Joe Nathan took the ball in a tie game in his second appearance for the Texas Rangers. One batter later, they were losing.
Alex Rios led off the top of the ninth with a homer on a 1-2 pitch off Nathan and the Chicago White Sox won 4-3 Saturday night to give new manager Robin Ventura his first victory.
Nathan (0-1), the former Minnesota Twins closer who signed with Texas during the off season, got career save No. 262 with a perfect inning in the season opener a day earlier. This time, manager Ron Washington brought the right-hander into a tie game.
"I've still got to go out and put a zero on the board and hope our team comes out and puts a tally on the board," Nathan said.
Rios hit a 1-2 pitch that barely cleared the 8-foot wall in center field just out of the reach of leaping Josh Hamilton.
"He's my closer. There's no save situation there, (but) I'm saving the game," Washington said. "He got the ball out over the plate on Rios, and he didn't miss it."
Hector Santiago, a 24-year-old rookie left-hander, then needed only 11 pitches to get his first major league save -- in only his third career appearance. He worked a perfect ninth against the two-time defending American League champions who had gotten their new rings before the game.
