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Sosa belts No. 589 as Rangers win

Apr 8, 2007 - 5:17 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Sammy Sosa warmed up a cold crowd at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Sosa hit the 589th home run of his career and first in nearly 19 months as the Texas Rangers posted an 8-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox during a record-cold 38-degree night.

Kevin Millwood (1-1) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings for the Rangers, whose previous record low temperature was 51 degrees, set on April 15, 2003 against Oakland.

"The weather doesn't really matter," Millwood said. "I just go out and pitch."

Sosa could not find a taker for his services in 2006 after batting .221 with 14 homers and 45 RBI in 102 games for the Baltimore Orioles the previous season. The 38-year-old signed a minor-league contract with Texas this past offseason in an attempt to resurrect his career and continue to climb the all-time home run charts.

Sosa made the club with a great spring training and was 3-for-13 in his first four games this season before singling in his second at-bat during a four-run third inning against Boston starter Julian Tavarez.

"Being out for a year, and to get the first one when it really counts, that made me feel great," said Sosa, who received a loud ovation from the 40,865 who braved the cold. "I feel very pleased that everybody out there welcomed me that way. I'm very blessed and hopefully, I can continue doing my job."

Sosa provided the Rangers a 7-3 lead in the sixth with a two-run blast to left field off J.C. Romero - his first since August 4, 2005.

"It was a bad day at the office. It happens. I'm human," Romero said. "There's not much I can say about it. My job is to keep the team in the game and it didn't happen tonight."

Romero faced five batters in the sixth and surrendered five hits and three runs.

For Sosa, the home run was his first ever at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, giving him a home run in 43 different ballparks, tying him with Ken Griffey Jr. and Fred McGriff for the most in major league history. Romero was the 357th different pitcher to be victimized by Sosa.

"From the first day he arrived, he just wanted to be a part of it and he really has," Texas manager Ron Washington said of Sosa. "He's done everything everyone else has done. He's just a great teammate, something that we asked him to do and he certainly has done it. Everyone was excited when he hit the ball."

In his previous stint with the Rangers, Sosa hit one home run - in 1989. Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira each had three hits and Nelson Cruz added two hits and three RBI for Texas, which recorded 13 hits in its second straight win after three losses.

"I think everybody here knew it was just a matter of time before these guys finally got in a little bit of a groove and made some things happen," Millwood said of his run support. "It's great any time you go out there and pitch and the guys put eight runs on the board."

"It was nice, we swung the bats well tonight," said Michael Young, who hit a double and scored Texas' second run in the third. "But pitching sets the tone and Milly went out and battled for six innings, gave us a reason to swing the bats and make them stand up."

Tavarez lasted just four innings, allowing six hits and five walks.

"He started well, but he got into a jam in the (third)," Boston manager Terry Francona said. "He threw a lot of pitches that inning (36). The key to his success is being efficient and economical with his pitches. The first couple of innings showed he can pitch." Julio Lugo, Kevin Youkilis and J.D. Drew had two hits for Boston, which has lost two straight.