ng." Drummond, though, changed things in the fo

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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Kyle Seager never realized just how bad a slump he was in until after hitting a go-ahead homer for the Seattle Mariners. Seager snapped a career-worst 0-for-21 slide with a two-run drive in the eighth inning of a 3-1 victory over the AL West-leading Texas Rangers on Friday night. "I didnt know until the postgame (TV) interview that it was 0-for-21," he said. "Its one of those things I had kind of realized that I hadnt gotten a hit in a little while." Derek Holland pitched two-hit ball with six strikeouts over seven scoreless innings for Texas before Neal Cotts (4-2), whose 0.93 ERA was the lowest among American League relievers, walked Nick Franklin. Seager then lined an 0-2 pitch into the Rangers bullpen in right-centre field, his 18th homer of the season but first in 13 games. "We knew hes struggling a little bit," acting manager Robby Thompson said. "The thing about him, you would never know it, the way he handles it, carries himself whether hes 10 for 20 or 0 for 21. Thats the sign of a pro right there. Hes a battler, thats why hes in there in the third hole." Cotts was clearly frustrated leaving a pitch over the middle of the plate against a fellow lefty. Justin Smoak added a homer in the ninth for Seattle, which won for only the seventh time in 19 games. Hisashi Iwakuma (11-6) struck out eight and allowed one run in seven innings. The Rangers had the bases loaded in the eighth when A.J. Pierzynski, whose RBI single in the fourth produced the only Texas run, had an inning-ending popout to third baseman Seager. After Mariners reliever Oliver Perez walked and hit a batter to start the eighth, the only batters he faced, Elvis Andrus had a sacrifice bunt before Ian Kinsler struck out against Yoervis Medina. Adrian Beltre, already with two hits and hitting .452 over a 16-game span, was intentionally walked before Charlie Furbush came on to retire Pierzynski. "I didnt think he hit it too good," Furbush said. "I heard the bat break." Danny Farquhar struck out two in a perfect ninth for his sixth save in nine chances, bouncing back from a blown save in his last appearance two nights earlier. Rangers manager Ron Washington twice went out to argue calls by Angel Hernandez, an umpire he publicly criticized in the past. Both calls were for players coming off second base -- one defensively, the other a Texas base runner. In the Seattle third, Rangers second baseman Kinsler was taking a throw for a force out when he shuffled his feet while trying to get out of the way of an oncoming runner. Hernandez immediately motioned that Kinsler came off the base before making the catch, and replays showed that to be the case. An inning later, on his RBI single to left-centre, Pierzynski was called out at second after sliding in ahead of the tag by Franklin before briefly coming off the base. It didnt appear on replays that Pierzynski was being tagged when he came off before reaching out with his hand to get back on the base. Hernandez, behind the tangled bodies, called the runner out, bringing Washington out again as Pierzynski was flat on back screaming in disgust. "He overslid the bag, and you got the benefit of a replay," Washington said diplomatically. Two years ago, after Washington and first base coach Gary Pettis got ejected by Hernandez on a disputed balk call, the Rangers manager said, "Angel is bad. Thats all there is to it." Even before his reunions with Hernandez, Washington had gone out to talk with umpire Doug Eddings about an inning-ending play in the first when Andrus tried to score from first on Beltres single to right. Andrus dived head-first, but was initially blocked from reaching the plate while catcher Humberto Quintero made a sweeping tag. It was unclear on replays if he actually tagged Andrus, or if the runner ever did touch the plate. NOTES: Seager has a 12-game hitting streak at Rangers Ballpark. ... When Andrus tried to reach on a bunt leading off the sixth, Quintero bounced up to field the ball and then made a strong throw even while one of his cleats came off his feet. ... Rangers ace Yu Darvish (12-5), the major league strikeout leader with 207, turned 27 on Friday. He starts the series finale against the Mariners on Sunday. ... When Jurickson Profar struck out to end the second, he contended that the ball bounced in the dirt after he fouled it off. Eddings got the ball back from Quintero, who was already going back to the dugout, and confirmed the strikeout. He showed the ball to Profar. Replays, though, showed it might have bounced into the catchers mitt. 