• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Putz blows rare save as Rangers win fourth straight

Jul 26, 2007 - 5:43 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- J.J. Putz showed he is human.

Putz served up a go-ahead two-run homer to Ramon Vazquez in the eighth inning as the Texas Rangers completed a four-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 7-6 victory on Wednesday.

Putz (1-1), who had not blown a save since last September, came on with one out and allowed a two-run blast to center field as the Seattle Mariners lost a season high-tying sixth straight.

Vazquez hit a 2-0 pitch from Putz just over the wall for his first home run in his last 145 at-bats. The American League leader in saves, Putz had converted 31 straight saves dating to last season and had tossed a career-high 22 1/3 scoreless innings.

"It was a pretty good pitch," Putz said. "It didn't get all on the way on the corner. All you can do is tip your cap. There's not much I can say. He put a good swing on it. It was not the best time to happen. We're playing good ball and we battle back. It's frustrating. We're losing tight ball games."

It was Vazquez's fifth home run of the season and first since June 15.

"I was just hoping I'd get ahead in the count and that I'd get a good pitch to hit down in the zone, and I did get it," said Vazquez, who also singled and scored a run to snap a 2-for-13 slump. "I just didn't want to miss it and I didn't." Putz's misfortune ruined a excellent night by Adrian Beltre. He tied a Mariners franchise record with three doubles and drove in four runs, but it wasn't enough as they fell to 4-15 in Texas since 2005.

"The game didn't go the way we wanted," Seattle manager John McLaren said.

"We battled back. J.J. was well rested. He hadn't pitched since Friday. He was fresh. That's the reason we brought him in. No one feels worse than J.J. He's the ultimate gamer. He gave it his best shot. We didn't expect Vazquez to homer. That was the big one. He's human, isn't he? I feel bad for him. He'll bounce back and be ready for the ball tomorrow night.

Joaquin Benoit (4-3) picked up the win by throwing the final two innings, despite letting a two-run lead slip away in the eighth.

"Nobody was down, that's the thing," said the Rangers' Marlon Byrd, who singled to lead off the eighth and was on second when Vazquez homered. "The mindset of this team is changing, that we're about to win, regardless."

With Seattle trailing, 5-3, in the eighth, Beltre hit a two-run double to right off Benoit and Raul Ibanez followed with his second double of the game to make it a 6-5 game.

George Sherrill allowed the tying run to reach scoring position and Putz was called on to get the final five outs but could not come through.

With the game tied at 3-3, Texas took the lead thanks to Kenny Lofton.

Lofton, who had been 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position over his last 15 games, hit a two-run shot - his seventh of the season - in the third inning off Brandon McCarthy and put the Rangers ahead, 5-3, with an RBI single in the fifth.

"Kenny's been our catalyst since the season started," Washington said. "He's had some days where he might not get some hits, but he's our catalyst and he's capable of hitting the ball out of the park. He may not do it 15-20 times, but if you throw one in the wrong spot, he knows how to get the head of the bat on the ball."

Mark Teixeira had an RBI double one batter later and Michael Young added a pair of hits for the Rangers, who won their season-high fourth straight.

"It's always good to have a sweep against a team, which we've been coming close to winning games," Lofton said. "And have everybody do well, pitching doing well, hitting doing well, it was an all-around effort, and all-around efforts are the ones you want to see."