Rangers Notes: First Half Ends with Seven-Game Win Streak

Josh Hamilton (right) greets Adrian Beltre after he scored on Beltre’s two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday against Oakland.

Texas got off to a torrid start this season with six straight wins and a 9-1 record, and the Rangers ended the ceremonial first half with a seven-game winning streak heading into Tuesday’s All-Star Game in Phoenix.

Although the L.A. Angels of Anaheim have a matching record of 8-2 this month, Texas maintains a one-game lead over the Angels in the American League West division going into the break.

Following a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles last week at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas took four straight from division rival Oakland over the weekend in a series that featured two shutouts and Josh Hamilton’s dramatic walk-off home run on Saturday.

Sadly, Thursday’s victorious opener was marred by the death 39-year-old Shannon Stone, a Brownwood (Tex.) Fire Department veteran who fell some 20 feet out of the left-field stands while trying to catch a foul ball thrown by Hamilton in the second inning.

“We are deeply saddened to learn that the man who fell has passed away as a result of this tragic accident,” team president Nolan Ryan said in a press release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Back on the field, left-hander Derek Holland scattered four singles and a pair of walks to the Athletics over nine scoreless frames, and he benefitted when the Rangers scored runs in four separate innings on the way to a 6-0 win.

Friday saw Texas push across five runs in the bottom of the first against Oakland southpaw Gio Gonzalez, capped off by Mike Napoli’s third career grand slam on the way to an 8-5 victory.

Napoli’s slam provided an early lead for C.J. Wilson, who finished with seven quality innings of work before turning the ball over to Tommy Hunter in the eighth. Hunter tossed a shutout frame and Texas closer Neftali Feliz sealed the win despite giving up a run in the top of the ninth.

On Saturday, the A’s scored four runs in the second inning and held their lead for most of the game, only to watch as the Rangers came back to record a 7-6 walk-off victory on Josh Hamilton’s game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth.

Oakland maintained a 6-5 advantage for closer Andrew Bailey heading into the ninth, and he retired the first two batters before Elvis Andrus reached via a two-out single. Hamilton followed by launching a game-winning two-run homer into the second deck in right field at Rangers Ballpark.

Texas capped off its first half with a seven-game winning streak Sunday by defeating the Athletics, 2-0, behind a stellar outing from starter Matt Harrison and a two-out, two-run homer from Adrian Beltre in the sixth.

Harrison lasted into the eighth inning and was given all the offensive support he would need on Beltre’s 19^th home run of the year, which came after Josh Hamilton had worked a two-out walk against Oakland right-hander Trevor Cahill.

Mark Lowe threw one-third of an inning of relief to help escape a jam in the eighth, and Neftali Feliz tossed a perfect top of the ninth to earn his 18^th save of the season.

Hunter, Napoli, O’Day Return in Roster Shuffle

Prior to the team’s recent homestand, right-hander Tommy Hunter was activated from the 15-day disabled list while Dave Bush was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the Rangers’ active roster.

By Independence Day, catcher Mike Napoli and reliever Darren O’Day had also been reinstated from stints on the DL, with Taylor Teagarden and Michael Kirkman, respectively, getting sent to Triple-A Round Rock in corresponding roster moves.

Hunter, 24, began the season on the DL after suffering a right groin strain in a Mar. 24 spring training appearance, and he re-aggravated the injury while trying to rehab it with Round Rock in early May. He eventually saw action in seven games for the Express last month, posting a record of 1-2 with a 6.53 earned run average.

In his newly-defined bullpen role, Hunter has made four appearances and recorded five strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA across eight innings of relief work.

Darren O’Day – who had been out since Apr. 27 with a torn left hip labrum – was activated from the 60-day disabled list before the game against Florida on July 2, and Mike Napoli returned to the Texas lineup after rehabbing a strained oblique muscle two days later.

Five Rangers Headed to All-Star Game

Texas will send a total of five players to this week’s All-Star Game after Josh Hamilton was voted in as a starter, Adrian Beltre and Michael Young were selected by player vote, C.J. Wilson was named as one of manager Ron Washington’s starting pitchers, and Alexi Ogando was added as a replacement for New York lefty CC Sabathia, who is ineligible because he pitched on Sunday.

