Paul bracket: Senators (69) defeat Rangers (09) in six games

Game One: Rangers 2, Senators 1 (10 innings)
WP: Nippert (1-0)
LP: Humphries (0-1)
HR: Epstein (1), Blalock (1)

Game Two: Senators 3, Rangers 2
WP: Bosman (1-0)
LP: Feldman (0-1)
Save: Knowles (1)
HR: Howard 2 (2)

Game Three: Senators 9, Rangers 3
WP: Cox (1-0)
LP: T Hunter (0-1)
HR: Epstein (2), Kinsler (1), N Cruz (1)

Game Four: Rangers 5, Senators 1
WP: Padilla (1-0)
LP: Hannan (0-1)
HR: Ch. Davis (1)

Game Five: Senators 5, Rangers 2
WP: Coleman (1-0)
LP: Millwood (0-1)
Save: Knowles (2)
HR: Murphy (1), N Cruz (2)

Game Six: Senators 6, Rangers 2
WP: Bosman (2-0)
LP: Feldman (0-2)
HR: N. Cruz (3)

There were fewer runs scored in this series than anticipated, and the Washington Senators moved through.

Game One, in Texas, set a low-scoring tone as Joe Coleman and Kevin Millwood dueled. Hank Blalock homered in the fourth inning to give the Rangers the lead; Mike Epstein tied it with an eighth-inning homer off C.J. Wilson. Bob Humphries relieved Coleman in the bottom of the 10th; Elvis Andus singled, stole second and scored on Ian Kinsler's single.

The Senators evened the series on a pair of homers by Frank Howard -- a solo shot in the sixth and a two-run bomb in the eighth. Dick Bosman carried a shutout into the eighth, when he gave up doubles to Kinsler and Nelson Cruz. Darold Knowles entered and yielded another double to pinch-hitter Marlin Byrd, but then retired the next four men to get the save.

The series shifted to Washington and 1969. The Ranges took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth of Game Three, but the Senators scored three runs, with Epstein and Ken McMullen cracking back-to-back RBI doubles. In the sixth a misplayed bunt opened the door to four more runs by the Senators, with Epstein cracking a two run homer off reliever Derek Holland to cap the rally. Epstein had four RBIs in the game.

The Rangers rode a five-run sixth inning to a 5-1 win in Game Four. Jim Hannan, working a three-hitter, walked three men in the frame and left with the bases loaded and two outs. David Murphy singled off Dave Baldwin for two runs, and Chris Davis followed with a three-run homer. Vincente Padilla went eight innings for the win.

Coleman went eight innings for the win in Game Five, giving up solo homers to Murphy and Cruz. Coleman doubled home a run himself in the three-run second. Knowles ptiched the ninth; after giving up a walk and a single to begin the inning, the lefty got Blalock to hit into a triple play to end the game.

The Senators wrapped up the series on the road, with Bosman throwing eight innings of four-hit, one-run ball. A pair of bases-loaded walks in the third to Howard and Epstein gave the Senators a 2-0 lead, and Scott Feldman's error provided an unearned run in the fourth. Murphy misplayed a ball into a single and error in the eighth as the centerpiece of a three-run rally by the visitors, and Cruz's ninth-inning homer off Baldwin was too little too late for the Rangers.

Player of the series: Bosman allowed three runs in 15.2 innings in his two starts, and he gets the honor.

Pitcher availability: Bosman cannot pitch until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Coleman-Casey Cox-Bosman-Hannan (or Jim Shellenback)-(Coleman)-Cox-Bosman