AL West-Leading Rangers Win Again, 6-2 Over Tigers

By STEPHEN HAWKINS/Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Adrian Beltre hit the first of three Texas home runs as the AL West-leading Rangers moved closer to a postseason berth with a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.

Robinson Chirinos and Mike Napoli also went deep for the Rangers (86-72), who open a four-game series at home Thursday against the Angels. Los Angeles lost 8-7 Wednesday against Oakland to fall three games back in the division.

Houston, with the same 83-75 record as the Angels, played at Seattle later Wednesday night.
Yovani Gallardo (13-11) allowed nine hits over 5 1-3 innings, but gave up only two runs to win for the first time in his last four starts. The right-hander struck out five and walked one.

Detroit took a 2-0 lead in the first inning for the second night in a row, this time on a two-run double by Tyler Collins.

The Rangers got even in the bottom of the first on Beltre's 17th homer, a shot to left-center field. Beltre has an AL-best 29 RBIs in September, and 74 for the season.

Chirinos led off the second with his 10th homer, putting Texas ahead to stay. Beltre had a two-out double off the left-center wall and scored on Prince Fielder's bloop single before Napoli hit a blast to the wall behind the lower deck of seats in left field.

Tigers left-hander Matt Boyd (1-6) allowed all three Texas homers while giving up seven hits in 2 2-3 innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Beltre is hitting .416 (32 of 77) in his last 19 games, raising his season average from .261 to .283. Shin-Soo Choo, who singled and scored before Beltre's homer in the first, has an eight-game hitting streak and is batting .444 (24 of 54) over his past 14 games, and has reached base in 49 of his last 51.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Tigers: Victor Martinez missed his second consecutive game with a sore left quad. ... 3B Nick Castellanos was back in the lineup after coming out in the first inning Tuesday because of a bruised right finger and sore left wrist.
Rangers: C Robinson Chirinos made only his second start since being activated from the disabled list Sept. 7 after missing more than a month with a left shoulder strain.

UP NEXT

Tigers: After its final off day of the season, Detroit opens a three-game series Friday night at the Chicago White Sox.
Rangers: LHP Derek Holland, 0-2 with an 8.59 ERA his last four starts, pitches the series opener against the Angels.

© Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.