Hamilton was elected as an American League starting outfielder for the fourth consecutive season, giving him the second-most All-Star Game starts in club history behind Ivan Rodriguez’s nine as the A.L. catcher from 1992 to 2001.

Beltre, an All-Star with Boston last year, beat out Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez in the A.L. player vote (530-281), meaning that he will start in place of Rodriguez while the latter undergoes midseason knee surgery this week. Young, a seven-time All-Star, ranked second to Red Sox DH David Ortiz in both the player vote (466-277) and the fan voting.

Wilson and Ogando, both converted relievers, will give the Rangers two starting pitchers in the All-Star Game for the first time in franchise history.

In addition, Ron Washington will attend his first midsummer classic as manager, and he gets the privilege of bringing with him all six members of the Texas coaching staff – Dave Anderson, Scott Coolbaugh, Andy Hawkins, Mike Maddux, Jackie Moore and Gary Pettis.

Rangers Notes: Texas Takes Silver Boot with Series Victory

Catcher Yorvit Torrealba reacts after completing a strikeout-caught stealing to end the Rangers’ 3-2 win Wednesday in Houston.

After winning two out of three games against the Astros last week in Arlington, the Rangers did the same thing this week at Minute Maid Park in Houston to secure a 4-2 overall victory in this year’s Lone Star Series, taking home the Silver Boot trophy for the fifth straight season.

On Tuesday, every Texas starter collected at least one hit while Josh Hamilton, Mitch Moreland and Ian Kinsler all went deep to help the Rangers beat Houston, 7-3, and snap their two-game skid.

The Astros drew first blood when Michael Bourn singled against left-hander C.J. Wilson in the bottom of the first and came around to score on a stolen base, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Carlos Lee.

Leading off the top of the third against Houston starter Jordan Lyles, Wilson helped his own cause with a triple into the right-center field gap – his first major-league hit – and he tied the game on Ian Kinsler’s run-scoring groundout. Josh Hamilton then connected for a solo homer off Lyles before three consecutive singles provided the Rangers with another run and a 3-1 advantage.

Texas padded its lead further with a pair of runs against Lyles in the sixth inning, one scoring on Yorvit Torrealba’s RBI single and another on a run-scoring triple from Kinsler.

Moreland and Kinsler added late-inning homers against Astros right-hander Aneury Rodriguez, and Texas reliever Yoshinori Tateyama allowed a run in the bottom of the ninth before Neftali Feliz came on to record his 15^th save of the season.

Ian Kinsler kept his hot hitting alive on Wednesday with two more home runs as the Rangers held off a late charge by the Astros to grab a series-clinching 3-2 win at Minute Maid Park.

Kinsler homered against Astros right-hander Brett Myers to lead off the top of the first inning, his 10^th long ball of the year. Shortstop Andres Blanco followed with a double and was driven home on an RBI single from Josh Hamilton to give Texas an early 2-0 lead. After a perfect second inning, Myers was taken deep again by Kinsler in the top of the third, padding the Rangers’ lead to three runs for starter Colby Lewis.

Lewis retired the first 11 batters he faced before allowing a two-out single to Hunter Pence in the bottom of the fourth. After getting the final out of the inning, Lewis led off the top of the fifth with a double to Tal’s Hill in center field, although he was left stranded at second base.

Carlos Lee sparked a Houston rally when he homered off Lewis with one out in the bottom of the seventh, and Clint Barmes added an RBI single to bring the Astros to within a run before southpaw Darren Oliver came on and got out of the jam.

Rangers closer Neftali Feliz issued a leadoff walk to Lee in the bottom of the ninth, but he struck out Matt Downs before a strikeout-caught stealing double play ended the ballgame, securing both the victory and his 16^th save of the season.

Having clinched the Silver Boot trophy, Texas had a chance to wrap up the month of June the same way it started – with a series sweep on the road – but instead the Rangers were shut out for only the third time this season as Houston hammered its way a 7-0 victory on Thursday.

