Kevin Mench set a Texas Rangers record by homering in his sixth consecutive game yesterday. Mench hit a grand slam in the fourth inning against Oakland's Kiko Calero, who had just entered the game in relief.

The major-league record for consecutive games with a home run is eight, shared by Ken Griffey Jr., Don Mattingly and the Pirates' Dale Long. Nineteen players have homered in six consecutive games, with Houston's Morgan Ensberg also doing it this season. Carl Everett (April 2003), Alex Rodriguez (August 2003) and Mark Teixeira (July 2004) homered in five games in a row for Texas.

Braves
Bench coach Pat Corrales was ejected from a game against the Milwaukee Brewers for arguing a call in the sixth inning. Jeff Francoeur hit a bouncing ball to Corey Koskie, and the Milwaukee third baseman moved toward Adam LaRoche, who had been on second, to tag him out. LaRoche ran outside the tag and the baseline. He was called out by crew chief Ed Rapuano. Corrales never left the dugout when he was tossed in the middle of the inning.

Mets
Starting pitcher Brian Bannister hobbled home after his hamstring was injured, then fell to the ground and left the game against San Francisco. Bannister strained his right hamstring in the sixth inning. The rookie went 2-0 in his first four starts and had the lead again when he was hurt running the bases.

Devil Rays
Jorge Cantu was placed on the 15-day disabled list, leaving Tampa Bay without three-quarters of its starting infield. The hard-hitting second baseman has a broken bone on the top of his left foot and is expected to miss two to three weeks.

Athletics
Oakland starter Rich Harden left in the fourth inning against Texas because of back spasms.