Rangers Ruin Ripken's Return

May 13, 1999 / 9:22 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Cal Ripken Jr. said being back with the Baltimore Orioles after his first-ever stay on the disabled list felt like the first day of spring training. His teammates sure played as if it was.

The Orioles greeted Ripken's return with one of their sloppiest performances in a season full of forgettable nights, committing a season-high five errors in a 15-7 loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday night.

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Baseball's iron man went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in his first game since being sidelined by a nerve injury in his back April 18. He also committed one of the errors as Baltimore lost its fourth straight.

"It was an embarrassing performance, pitching-wise at least, and then there was sloppy play on top of that," Orioles manager Ray Miller said. "We have no confidence.

"We dropped some balls hit at us and we can't throw to first. This ballclub is just begging for someone to go out and throw it over the plate."

Texas hit three homers in the fourth a grand slam by Roberto Kelly, a three-run shot by Rusty Greer and a solo homer by Rafael Palmeiro to go ahead 9-1 but the Rangers almost blew it.

Baltimore, which put the leadoff man on in each of the first four innings but wasted them all because of double plays, still managed to get within 9-7 in the top of the sixth and had the go-ahead run at the plate with one out.

Then the Orioles went into another funk as Mike Bordick struck out and BJ Surhoff flew out to right field. The bad vibes extended into the field as Baltimore made four errors in the bottom of the inning, leading to three Texas runs.

The Rangers scored three more in the eighth to match their season high for runs, even though they were without Juan Gonzalez for the first time this year.

"It's nice to be able to help the ballclub," said Kelly, who made only his eighth start but is likely to get more while Gonzalez rests his strained right hamstring. "Juan is hurt so everybody has to do a little more until he can get back."

Gonzalez sat because of a strained right hamstring hurt when he homered in the fourth inninTuesday. He's expected to miss the weekend series against Baltimore and could go on the disabled list.

Palmeiro, playing his first game against Baltimore after five seasons as an Oriole, went 2-for-2 with three walks and three runs. He also stole his first base of the year.

Mark McLemore went 4-for-5 with two runs and Tom Goodwin walked three times and scored on each.

Texas' three-homer inning tied a club record and the eight-run inning was the Rangers' second in a span of five innings. The other such outburst, in the ninth inning of an 11-5 victory Tuesday in Chicago, also included a grand slam. The slams in consecutive games was a franchise first.

Brady Anderson and Delino DeShields got Baltimore started with solo homers and Albert Belle kicked off the five-run sixth inning rally with a two-run shot. The Orioles have homered in 11 straight games and have 23 in that span. They hit 20 in their first 20 games.

Anderson, who was 3-for-3 with a walk, was a double shy of the cycle. Surhoff, coming off consecutive three-hit games, was 2-for-3 with a walk.

Both starters still wound up with the decisions notable ones, too.

Mike Morgan (6-2) beat Baltimore for the first time since May 30, 1987, and became the AL's second six-game winner.

Scott Kaminiecki (0-2) lost his eighth straight decision, the longest streak in the AL. Even though he allowed eight runs, seven earned, over 3 1-3 innings, he still lowered his ERA from 32.40 to 23.40.

Notes: Kaminiecki's last win came against Texas on April 18, 1998. ... Morgan was fourth overall pick of 1978 draft and Ripken went No. 48. None of the other top 48 are still in the majors. ... Kelly's other career grand slam was on April 8, 1993, against Montreal when he was with Cincinnati. ... Texas' three-homer fourth inning was the 15th time that had happened, the first since Sept. 22, 1998, at Anaheim. It was the 21st time the Orioles have done it. ... Ivan Rodriguez, who hit cleanup in Gonzalez's absence, stole his ninth base to tie the club record for catchers that he set last year. ... Texas scored 15 runs against Seattle on April 13.