Young said. "The games last year don't mean anything to me."

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RANGERS WIN 7-3 OVER TIGERS

ARLINGTON -- Last season, Alexi Ogando did a lot of pitching in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, and 2011 has been similar in that regard.

The difference is Ogando's a starter now, not a setup man.

In a 7-3 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday, the converted reliever added to his impressive early career as a starter, throwing 7 2/3 innings while allowing only one run, a solo homer to the game's second batter.

"I just left a pitch right over the plate, but I never gave up, never got my head down," Ogando said through a translator. "I just kept battling and did my job."

Ogando has now pitched at least six innings in his first 12 career starts, all of them this season. That's a feat that doesn't happen often; the last pitcher to do it was injured Rangers hurler Brandon Webb, eight years ago with the D-backs.

Though Ogando put the leadoff man on in the second, third and fourth innings Wednesday, he never got into serious trouble again.

"Good pitchers minimize the damage," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He got some people on bags, but he was able to make the pitches when he had to. If you look at the first three innings, I don't think anybody would have thought he'd have made it to the eighth, but he did."

After Washington came out to pull Ogando in the eighth, his teammates on the mound seemed to be teasing him about something.

"Everybody was joking around with me because I was a little shaky early in the game," Ogando said.

Catcher Yorvit Torrealba said Ogando jokingly told the assembled conference on the mound that he had 100 more pitches left in him. He had already thrown 110, including 73 for strikes.

Ogando improved to 7-0, becoming the only pitcher in the Major Leagues this season to win his first seven decisions. He lowered his ERA to 2.10, second in the American League, and dropped his AL-leading WHIP to 0.90. He struck out seven, tying a career high, and walked two.

"He had unbelievable stuff," Tigers designated hitter Alex Avila said. "He's effectively wild. He'll throw two pitches and look lost, and then he throws one on the black at 97 mph or a slider for a strike. Not only does he have great stuff, but he can make the pitches he needs to."

Wednesday's win was Ogando's third-longest outing of the season. In his past two starts, Ogando has thrown 15 2/3 innings and allowed only two earned runs for a 1.15 ERA.

So far, the decision to make Ogando a starter, a move that came toward the end of Spring Training after Tommy Hunter was injured, looks like a stroke of genius. Though he was phenomenal in 44 relief appearances last year, allowing only 31 hits with a 1.30 ERA, he has far more of an impact as a starter.

As he walked off the mound and toward the dugout in the eighth inning, Ogando received a huge standing ovation from the 40,388 assembled at Rangers Ballpark.

Offensively, the Rangers took advantage of two Tigers errors and pounded out 12 hits. Detroit starter Phil Coke surrendered six runs -- four earned -- in five innings for the loss.

The Rangers got four runs in the third -- two on Tigers third baseman Don Kelly's throwing error and two on Josh Hamilton's double. They then added a run in the fourth, a run in the fifth and another in the seventh on Adrian Beltre's high-flying home run that hit the foul pole in left field.

Texas got away with one win in the three-game series and avoided being swept for the first time this season.

And the Ogando All-Star talk has begun.

"If he keeps pitching like this, maybe he wouldn't be denied," Washington said

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