Astros left-hander Wandy Rodriguez allowed four hits and three walks over seven scoreless innings of work, and he benefitted from three double plays turned by Houston’s infield behind him.

Texas starter Matt Harrison, on the other hand, was roughed up for five earned runs across six innings pitched, though he had given up just one hit over the first three frames before yielding a leadoff homer to Carlos Lee in the bottom of the fourth. With one out in the fifth, Michael Bourn was hit by a pitch from Harrison and advanced to second on an Angel Sanchez bunt, then came home when Hunter Pence grounded an infield single to third baseman Adrian Beltre.

A throwing error by Beltre allowed Pence to go to second base, and Harrison issued an intentional walk to Carlos Lee before Jason Michaels connected for an RBI ground-rule double. Chris Johnson then lined a two-run single up the middle to drive in Lee and Michaels and give the Astros a 5-0 lead.

Michaels wrapped up Houston’s scoring barrage with a two-run homer off right-hander Dave Bush in the bottom of the seventh, making for a 7-0 final.

Young Named A.L. Player of the Week

Rangers infielder Michael Young received his third career American League Player of the Week honor after batting .481 (13-for-27) across six games from June 20-26, also collecting three doubles, four home runs and nine runs batted in.

Young, who also led the league with 28 total bases and a 1.037 slugging percentage, becomes the first Texas player to win the weekly award since catcher Bengie Molina did so last July after hitting for the cycle in Boston.

A six-time All-Star, Young tied a career-best with home runs in three consecutive games against the New York Mets over the weekend.

In addition, Young recently passed Rafael Palmeiro for the most games played in a Rangers uniform (1,574), and he’s on pace to break Palmeiro’s franchise record for runs scored (958) sometime next month.

Davis Sizzling at Round Rock

At the minor-league level, infielder Chris Davis has been on a hitting tear for the Triple-A Round Rock Express this week, batting .444 (8-for-18) in four games against Oklahoma City with four home runs, five runs scored and eight RBIs.

Davis, 25, was named to the Pacific Coast League team for this year’s Triple-A All-Star Game in Salt Lake City. He is currently tied for fourth in the PCL with 19 home runs in just 33 games while batting .374 with 52 runs batted in.

Rangers Notes: Coolbaugh Replaces Bosley as Hitting Coach

Former infielder Scott Coolbaugh (center) was named the team’s new hitting coach on Wednesday.

The Rangers made a change in their big-league coaching staff Wednesday afternoon, announcing that Thad Bosley had been let go as the team’s hitting coach and replaced by Scott Coolbaugh, who was the hitting instructor at Triple-A Round Rock for the past three years.

Bosley was in his first season with Texas after being named hitting coach last November, taking over for Clint Hurdle when he accepted the job as Pirates manager.

“Nothing has changed from a team standpoint,” Coolbaugh told MLB.com.

“Everybody knows we have a great lineup … I just want guys to feel comfortable around me so they can go out and perform,” he said. “I’m not saying I can make them better but I can help them get to the point where they can trust me, relax and go out and perform.”

Coolbaugh began his playing career as a third baseman with the Rangers in 1989, appearing in 92 games over the next two years before spending part of one season apiece with the Padres and Cardinals.

He becomes the fourth Texas hitting coach in less than three years, following Bosley, Hurdle, and Rudy Jaramillo, who had spent more than a decade with the Rangers before taking the same position with the Chicago Cubs.

Texas Drops Two of Three to Detroit

On the heels of a 6-1 road trip that included a weekend sweep of the Cleveland Indians, the Rangers lost the first two of a three-game home series against the Tigers this week before salvaging the finale on Wednesday.

Detroit outfielder Brennan Boesch went 5-for-6 with a career-best two home runs and five RBIs Monday as the Tigers cruised to a 13-7 win over Texas at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Batting with two on and nobody out in the top of the first, Boesch broke a personal 0-for-10 against Texas starter Colby Lewis with a three-run homer into the upper deck in right field.

After Lewis worked a scoreless second inning, he gave up solo home runs to Boesch and Alex Avila and a two-run shot to rookie Andy Dirks in the top of the third. Lewis was rocked for a total of nine earned runs on ten hits before being pulled with one out in fourth, by which point Detroit had opened up an 8-2 lead.

