Homers Fly In High-Scoring Rangers Victory: Rangers 11 Royals 6

The Rangers were getting quite used to hearing the “crack” produced when a ball makes contact with the sweet spot of the bat.

Mike Napoli, Ian Kinsler, David Murphy, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland all hammered home runs. At least two landed beyond the Rangers bullpen on a night when the wind provided favorable conditions for long balls. Kinsler, Beltre and Michael Young, all potential All-Stars, finished with three hits apiece. Young wasted no time extending his hit streak to a dozen games by knocking in Elvis Andrus on a single to right in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.

That lead stayed intact until the third inning when Kinsler led off with a double against Royals starter Jeff Francis, and Elvis Andrus sacrificed him to third to once again bring up Texas’ all-time hits leader. Young tripled off the center field wall, and the ball rolled all the way back into the middle of center field. Beltre doubled to center scoring Young, but he himself came home on the Napoli homer that capped the inning.

But things were not all fine and dandy for Rangers’ starter Derek Holland after his team achieved the five-run cushion. In what seemed like the blink of an eye in the top of the fourth, the necessary shutdown inning, Holland had given up an infield single, a walk and an RBI double and surrendered two runs. But that was far from the end of the mess as a single and a three-run blast by catcher Brayan Pena would follow. I guess the Royals know how to take advantage of wind also. The game was knotted at five.

But that sinking feeling that develops after blowing a huge lead dissolved after Kinsler sent a ball sailing over the bullpen to start the bottom of the inning and quickly regained the advantage at 6-5. Murphy would offer a two-run shot in the fifth, Beltre a solo shot in the sixth and Moreland a seventh-inning two-run jab just as a reminder to the Royals not to take him lightly in the ninth hole.

That totals 11 runs for the Rangers. The Royals added a run in the eighth on a long fly ball after Pedro Strop loaded the bases with nobody out. Veteran Arthur Rhodes got the other two outs on strikeouts, one swinging and one looking.