Rangers hold off Royals, 3-2, sweep series

TAKE YOUR BASE — Texas' Marlon Byrd (left) is given first base by umpire Paul Emmel (right) after being hit by a pitch during the seventh inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City on Wednesday. Texas won, 3-2, and swept the Royals, but the Rangers are still 66-68, way back from the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West Division, and not among the top contenders in the AL wild-card race. KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A little luck and a little hustle was all the Texas Rangers needed to pull off their first threegame sweep this season.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia scooted home when pitcher Brian Bannister flubbed a popup, giving Texas the go-ahead run in their 3-2 win over Kansas City on Wednesday night.

"Give him 10 more of them and he won't drop them," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Salty didn't take it for granted the ball was going to be caught. It worked out well for us."

Texas (66-68) trails the Los Angeles Angels by 15 games in the American League West Division, and visits L.A. tonight, a 9:05 p.m. Central-time start.

Matt Harrison won for the fourth time in August, pitching the Texas Rangers to a 3-2 win over the crumbling Kansas City Royals.

The Royals have lost 10 of their last 11 games and 17 of 20, falling to a season-worst 21 games below .500.

This one got away in the seventh inning. Chris Davis and Saltalamacchia hit two-out doubles to tie it, then Saltalamacchia came home when Joaquin Arias' routine popup went off the heel of his glove.

"That's what we're taught since Little League, to hustle and run the ball out. That's the fundamentals of baseball. We were in a tight situation. We needed a big hit. I thought when he hit it that I had to run as hard as I can, especially since I'm not in the lineup everyday. I busted my fanny as hard as I could. Rounding third, I saw him drop it and I thought they might throw me out at home. Then I saw (catcher Miguel) Olivo out there, too, and I knew I had it."

Harrison (6-3), a 22-year-old rookie left-hander, went 4-1 in five August starts. He held the Royals to two runs, one earned, on seven hits in 6 2-3 innings, giving the Rangers their first franchise sweep of more than two games at Kansas City.

Frank Francisco worked a flawless ninth to log his first career save.

"It was night of firsts all the way around," Washington said.

Francisco was 0-for-6 in save opportunities this season before retiring the Royals in order in the ninth, striking out two.

The Royals stranded seven runners and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Bannister (7-14), who struck out a career high eight, has not won in 11 starts since a June 23 victory over Colorado. He has not defeated an AL club since Cleveland on June 1. Bannister gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits and a walk. Not to mention the error.

"I just didn't catch it," Bannister said. "It should have been caught and you don't get a lot of practice at it. It should have stuck in the glove and it didn't. It's kind of unexpected."

• Instant replay in use today: The room that will help umpires pronounce home runs dead or alive is on the fifth floor of an old cookie and biscuit bakery in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood.

It is only about 25 feet long and 20 feet wide, but it hums with high-tech activity, and its impact will reach from coast to coast and could touch pennant races and World Series games.

Major League Baseball today crosses a technological Rubicon as it begins using instant replay to decide disputed home runs.

"You can't ignore the technology," said MLB executive vice president Jimmie Lee Solomon, explaining the decision to implement the program just as pennant races heat up.

It was impossible to ignore the technology Wednesday as Solomon and Bob Bowman, chief executive officer of MLB's Advanced Media, gave a small group of reporters a demonstration of how the instant-replay process will work.

The nerve center is that smallish room in the old Nabisco Building on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. At a quick glance, the room seems to have more high-definition big screens and monitors than a Best Buy store.

There are a dozen or so large monitors on the front wall. Technicians sit in rows facing the wall. Each has his own monitor, capable of zooming in on any play from any game. With as many as 30 games per night, and two broadcast teams (home and away) carrying most games, technicians can sometimes compile more than 12 camera angles on a single play.

But they are interested only in shots of home runs — particularly disputed ones.

In a span of no more than 21/2 minutes, according to Solomon, the staff in New York, which will include an umpire supervisor, can gather video of disputed home runs from different camera angles, and channel it back to the stadium, where the umpire crew chief will watch it and rule whether a ball is a home run.

"Everyone wants to get the call right," Solomon said. "This is an added tool.

"Pretty soon we'll wonder how we got along without it."

Replay will be used only to determine whether a potential home-run ball cleared the wall, whether it was fair, or whether a fan interfered with it. There are no plans to expand its use.

"Home runs are dramatic and important," Solomon said. "We don't see any reason to go beyond this. We're not going to have seven-hour games."