For the Tigers, right-hander Max Scherzer allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings of work and notched his first victory in nearly a month. Ian Kinsler had RBI hits against Scherzer in both the third and fourth innings while Nelson Cruz connected for a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth, the first of two long balls on the night for Cruz.

On Tuesday, every player in the Tigers’ starting lineup had at least one hit while right-hander Rick Porcello tossed six quality innings, helping Detroit hammer its way to an 8-1 win over the Rangers.

Neither team scored across the first three innings, but the Tigers broke through for four runs off Texas starter Matt Harrison in the top of the fourth. Victor Martinez led off with a double and came around on back-to-back singles by Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn.

After a walk to Danny Worth loaded the bases, Austin Jackson lined a two-run single to right that was played into an error by Nelson Cruz. Casper Wells then doubled on the first pitch he saw to score Jackson and give Detroit a 4-0 lead.

Harrison, who missed his last start due to a blister on his throwing hand, required 40 pitches to get through the fourth inning and was replaced by right-hander Dave Bush in the top of the fifth.

Meanwhile, Porcello sailed through the first five innings, keeping Texas off the board on just three scattered singles. The Rangers scored their only run on an RBI infield groundout by Josh Hamilton in the bottom of the sixth.

The Tigers added two insurance runs against Bush and one apiece off relievers Mark Lowe and Yoshinori Tateyama for a series-clinching 8-1 final.

Behind another strong start from right-hander Alexi Ogando, Texas avoided a sweep on Wednesday with a 7-3 win over Detroit in Arlington.

Ogando found himself in an early hole after giving up a home run to the second batter of the game – Tigers third baseman Don Kelly – but rebounded to keep Detroit off the board over the next seven innings.

Texas scored four times against Tigers starter Phil Coke in the bottom of the third, two runs coming home on a bases-loaded error by Don Kelly and two more on a double by Josh Hamilton.

The Rangers then added single runs off Coke in both the fourth and fifth innings, and Adrian Beltre clubbed his 12^th homer of the year against reliever Adam Wilk in the bottom of the seventh.

Left-hander Darren Oliver replaced Ogando and got out of a jam in the eighth inning before allowing the first two batters to reach in the top of the ninth. Both runners eventually scored, but Neftali Feliz struck out Brennan Boesch to end the game and help Texas secure a 7-3 victory.

Rangers Notes: Texas Sweeps Past Indians in Cleveland

Outfielder Endy Chavez went 11-for-21 with four runs scored and five runs batted in on the Rangers’ recent road trip to Tampa Bay and Cleveland.

The Rangers completed their first four-game road sweep in more than a decade Sunday with a 2-0 victory over the Indians at Progressive Field.

The win was the fifth in a row for Texas, which increased its lead in the A.L. West to 2.5 games over the Seattle Mariners.

In Thursday’s series opener, veteran outfielder Endy Chavez went 4-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored as the Rangers bounced back from an early deficit to beat Cleveland by a final of 7-4.

Right-hander Dave Bush, making a spot start for Texas while Matt Harrison continues to deal with a blister on his throwing hand, retired the Indians in order in the first inning but ran into trouble in the second. Carlos Santana drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on Grady Sizemore’s double, and both came around to score on singles by Travis Buck and Orlando Cabrera. Buck later scored on an infield groundout to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead.

Indians starter Carlos Carrasco retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced before Nelson Cruz led off the top of the fifth with a double. Cruz came home with the Rangers’ first run on a ground ball by Yorvit Torrealba, and Elvis Andrus and Josh Hamilton added RBI singles in the inning to tie the game at 3-3.

Left-hander Michael Kirkman took over for Bush and kept Cleveland off the board for two innings while Texas scored another three runs. After a sacrifice fly by Torrealba had given the Rangers a slim 4-3 lead with two outs in the sixth, Endy Chavez kept the rally going with an RBI triple into right field. Chavez then scored on an error by Carlos Santana during Ian Kinsler’s at-bat to put Texas in front, 6-3.

