BASEBALL - GREER HOMER IN 10TH LIFTS TEXAS PAST INDIANS .
CLEVELAND 1996-08-22
Rusty Greer 's two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning rallied the Texas Rangers to a 10-8 victory over the Cleveland Indians Wednesday in the rubber game of a three-game series between division leaders .
With one out , Greer hit a 1-1 pitch from Julian Tavarez ( 4-7 ) over the right-field fence for his 15th home run .
" It was an off-speed pitch and I just tried to get a good swing on it and put it in play , " Greer said . "
This was a big game .
The crowd was behind him and it was intense . "
The shot brought home Ivan Rodriguez , who had his second double of the game , giving him 42 this season , 41 as a catcher .
He joined Mickey Cochrane , Johnny Bench and Terry Kennedy as the only catchers with 40 doubles in a season .
The Rangers have won 10 of their last 12 games and six of nine meetings against the Indians this season .
The American League Western leaders have won eight of 15 games at Jacobs Field , joining the Yankees as the only teams with a winning record at the A.L. Central leaders ' home .
Cleveland lost for just the second time in six games .
The Indians sent the game into extra innings in the ninth on Kenny Lofton 's two-run single .
Ed Vosberg ( 1-0 ) blew his first save opportunity but got the win , allowing three hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 1 2/3 scoreless innings .
Dean Palmer hit his 30th homer for the Rangers .
In Baltimore , Cal Ripken had four hits and snapped a fifth-inning tie with a solo homer and Bobby Bonilla added a three-run shot in the seventh to power the surging Orioles to a 10-5 victory over the Seattle Mariners .
The Mariners scored four runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game 5-5 but Ripken led off the bottom of the inning with his 21st homer off starter Sterling Hitchcock ( 12-6 ) .
Bonilla 's blast was the first time Randy Johnson , last season 's Cy Young winner , allowed a run in five relief appearances since coming off the disabled list on August 6 .
Bonilla has 21 RBI and 15 runs in his last 20 games .
Baltimore has won seven of nine and 16 of its last 22 and cut the Yankees ' lead in the A.L. East to five games .
Scott Erickson ( 8-10 ) laboured to his third straight win .
Alex Rodriguez had two homers and four RBI for the Mariners , who have dropped three in a row and 11 of 15 .
He became the fifth shortstop in major-league history to hit 30 homers in a season and the first since Ripken hit 34 in 1991 .
Chris Hoiles hit his 22nd homer for Baltimore .
In New York , Jason Dickson scattered 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings in his major-league debut and Chili Davis belted a homer from each side of the plate as the California Angels defeated the Yankees 7-1 .
Dickson allowed a homer to Derek Jeter on his first major-league pitch but settled down .
He was the 27th pitcher used by the Angels this season , tying a major-league record .
Jimmy Key ( 9-10 ) took the loss as the Yankees lost their ninth in 14 games .
They stranded 11 baserunners .
California played without interim manager John McNamara , who was admitted to a New York hospital with a blood clot in his right calf .
In Boston , Mike Stanley 's bases-loaded two-run single snapped an eighth-inning tie and gave the Red Sox their third straight win , 6-4 over the Oakland Athletics .
Stanley owns a .367 career batting average with the bases loaded ( 33-for-90 ) .
Boston 's Mo Vaughn went 3-for-3 with a walk , stole home for one of his three runs scored and collected his 116th RBI .
Scott Brosius homered and drove in two runs for the Athletics , who have lost seven of their last nine games .
In Detroit , Brad Ausmus 's three-run homer capped a four-run eighth and lifted the Tigers to a 7-4 victory over the reeling Chicago White Sox .
The Tigers have won consecutive games after dropping eight in a row , but have won nine of their last 12 at home .
The White Sox have lost six of their last eight games .
In Kansas City , Juan Guzman tossed a complete-game six-hitter to win for the first time in over a month and lower his league-best ERA as the Toronto Blue Jays won their fourth straight , 6-2 over the Royals .
Guzman ( 10-8 ) won for the first time since July 16 , a span of six starts .
He allowed two runs -- one earned -- and lowered his ERA to 2.99 .
At Minnesota , John Jaha 's three-run homer , his 26th , capped a five-run eighth inning that rallied the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-7 victory over the Twins .
Jaha added an RBI single in the ninth and had four RBI .
Jose Valentin hit his 21st homer for Milwaukee .