Rangers 2, Orioles 1

Sunday, May 21, 2000 | 10:39 a.m.

Chad Curtis hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the sixth, and Loaiza and the Texas bullpen made it stand up.

The Rangers have won eight of 10. Baltimore has lost 14 of 16.

Loaiza (2-2) allowed one run and six hits before walking Brady Anderson leading off the eighth. Mike Venafro relieved and finished the inning.

John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his ninth save and 305th of his career, moving him past Jeff Montgomery into sole possession of ninth place overall.

Mussina (1-6), off to the worst start of his career, retired the first 10 batters before Curtis lined a single up the middle in the fourth.

Mussina allowed six hits, struck out four and didn't issue a walk in his second complete game of the season.

Jason McDonald led off the Texas sixth with a double and Luis Alicea sent him to third with a bunt single. Curtis hit a fly ball to shallow right field, and the speedy McDonald beat Albert Belle's throw to the plate standing up.

Rafael Palmeiro hit his 11th home run in the fifth for the Rangers.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the fourth on Cal Ripken's single, giving him 1,596 career RBIs. He had been tied with George Brett, Mike Schmidt and Harold Baines for 22nd place on the career list. Notes: Orioles first baseman Will Clark was out of the starting lineup because of a sore left leg. Clark was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Thursday (strained left hamstring). Clark was available to pinch hit. ... Mussina has allowed 15 homers this season. ... For his career against Baltimore, Palmeiro has 13 homers and 50 RBIs. ... Mussina's lone victory came over the Rangers on April 29, a 3-1 complete game. ... The crowd of 48,164 was the second-largest regular season gate at The Ballpark in Arlington.