Cleveland added a single run in the seventh inning while the Rangers did the same in the ninth for a 7-4 final score.

After collecting a season-high 20 hits last week in Tampa Bay, Texas pounded out another 19 base hits Friday en route to an 11-2 win over the Indians. Right-hander Alexi Ogando remained undefeated in 11 starts this year, limiting Cleveland to one earned run on four hits with six strikeouts across eight innings of work.

The Rangers put together a two-out rally against Indians starter Justin Masterson in the top of the second, as Mitch Moreland and Mike Napoli connected for back-to-back singles before Endy Chavez laced an RBI double into right field. Michael Young added a run-scoring groundout in the third to give Texas a 2-0 lead.

Ogando retired the side in order in three of the first five innings before Cleveland got to him for a run in the sixth. Michael Brantley led off with a single and advanced to third on a hit by Asdrubal Cabrera, then came home when Shin-Soo Choo grounded into a double play to make it a 2-1 game.

In the top of the seventh, however, Masterson allowed a walk and a single before Josh Hamilton lined a three-run home run over the wall in right. Adrian Beltre reached on a fly ball that Brantley and Choo lost in the sun, and Nelson Cruz followed with a two-run homer to extend the Rangers’ lead to 7-1.

Texas added three more runs on a bases-clearing double by Elvis Andrus in the eighth inning and another in the ninth, while Cabrera provided the Indians’ second run with a leadoff homer against Yoshinori Tateyama in the bottom of the ninth.

On Saturday, left-hander Derek Holland tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout over Cleveland as the Rangers rolled to a 4-0 win. Making his first career start in his home state of Ohio, Holland limited the Indians to five hits and just one walk over nine innings, striking out five while recording 10 ground ball outs.

Texas provided an early lead for him to work with after Josh Hamilton hit a two-run homer off Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona in the top of the first. From there, Holland retired 16 of the first 17 batters he faced while only once allowing a runner to get past third base.

Carmona settled down following Hamilton’s first-inning home run, keeping the Rangers off the board over the next five frames before surrendering a two-run homer to Nelson Cruz in the top of the seventh.

Holland wrapped up his shutout with a perfect ninth inning, which included a swinging strikeout of Austin Kearns to end the ballgame.

Sparked by early home runs from Mitch Moreland and Elvis Andrus, the Rangers completed their four-game sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Indians on Sunday afternoon.

Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot worked a scoreless top of the first before yielding a solo home run to Moreland with one out in the second, and Andrus greeted him with a leadoff homer in the third inning to give Texas a 2-0 lead.

Meanwhile, left-hander C.J. Wilson provided 7 and 2/3 shutout innings of work for the Rangers, recording seven strikeouts while allowing just three hits to earn his sixth win of the year.

The last time Texas had swept a four-game series on the road was April 22-25, 1999, against the Minnesota Twins at the old Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Rangers’ four winning pitchers in that series were starters Aaron Sele, Mark Clark, Mike Morgan and Rick Helling.

Matthews Taken in First Round of Draft

With the 33^rd overall pick in this year’s amateur draft, Texas selected left-handed pitcher Kevin Matthews from Richmond Hill High School in Georgia.

Matthews, 18, is considered small at 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, but his fastball has been clocked in the low-90s and is said to be offset by a good slider and decent changeup. He went 4-2 with an earned run average of 1.68 in his senior year at Richmond Hill, racking up 94 strikeouts in 42 innings of work over 10 appearances.

Signability may become an issue as Matthews has committed to the University of Virginia, though the Rangers feel confident they can work out a deal with him.

Texas used its second-round pick (No. 37 overall) to select outfielder Zach Cone out of the University of Georgia, where he led the Bulldogs with a .317 batting average, 10 home runs and 53 RBIs as a sophomore in 2010.

Delcarmen Inked to Minor-League Deal

The club made a pair of roster moves at the Triple-A level last Thursday, granting right-hander Yhency Brazoban his unconditional release and signing veteran reliever Manny Delcarmen to a minor-league deal.

Brazoban was signed by Texas in mid-December and had a clause in his contract which allowed him to be released if not promoted to the majors by June 1.

