Rangers Notes: Texas Sweeps Cards in Fall Classic Rematch

David Murphy scored the tying run on Sunday in the Rangers’ 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.

Making their first visit to St. Louis since losing Games 6 and 7 of the 2011 World Series, the Rangers left town early Monday morning with a weekend sweep over the Cardinals, who have maintained the best record in baseball for more than a month.

Derek Holland gave up three runs in the first inning Friday and another in the second but rebounded to avoid further damage while pitching through the seventh, and Texas chased St. Louis starter Tyler Lyons with four runs in the top of the second.

The two clubs stayed tied until the ninth inning, when the Rangers mounted a go-ahead rally against Trevor Rosenthal. An Ian Kinsler single, a throwing error on an attempted Elvis Andrus bunt and a wild pitch put runners at second and third with nobody out, and Nelson Cruz followed with a two-run single to help propel Texas to a 6-4 win.

Left-hander Martin Perez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday to start opposite Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller, and although he was scored upon in each of the first two frames, Perez was backed by two-run homers from Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski en route to a 4-2 victory for the Rangers.

A rain delay of nearly three hours preceded Sunday’s nationally-televised series finale, and right-handers Nick Tepesch and Adam Wainwright engaged in a scoreless duel until Matt Carpenter gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the sixth.

David Murphy connected for a two-out double off Wainwright in the top of the seventh inning and scored the tying run when he was singled home by Leonys Martin. An error then allowed Jurickson Profar to reach, and Ian Kinsler put the Rangers ahead for good with an RBI single into left field.

After an off day in New York on Monday, Yu Darvish took the mound Tuesday against the Yankees’ Hiroki Kuroda in a matchup of Japanese right-handers, and both pitchers threw well but did not factor in the decision.

Texas and New York traded single runs in three middle innings and stayed tied, 3-3, going into to bottom of the ninth. Rangers reliever Tanner Scheppers then retired the first two men he faced before Ichiro Suzuki homered to give the Yankees a 4-3 walk-off win.

On Wednesday, Justin Grimm received early offensive support in the form of two-run doubles from Adrian Beltre and A.J. Pierzynski in the top of the third, and Nelson Cruz later added a two-run homer before Scheppers, Neal Cotts and Joe Nathan pitched scoreless relief, helping Texas beat New York by an 8-5 final.

Thursday afternoon’s rubber match saw Derek Holland toss the Rangers’ first complete-game shutout this season, holding the Yankees to just two hits with seven strikeouts while Jurickson Profar scored both Texas runs in a 2-0 victory.

Broken Hand Sends Gentry to DL

Outfielder Craig Gentry was put on the 15-day disabled list Sunday (retroactive to Jun. 21) with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand, and the club recalled Engel Beltre from Triple-A Round Rock to take his spot on the active roster.

Gentry had been hit in the hand by a pitch from Oakland’s Jarrod Parker last Tuesday, and an MRI taken over the weekend revealed the fracture.

The 23-year-old Beltre made his major-league debut as a pinch-runner late in Wednesday’s game at Yankee Stadium (and was promptly thrown out trying to steal second base), then went 2-for-3 in his first career start the following afternoon.

In 72 games as the regular center fielder at Round Rock this season, Beltre was batting an even .300 with 13 stolen bases and a team-leading 44 runs scored.

Ortiz Optioned to Clear Spot for Perez

In order to make room on the active roster for left-handed starter Martin Perez, the Rangers optioned southpaw Joe Ortiz back to Round Rock prior to Saturday’s game at Busch Stadium.

Ortiz, 22, opened the season with Texas and began the year on a roll before encountering issues with his control and effectiveness last month.

He was sent down to Triple-A earlier this month when Alexi Ogando made what turned out to be a short-lived return to the rotation, and Ortiz had appeared in two games since getting recalled on Jun. 18.

Rangers Notes: Texas Keeps Rolling After All-Star Break

Derek Holland began the second half strong with his second consecutive complete-game shutout, part of a 5-0 win Thursday in Seattle.

The Rangers extended their season-best win streak to 11 games over the weekend with a four-game sweep over the Mariners at Safeco Field.

Left-hander Derek Holland – who failed to get out of the first inning in a start against Florida earlier this month – bounced back with his second consecutive complete-game shutout on Thursday, part of the Rangers’ 5-0 win over Seattle.

Holland carried a perfect game into the bottom of the sixth before walking Franklin Gutierrez and allowing a single to Chone Figgins, and he faced just six batters over the minimum on the evening.

Outfielder Josh Hamilton provided Texas with an early lead when he hit a solo homer off Mariners starter Jason Vargas in the top of the first. Nelson Cruz followed with his 21^st home run of the season in the second inning, and Michael Young stretched the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the third.

Mike Napoli then connected for a leadoff homer against Vargas in the top of the fifth inning, and Craig Gentry produced the game’s final run when he singled, stole second base, and came in to score on an RBI single from Elvis Andrus.

Meanwhile, Holland scattered five hits over the last four frames and walked only one batter while recording a total of eight strikeouts, becoming the first Texas pitcher to throw back-to-back shutouts since knuckleballer Charlie Hough did so in 1983.

The Rangers received another scoreless outing from their starter on Friday as Colby Lewis tossed eight-plus shutout frames before Neftali Feliz recorded the final out in the ninth.

Adrian Beltre, Endy Chavez and Josh Hamilton each contributed a run-scoring sacrifice fly in the 4-0 Texas win while Michael Young connected for an RBI single in the top of the eighth.

As for Lewis, he allowed just two hits over his first eight frames of work and finished with a total of eight strikeouts, helping to extend the scoreless-innings streak of the Texas pitching staff to 29 dating back to July 9.

Ian Kinsler helped push the Rangers’ win streak to 10 games with a pair of solo home runs Saturday, and Texas received seven quality innings from left-hander C.J. Wilson en route to a 5-1 victory in Seattle.

Kinsler gave the Rangers an early advantage when he homered leading off the ballgame against Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez, who then settled down to retire 15 of the next 16 batters he faced.

Wilson kept Seattle off the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Franklin Gutierrez reached on a leadoff single, moved to second on a stolen base, and scored on Ichiro Suzuki’s game-tying single into center field.

The Rangers took the lead back for good, however, on an Elvis Andrus RBI single in the top of the sixth, then added three insurance runs off Hernandez and reliever Jamey Wright in the eighth inning. With one out, Kinsler clubbed his second solo homer of the game to extend the Texas lead to 3-1, and both Andrus and Adrian Beltre singled and eventually came around to score in the frame.

Sunday afternoon saw the Rangers wrap up the four-game sweep with a 3-1 win over the Mariners, powered by a three-run homer from Mitch Moreland and seven-plus quality innings from left-hander Matt Harrison. The victory also helped Texas extend its overall winning streak to 11 games, tied for the second-longest in club history.

Seattle starter Blake Beavan – traded by the Rangers last summer as part of the deal for Cliff Lee – had to work around Dustin Ackley’s two-out error in the first inning, although he was able to strike out Nelson Cruz with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Beavan wasn’t as fortunate in the top of the second, however, as David Murphy singled and Mike Napoli walked against him before Moreland hammered a three-run home run to deep right field, giving Texas a 3-0 lead.

Harrison, on the other hand, took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and lasted into the top of the eighth, allowing just one run on five hits while seeing his ERA (2.91) drop into the top 10 in the American League.