a leadoff homer and Chris Davis singled home two runs, leading the Rangers to a
5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of a doubleheader
Tuesday.
Davis' two-out grounder in the fourth inning slipped
under the glove of first baseman Lyle Overbay, who appeared miffed that he
didn't make the play with his backhand stab. That broke a 1-all tie and put
Texas ahead to stay.
Dustin Nippert (5-2) allowed two runs over six innings
and has won all three of his home starts this season. The right-hander's other
two starts at Rangers Ballpark came against Boston, which began the day four
games ahead of Texas in the AL wild-card race.
Kinsler's seventh leadoff homer this season and 12th of
his career, both Rangers records, came on the third pitch thrown by rookie
left-hander Marc Rzepczynski (2-4). Kinsler has 29 homers and 28 stolen bases,
just short of becoming the third second baseman in major league history to join
the 30-30 club.
Nelson Cruz walked with one out in the fourth before Ivan
Rodriguez doubled high off the 14-foot wall in left. Taylor Teagarden struck out
before Davis drove both of them home.
Cruz lined a two-run single up the middle in the seventh.
Michael Young went 0 for 2 with two walks, ending his
18-game hitting streak, which had been the longest active streak in the majors.
He had also hit in 23 consecutive games at Rangers Ballpark, tying the team mark
Rodriguez set in 1995.
Adam Lind homered and scored both Toronto runs. That came
a day after Lind hit two homers and had a career-high eight RBIs in an 18-10
victory in the series opener.
Hard-throwing rookie Neftali Feliz struck out four in two
perfect innings, getting three called third strikes with off-speed pitches.
Frank Francisco then worked the ninth for his 20th save in 23 chances.
Lind's solo homer in the sixth, his 28th, got Toronto to
3-2.
The other Toronto run came in the fourth at the start of
a sequence in which All-Star third baseman Young was involved in three
consecutive plays, with varied results.
Lind, who reached on a one-out walk, scored when Young
was charged with an error for misplaying a grounder by Vernon Wells. Rod Barajas
then was credited with an infield single on a chopper that ricocheted off the
glove of Young, who then went to his left for Jose Bautista's grounder to start
an inning-ending double play.
Rzepczynski struck out a career-high nine in six
innings, but also allowed eight hits.
Notes
Feliz has 26 strikeouts and one walk in 11
appearances spanning 19 2-3 innings since being promoted to the majors Aug. 2.
… Blue Jays SS Marco Scutaro made two errors, the first time in 330 games he
has committed multiple errors. He was charged with four on July 6, 2007. Scutaro
had only four errors in his first 126 games this season. … Kinsler has a
six-game hitting streak, going 10 for 23 (.435) during that stretch.