Delcarmen, who had spent the first two months of the season with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma, possessed a similar out clause as Brazoban and was given his release by Seattle on Wednesday. The 29-year-old was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock by the Rangers.

Across 28 innings pitched for the Tacoma Rainiers this season, Delcarmen posted a record of 2-2 with a 5.14 earned run average in 16 appearances. In parts of six big-league seasons with the Boston Red Sox and, briefly, the Colorado Rockies, Delcarmen has an 11-8 record with a career ERA of 3.97 and three saves.

Rangers Notes: Wild Walk-Off Seals Winning Homestand

The Rangers begin to celebrate around Mike Napoli after he slid under the tag of Royals catcher Brayan Pena (left) with the winning run on Sunday.

Texas took two of three games from both the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals over the last week in Arlington, beginning with the return of a pair of All-Star sluggers and capped off by a highlight-reel play at the plate to wrap up a 4-2 homestand.

Outfielders Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton each homered in their first game back from the disabled list on Monday, and right-hander Alexi Ogando tossed his first career shutout as Texas cruised to a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox at Rangers Ballpark. Hamilton, in his first big-league at-bat since Apr. 12, lined a solo home run over the right field wall in the bottom of the first to give the Rangers an early 1-0 lead.

From there, Ogando was in control, allowing only four singles and three walks over the final eight innings while striking out a total of six batters. In five starts at home this season, the 27-year-old has a record of 4-0 with a miniscule 1.08 earned run average over 33-plus innings.

Following Hamilton’s first-inning homer, left-hander John Danks kept Texas off the board until the bottom of the sixth, when Adrian Beltre drew a two-out walk and scored on Nelson Cruz’s towering home run into the left field stands. The Rangers added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a double by Hamilton, an infield single by Michael Young, and Beltre’s sacrifice fly to center.

On Tuesday, the White Sox waited through a rain delay of nearly three hours and rode Carlos Quentin’s first career three-home run game to an 8-6 victory over the Rangers.

Quentin homered on the first pitch he saw from Texas left-hander Derek Holland in the top of the first to give Chicago a 1-0 lead, though Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the inning.

With two men on and one out in the third, Quentin connected for a three-run, opposite-field home run that put the White Sox back in front, 4-1. Texas scored again on Michael Young’s sacrifice fly in the third inning before a lengthy rain delay began with Chicago holding a 4-2 lead.

Prior to the Rangers’ at-bat in the bottom of the fourth, the game was halted as a cluster of severe thunderstorms made their way across the North Texas area, and play did not resume again for two hours and 58 minutes. Each team would score four more runs after the rain delay – including Quentin’s third homer of the game and a solo shot by Adam Dunn for the White Sox – and Chicago held on for an 8-6 win.

Less than 12 hours after the end of Tuesday’s contest, the Rangers and White Sox were back on the field Wednesday afternoon to play the rubber match of their three-game set in Arlington. Behind a solid outing by left-hander C.J. Wilson, Texas hung on to an early lead and held off a late Chicago rally to secure a 2-1 win in both the game and the series.

Leading off the third inning against White Sox starter Gavin Floyd, David Murphy reached on a fielding error by second baseman Gordon Beckham and advanced to third on Yorvit Torrealba’s ground-rule double. A Mitch Moreland sacrifice fly allowed Murphy to score, and Ian Kinsler singled to drive in Torrealba and give the Rangers a two-run lead.

Wilson faced the minimum 18 batters over the first six innings, giving up two singles but benefitting from double plays turned behind him each time. After retiring the leadoff hitter in the top of the seventh, he allowed three consecutive singles to Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko as Chicago produced its lone run of the afternoon.

Despite walking two batters, closer Neftali Feliz tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn his 10^th save of the year.

Following an off day Thursday, Texas and Kansas City began a weekend series on Friday with an extra-inning slugfest won by the Royals after they scored five runs in the top of the 14^th for a 12-7 final.

Although both starting pitchers were hit hard in the first couple of frames, Kansas City right-hander Nathan Adcock was pulled with two outs in the second while the Rangers’ Colby Lewis made it through the sixth, setting down 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.

