A'S RALLY TO TAKE OPENING DAY

>>BREAKING NEWS: Boston's Pedro Martinez wracked up 19 strikeouts and allowed just 2 hits in his opening day start against the Blue Jays.  He allowed 0 walks.

OAKLAND -- The Athletics were able to overcome weak pitching from their starter Tim Hudson and win the opening contest of the season, 9-3 over Texas.  Carlos Peña hit a pivotal home run in the 6th inning to put the Athletics in the lead for good.  He finished with 3 RBI's and was Oakland's strongest offensive force.

The A's got home runs from Eric Chavez and Scott Hatteberg in a big 8th inning.  Six batters reached that inning to produce five runs.  The Oakland bullpen was nothing short of perfect in relief.  Mike Venafro (1-0) got help from Mike Magnante who pitched a perfect ninth and was credited with his 1st save.

Michael Young homered for the Rangers, but big slugger Alex Rodriguez was stymied.  He had a mere single in four at-bats.

A dissapointing crowd of only 26,686 was here at Network Associates Coliseum to watch Opening Day.  Let's hope A's victories bring more folks out.  Game 2 of the series is slated for tomorrow.

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BOXSCORE: 2002 Texas Rangers At 2002 Oakland Athletics               4/1/2002

  Rangers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  M.Young 2B          5  1  1  2 .200     S.Hatteberg 1B      5  1  1  3 .200 
  I.Rodriguez C       4  0  0  0 .000     D.Justice LF        3  1  1  0 .333 
  A.Rodriguez SS      4  1  1  0 .250     E.Chavez 3B         4  2  2  2 .500 
  R.Palmeiro 1B       4  0  1  0 .250     M.Tejada SS         4  0  0  0 .000 
  C.Everett CF        4  0  2  0 .500     J.Dye RF            4  0  0  0 .000 
  H.Perry 3B          3  0  2  1 .667     R.Velarde 2B        2  2  1  0 .500 
A-G.Kapler PR         0  0  0  0 ----     C.Pena DH           4  1  2  3 .500 
B-R.Greer 3B          0  0  0  0 ----     R.Hernandez C       3  1  2  1 .667 
  H.Blalock DH        4  0  0  0 .000     T.Long CF           3  1  1  0 .333 
  J.Gonzalez RF       4  0  0  0 .000                                         
  F.Catalanotto LF    4  1  2  0 .500                                         
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---     
         Totals      36  3  9  3                 Totals      32  9 10  9

A-Pinch Ran For Perry In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (3B) For Kapler In 8th Inning

Rangers......... 1 2 0  0 0 0  0 0 0  -  3  9  0
Athletics....... 1 0 0  0 0 3  0 5    -  9 10  0

Rangers (0-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
C.Park                    5 2/3   5   3   3   3   5   0 101   4.76  A1 C6
R.Seanez L(0-1) BS(1st)   0 2/3   1   1   1   2   0   1  25  13.50  C7 D2
S.Woodard                 0 2/3   0   1   1   2   0   0  15  13.50  D3 D6
T.Van Poppel              1       4   4   4   1   0   2  30  36.00  D7
Totals                    8      10   9   9   8   5   3

Athletics (1-0)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA  SCORESHEET
T.Hudson                  5       8   3   3   1   5   1 101   5.40  A1 C6
M.Venafro WIN(1-0)        1       0   0   0   0   1   0  12   0.00  C7 C9
J.Mecir HOLD(1st)         1 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0  21   0.00  D1 D6
M.Magnante SAVE(1st)      1 1/3   0   0   0   0   1   0  14   0.00  D7
Totals                    9       9   3   3   1   8   1

ATTENDANCE- 26,686 DATE- Monday, April 1st 2002 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Tim Timmons, Tim Tschida, Greg Gibson, Chuck Meriwether
T- 3:13
LEFT ON BASE- Rangers: 7  Athletics: 7
DOUBLE PLAYS- Rangers: 1  Athletics: 0
DOUBLES- F.Catalanotto(1st), E.Chavez(1st), C.Pena(1st)
HOME RUNS- M.Young(1st), S.Hatteberg(1st), E.Chavez(1st), C.Pena(1st)
STOLEN BASES- G.Kapler(1st), D.Justice(1st)
WALKS- H.Perry, D.Justice-2, E.Chavez, M.Tejada, R.Velarde-2, R.Hernandez,
       T.Long
STRIKE OUTS- M.Young-2, I.Rodriguez-2, A.Rodriguez, H.Blalock, J.Gonzalez-2,
             S.Hatteberg-2, D.Justice, J.Dye, R.Velarde
GIDP- M.Tejada
WILD PITCHES- C.Park