Jun 23, 2002 3 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ivan Rodriguez drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the seventh inning and the Texas Rangers overcame a two-run deficit to beat the skidding Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 Saturday. Rodriguez has three of the Rangers’ five RBIs in the series, driving in both runs of a 2-0 victory Friday night with a homer and a double.

Texas starter Rob Bell (3-2), just back from Triple-A Oklahoma, fell behind 2-0 after three batters but settled down to get the victory, the Rangers’ fourth in a row and sixth in nine games.

Bell lasted six innings, giving up four hits and retiring his final 10 hitters. He is 3-0 against the Pirates, beating them twice early in the 2000 season for Cincinnati.

The Pirates went ahead on Brian Giles’ two-run double, then were shut out the rest of the way by Bell and three relievers in their season-high fifth straight loss and eighth in nine games.

The Pirates have lost 36 of 56 since they were seven games over .500 in mid-April.

After scoreless innings by Anthony Telford and John Rocker, Hideki Irabu pitched the ninth for his 13th save in 16 chances. He has lost his closer’s job to Francisco Cordero, who wasn’t used after pitching in three consecutive games.

The Pirates had only two hits over the final seven innings, both by Aramis Ramirez.

Pittsburgh starter Jimmy Anderson, coming off his best start of the season in a 5-1 victory Sunday over Cincinnati, led 2-0 in the fifth but walked Kevin Mench and Bell ahead of Michael Young’s two-out RBI single.

Anderson has had recurring wildness problems, walking 15 in his last four starts. He has walked at least two batters in every start since his first of the season, a 3-2 victory over the Mets on April 4.

Texas tied it in the sixth on another two-out single, by Mike Lamb following singles by Alex Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez.

Alex Rodriguez snapped out of a 4-for-39 slump by going 3-for-4 with a walk.

Ivan Rodriguez’s run-scoring double off Mike Lincoln (0-2) came after Gabe Kapler, pinch-hitting for Bell, singled to start the seventh. Notes:@ Despite their recent streak, the Rangers’ 30 victories in their first 71 games were the fifth-fewest in club history. … Texas is 7-7 in interleague play. The Pirates are 1-7 and have lost the first five games of a nine-game homestand, all to AL clubs Oakland and Texas. … Bell won for the first time in five appearances since beating Toronto 5-3 on May 2. … Gonzalez returned after missing three games with a bruised right thumb. … Lamb has started three straight games at third base after not previously starting there this season. He made 18 errors in 2001 and 33 in 2000. … The Pirates’ two-run first was the only scoring off Texas in 20 innings. … Kenny Rogers and Bell won on consecutive nights after the Rangers went eight games without a starter winning. … Neither the Rangers nor Pirates have a grand slam this season.