With Texas leading 7-6 heading into the ninth, Neftali Feliz was called upon to get the final three outs of the game. But after retiring the first batter, he gave up a solo home run to Royals left fielder Alex Gordon to tie the score at 7-7. The blown save was Feliz’s third of the season, and all three have come against K.C. over the last two weeks.

Three relievers for each team combined to keep the game tied through the first four extra innings, though it was a different story for Rangers right-hander Dave Bush in the top of the fourteenth.

With one out, Melky Cabrera and Eric Hosmer connected for back-to-back solo home runs to give Kansas City a 9-7 lead. Following a single and an intentional walk, backup catcher Brayan Pena hit a three-run homer to put the Royals ahead by a final score of 12-7.

On Saturday, Texas pounded five home runs against Kansas City starter Sean O’Sullivan en route to a 10-1 victory in Arlington.

After allowing a two-run double to third baseman Adrian Beltre in the first inning, O’Sullivan gave up three consecutive home runs to Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli and Endy Chavez in the bottom of the second. Beltre added a solo homer in the third inning before Nelson Cruz clubbed a two-run shot in the sixth, by which point the Rangers had built a 10-0 lead.

In the meantime, Texas left-hander Matt Harrison cruised through six scoreless innings of work despite recording just one strikeout, benefitting instead from seven ground ball outs – including two double plays – and four fly balls. Kansas City avoided a shutout when Billy Butler scored on an infield groundout by Matt Treanor in the top of the seventh.

Although the Rangers won by a nine-run margin of victory, right-hander Yoshinori Tateyama earned his first career save with three innings pitched in relief of Harrison.

In Sunday afternoon’s series finale, the Royals erased an early two-run deficit and took a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning, but Texas came back with multiple runs in both the eighth and ninth to tie and eventually win the game by a 7-6 final.

Against Royals left-hander Danny Duffy, the Rangers scored their first run on an RBI double by Mike Napoli in the bottom of the second, then added another on Ian Kinsler’s solo home run in the third.

Kansas City responded by putting five runs on the board against Texas starter Alexi Ogando in the top of the fourth. With one out, Wilson Betemit and Mitch Maier each connected for RBI doubles before catcher Brayan Pena hammered a three-run homer into the upper deck in right field.

Napoli cut into the Royals’ lead with a solo home run leading off the fifth inning, but Kansas City was still ahead 5-3 going into the bottom of the eighth. With two outs and a runner at third, Michael Young hit an Aaron Crow fastball just over the wall in right to tie the game heading into the ninth.

After the Royals had gone back ahead in the top of the inning, Cruz led off the Rangers’ half of the ninth with a game-tying home run to left field against closer Joakim Soria. Mike Napoli followed with a single into left before the next two batters struck out, setting the stage for Elvis Andrus.

With Napoli running on the pitch, Andrus lined a single into right that was fielded by Mitch Maier, who fired the ball into the catcher as Napoli was being waved home by third base coach Dave Anderson. Although the relay throw had him beat by at least 15 feet, Napoli slid under Brayan Pena’s glove and was ruled safe because the catcher did not apply the tag in time, giving the Rangers their first walk-off victory of the season.

Kirkman Up, Tomko Down as Texas Tweaks Bullpen

Prior to the start of their three-game weekend series against Kansas City, the Rangers recalled left-hander Michael Kirkman from Triple-A Round Rock on Friday and assigned veteran right-hander Brett Tomko outright to the minors.

This marks the second big-league stint of the season for Kirkman, who was roughed up for five earned runs in less than two innings pitched in his only appearance on Apr. 19 against the Angels. The 24-year-old began the season in Round Rock’s starting rotation, but four of his last five outings for the Express have come in relief.

Across 7 and 2/3 innings of work out of the bullpen at Triple-A, Kirkman has recorded nine strikeouts and held opponents to a .207 batting average while not allowing an earned run.

Tomko, 38, posted a record of 0-1 with a 4.58 earned run average in eight appearances for Texas since being called up on Apr. 20. He had signed a minor-league deal with the Rangers in mid-February after spending the most of last two seasons with Oakland.