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AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Andre Drummond knows hes a poor free-throw shooter. He still doesnt like it when teams make an effort to remind him. On an afternoon when the Philadelphia 76ers started intentionally fouling him in the third quarter, the 20-year-old forward responded with a performance the NBA hasnt seen in 23 years. Drummond sat out the end of the third quarter after missing nine of 12 free throws in the period, but in the 34 minutes he did play, he became the first player to have 31 points, 19 rebounds and six steals in a game since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1990. He set career highs in all three categories, two days after Maurice Cheeks left him on the bench for the last 21 minutes of Detroits loss to the Lakers. "Thats a slap in the face for any player, so you get fired up," said Drummond, who also blocked two shots. "You cant get angry and lose your focus, though. I just told myself it was a good chance to work on my free-throw shooting and put some points on the board." Philadelphia coach Brett Brown, who watched Gregg Popovich use the strategy during his days as an assistant in San Antonio, said he didnt enjoy the idea, but thought it was his teams only chance when it trailed by 24 points at halftime. "It is one of the ugly parts of the game," Brown said. "You do not really like doing it, but it is a rule and it helped our team." The Pistons are used to the strategy -- Popovich was one of several coaches to use it against Ben Wallace -- but not usually in the third quarter. Drummond, though, is a unique case. He might be the worst free-throw shooter in league history -- he entered the game shooting 27 per cent from the line -- and Detroit collapsed late against the Lakers with him on the bench. "Andres a great young player, but I told him tonight that he needs to learn from this," Cheeks said. "If he becomes a better free-throw shooter, no one will be able to knock him out of a game." At one point, the Sixers immediately fouled Drummond on three straight possessions, forcing Cheeks to take him out of the game. The strategy worked, as Philadelphia cut the margin to 94-82 going into the fourth, and the Pistons had to put Drummond back into the game. "I left hhim in there long enough to see how well he was going to shoot, because he was having a great game, but there comes a point where you have to take him out," Cheeks said.dddddddddddd "They broke the rhythm of the game -- thats why you do it -- and I didnt want that to keep happening." Drummond, though, changed things in the fourth. He finished off a three-point play and then swished a pair of free throws to give the Pistons a 103-85 lead with 9:04 to play. That kept Brown from intentionally fouling him until they trailed by 19 with 4:03 left. Drummond split a pair of shots before coming out of the game, just short of Detroits first 30/20 night since Dennis Rodman in 1991. "When you do anything over and over, you get better at it," he said. "My teammates kept telling me to take my time, and I hit more of them toward the end." Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith each added 20 points for the Pistons, while Thaddeus Young had 24 for Philadelphia before fouling out late in the game. The Sixers play at a much higher pace than the Pistons, so a up-tempo first half should have played right into their hands. Instead, it was Detroit that dominated, scoring 40 points in the first quarter and leading by as many as 25 on the way to the 70-46 lead. The Pistons outshot Philadelphia 55.1 per cent to 39.1 per cent, and had a 31-14 advantage on the boards. Jennings dominated his matchup with rookie Michael Carter-Williams in the half, outscoring him 13-8 and dishing out 11 assists to just three for Carter-Williams. Drummond also had a first-half double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Pistons had five players score in double figures in the half, while Philadelphia didnt have any. "Its pretty obvious that we need to come out better," Carter-Williams said. "Were fine scoring the ball, but we need to play defence. Its a team thing, and we have to put the pieces together." NOTES: Detroit native Bob Seger was in attendance and conducted the crowd in a sing-a-long of his hit "Old Time Rock-n-Roll" during a first-half timeout. ... Detroit wore its dark-blue "Motor City" jerseys for the second straight home game, while Philadelphia wore its white jerseys. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '