Rangers Notes: Starters, Home Runs Lead to Sweep over Royals

Mike Napoli (right) is congratulated by David Murphy after hitting a solo home run in the second inning of Sunday’s 8-7 win over Kansas City.

After losing three series in a row and briefly dropping behind the Angels in the American League West, the Rangers responded with a weekend sweep of the Kansas City Royals and improved their overall record to 14-7 this year.

Texas snapped its two-game losing skid Friday with an 11-6 win over the Royals in Arlington, hitting a season-high five home runs as left-hander Derek Holland went seven innings to earn the victory. Holland was charged with five runs on seven hits, although all five runs came in the fourth inning and he held Kansas City scoreless for the other six frames while recording a total of nine strikeouts.

Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer off Royals starter Jeff Francis in the third inning to extend what had been a 3-0 Rangers’ lead to 5-0, but Kansas City responded with five runs of their own against Holland in the top of the fourth to tie the game.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler put Texas back ahead with a solo home run in the fourth, and the Rangers homered in each of the next three innings – one apiece by David Murphy, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland – to wrap up the scoring as every starter finished with at least one hit.

On Saturday, right-hander Alexi Ogando worked out of jams in each of the first three innings and pitched into the seventh as Texas held on to beat the Royals, 3-2. Making his fourth big-league start, Ogando limited Kansas City batters to just one run on five hits while lowering his season ERA to 2.13.

Murphy scored the first run of the game in the second inning when he reached on a fielding error by Chris Getz and came home on Moreland’s two-out double. Texas pushed its lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the third against Royals starter Kyle Davies, one scoring on an Adrian Beltre sacrifice fly and another on a two-out single by Nelson Cruz.

Ogando was pulled in the seventh inning after yielding a leadoff home run to Kila Ka’aihue in to lose his shutout, but right-hander Cody Eppley threw two scoreless frames in his major league debut to preserve the lead for Texas.

The Rangers were powered by three home runs and a six-run fifth inning Sunday as they held off a late charge by Kansas City, completing their three-game sweep with an 8-7 win over the Royals.

Mike Napoli clubbed his fifth home run of the year in the second inning to give Texas a 1-0 lead, but former Ranger Jeff Francoeur hit a solo homer of his own to tie the game in the fourth against left-hander C.J. Wilson. Despite allowing his first two round-trippers of the year, Wilson rebounded to throw seven innings and strike out a season-high 10 batters to pick up the victory.

After Beltre led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run, shortstop Andres Blanco did the same in the fifth, hitting his first long ball since 2009. Texas went on to add five more runs in the inning, capped off by David Murphy’s bases-clearing double with two outs.

The Rangers’ sweep of Kansas City, coupled with a four-game sweep of the Angels by Boston, moved Texas back into first place in the A.L. West division by 2.5 games over Los Angeles. Next up for the Rangers is a four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays beginning Monday in Arlington.

Feliz Lands on Disabled List

All-Star closer Neftali Feliz was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, and right-hander Cody Eppley was called up from Triple-A Round Rock to replace him on the active roster.

Feliz, who recorded 40 saves last season on his way to winning the A.L. Rookie of the Year award, was stretched out as a starter during spring training but eventually moved back into his more familiar bullpen role. Across eight relief appearances so far this year, Feliz has put together a 1.08 earned run average and converted all five of his save opportunities, though he’s also issued six walks (one intentional) along with his six strikeouts.

Eppley, 25, pitched at each of the Rangers’ top three minor league levels last season, posting a record of 5-2 with 16 saves and a composite 2.08 ERA for Bakersfield, Frisco and Oklahoma City.

To make room for Eppley on the 40-man roster, the Rangers transferred right-hander Eric Hurley from the 15- to the 60-day disabled list. Hurley suffered a mild skull fracture and concussion this week when he was hit in the head by a line drive during a Triple-A game in New Orleans.

Rangers Notes: Rhodes Added to Bullpen Mix

In 55 innings for the Reds this season, veteran reliever Arthur Rhodes went 4-4 with a 2.29 ERA.

The Rangers and free-agent left-hander Arthur Rhodes reportedly agreed to terms Thursday on a one-year deal with a vesting option for 2012. The 41-year-old Rhodes spent each of the last two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds, posting a record of 5-5 with a 2.41 ERA in 108 and 1/3 innings.

Rhodes has pitched for seven different teams in his 19-year career, compiling an 84-66 record with an earned run average of 4.06 across 849 appearances. He missed the entire 2007 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, but since then has a record of 9-6 with a 2.32 ERA in 143 and 2/3 innings.

A first-time All-Star in 2010, Rhodes is no stranger to the American League West division, having spent parts of five seasons with Seattle and one with the Oakland Athletics.

The addition of Rhodes (which is still pending a physical) will give Texas another veteran late-inning relief option, along with left-hander Darren Oliver and right-handers Frank Francisco and Darren O’Day.

Texas Adds Jackson and Quintanilla

The Rangers signed a handful of players to minor-league deals this week, including two former first-round picks in left-handed pitcher Zach Jackson and infielder Omar Quintanilla.

Jackson, 27, was taken in the first round of the 2004 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. An alumnus of Texas A&M University, Jackson has appeared in 22 big-league games (17 starts) since ’06 with the Brewers and Indians, striking out 63 batters against 34 walks with a 5.81 ERA.

Quintanilla, a University of Texas alum, was selected by Oakland with the 33^rd overall pick in the 2003 draft, then traded to Colorado two years later as part of a deal for Eric Byrnes. The 29-year-old middle infielder compiled 500 major-league at-bats with the Rockies from ’05 to ’09, hitting .220 with 25 doubles and 60 runs scored.

In August, Quintanilla received a 50-game suspension at Triple-A Colorado Springs after testing positive for Methylhexanamine, which is considered a performance-enhancing substance.

Greinke Traded to Brewers

Less than a week after left-hander Cliff Lee decided to return to the Phillies, Texas watched Sunday as yet another offseason target moved to the National League when right-hander Zack Greinke was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a six-player trade with Kansas City.

Now that Greinke is off the market, the Rangers are considering other starting pitching options, including free agents Jeff Francis and Brandon Webb and right-hander Matt Garza of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rangers Notes: Team Weighs Free-Agent Options

Third baseman Adrian Beltre (left) and catcher Victor Martinez could both be attractive free-agent options for the Rangers this offseason.

Baseball’s free-agent shopping season officially began on Sunday, and the Rangers may look to add upgrades at several positions, in addition to trying to re-sign ace left-hander Cliff Lee.

The area which is in need of the most improvement seems to be catcher, where youngsters Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Taylor Teagarden and Max Ramirez were either injured or failed to produce at the big-league level this year, giving way to veterans Matt Treanor and Bengie Molina before the season’s halfway point. The team would clearly like to have a consistent No. 1 catcher for an entire season, and the free-agent market provides options in the form of John Buck, Victor Martinez, A.J. Pierzynski and Yorvit Torrealba, to name a few.

General manager Jon Daniels tried to add a right-handed-hitting first baseman before this year’s trade deadline but could only muster Jorge Cantu, who batted .235 with just two runs batted in and 19 strikeouts in 30 regular-season games with Texas. While Mitch Moreland performed well after his mid-season call-up (nine home runs and 25 RBIs, including a team-high .462 batting average in the World Series), the Rangers are still seeking a right-handed bat to complement him at first. Choices among this year’s group of free agents include Paul Konerko, Troy Glaus, Derrek Lee and Ty Wigginton.

Across the infield, Michael Young is closer to a defensive liability than an asset at third base, and a move to designated hitter may not be too far off. Among free-agent third basemen this offseason, the bar is set high with Adrian Beltre – who hit .321 with 28 home runs and 102 RBIs for the Red Sox this year – but then falls off drastically with the likes of Pedro Feliz, Akinori Iwamura and Nick Punto.

Whether or not Cliff Lee decides to re-sign with Texas, the team will likely try to add depth to its starting pitching rotation, where the only guaranteed spots for next season appear to belong to left-hander C.J. Wilson and right-hander Colby Lewis. Topping this year’s list of free-agent starters are right-handers Jon Garland, Brandon Webb and Chris Young and left-handers Erik Bedard, Jorge De La Rosa and Jeff Francis.

In other news, the Rangers announced Friday that they had outrighted three players off of the 40-man roster – infielder Esteban German and right-handers Doug Mathis and Brandon McCarthy – making them all free agents. The moves brought the number of players currently on the team’s 40-man roster to 31, not including three right-handed pitchers still on the 60-day disabled list: Omar Beltre, Eric Hurley and Guillermo Moscoso.