Bonderman error sets up Rangers win
6/26/2007DETROIT - Jeremy Bonderman had a chance to make history last night.
Instead, he brought back memories of last year's World Series
disaster.
Bonderman was trying to match Bobo Newsom's Tigers record of 18 starts without a loss, but made a throwing error that helped the Texas Rangers beat Detroit 8-3.
"I didn't do my job," said Bonderman, who allowed four runs - two earned - and seven hits with four walks in seven innings. "I take full responsibility for this."
Bonderman's last loss came in Minnesota on Sept. 10. His unbeaten streak ended one short of Newsom's 67-year-old team record.
"I haven't really thought about it," Bonderman said. "I just try to go out there and try to give us a chance to get a win. I've had plenty of games where I pitched badly enough to lose."
Bonderman (8-1) normally struggles in the first inning, but this time, he melted down in the third. Protecting a 1-0 lead, he retired the first two batters before allowing back-to-back sin-gles to Ian Kinsler and Michael Young and walking Sammy Sosa to load the bases.
After Marlon Byrd's two-run single to left-center, Frank Catalanotto grounded to the mound.
Bonderman had plenty of time to make the play, but in a play that immediately brought back memories of last October, he threw wildly to first, allowing Sosa to score.
"That's the thing that bothered me," Bonderman said. "I worked hard all through spring training, and today I make an error that basically cost us the game. You can't give teams extra outs."
Adam Melhuse made it 4-1 with a single, but Catalanotto ran through a stop sign at third and was out by several feet.
"That error was huge," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "It lets us poke two more runs on the plate. There's a big difference between a 2-1 game and a 4-1 game, especially against that team."
By that point, the Tigers had already blown their shot against Texas starter Kameron Loe.
Eighteen days after the Tigers gave him one of the worst beatings of his career, Loe (4-6) was struggling again against the same team.
This time, though, he escaped jams in the first two innings in his third straight strong outing since allowing nine runs in 22/3 innings against Detroit on June 7. He allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings to record his third win in a row. He walked two and struck out one.
"They beat me around pretty good the last time, so I had some incentive tonight," Loe said after snapping Detroit's seven-game winning streak. "This is a nice win for me."
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead on Carlos Guillen's bases-loaded sacrifice fly with one out in the first, but could have built a much bigger lead.
After Ivan Rodriguez struck out to end the first with runners on the corners, Detroit put runners on second and third with one out in the second. Loe, though, retired Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco to escape the inning.
"Getting out of those two innings were definitely big," Loe said.
Granderson's 14th triple of the season made it 4-2 in the seventh, but Polanco grounded out to end the inning.
Byrd and Young had RBI singles in the ninth, and Jerry Hairston Jr. added a two-run homer.
Brandon Inge drove in a run with a single in the ninth for Detroit.
Guillen, the AL player of the week, extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a sixth-inning single.