Kinsler, Rangers beat Rays 8-3
ARLINGTON, Texas — Ian Kinsler homered to become a 30-30 player for the first time, Julio Borbon had three hits and the Texas Rangers clung to their slim playoff hopes, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 8-3 on Friday night.
Kinsler is the third second baseman in major league history with 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a season. Alfonso Soriano, who has done it three times, and Brandon Phillips are the others.
His 30th homer was a three-run shot in the eighth that put Texas up 8-3. Kinsler stole his 30th base Thursday.
The Rangers, who have nine games remaining, trail Los Angeles by 6½ games in the AL West. The Angels, whose magic number is four, hosted Oakland on Friday night.
Texas moved within seven games of Boston, which lost 9-5 to the New York Yankees on Friday, in the wild card.
Gabe Kapler homered for Tampa Bay, which had won six of 10 since losing 11 straight earlier this month.
Rangers rookie Derek Holland (8-12) gave up three runs over five innings to snap a five-game losing streak.
Tampa Bay starter James Shields (10-12) allowed five runs and seven hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out seven.
Texas slugger Josh Hamilton was back in the lineup after missing 19 games because of a pinched nerve in his back. He was 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and had an RBI on a fielder’s choice.
Borbon and Elvis Andrus led off the bottom of the first with singles. Marlon Byrd lined a two-run double to put the Rangers ahead 2-0.
Chris Davis drove his 20th home run into the upper deck in right off Shields, who has yielded 28 long balls this season.
The Rays scored three runs to tie the game in third.
Kapler led off with a home run, and Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist had two-out RBI singles. Holland got out of further trouble when he struck out Pat Burrell to end the third.
Holland, who had a 12.38 ERA during his five-game slide, got some help from his bullpen as four relievers allowed one hit in four shutout innings.
The Rangers took the lead for good in the fourth when Kinsler scored on Ivan Rodriguez’s double-play grounder.
Texas added a run in the fifth when Borbon singled, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice. Hamilton hit a chopper to first that the speedy Borbon scored on, beating a throw home from first baseman Willy Aybar.
Kinsler’s three-run blast was his first home run in 20 games.
NOTES: Rays manager Joe Maddon said LHP J.P. Howell has been shut down for the rest of the season. “The last few years, he’s thrown more relief innings than any pitcher in baseball and there’s nothing positive to be derived from having him pitch for the last 10 games, so we decided to shut him down,” Maddon said. … Holland’s last victory before Friday was Aug. 20 against Minnesota. … Texas improved to 47-32 at home.
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Tampa Bay Texasab r h biab r h biBartlett ss 4 2 2 0 Kinsler 2b3 1 1 1Crwfrd lf 5 2 3 1 Andrus ss3 0 1 1Longori 3b 3 2 1 0 DvMrp lf3 0 0 1Zobrist 2b-1b 5 0 2 4 M.Byrd cf3 1 1 1WAyar dh 4 0 1 1 Blalock 1b4 0 0 0FPerez pr-rf 0 0 0 1 Vizquel 3b0 0 0 0BUpton cf 4 0 1 0 AnJons dh3 1 0 0Gross rf 3 0 0 0 N.Cruz rf4 2 2 2Kapler ph 0 0 0 0 C.Davis 3b-1b3 1 1 0Zaun ph 1 0 0 0 Tegrdn c3 0 1 0Choate p 0 0 0 0 Borbon ph1 0 0 0Balfour p 0 0 0 0Cormir p 0 0 0 0ChRchr 1b 2 0 0 0Iwamr ph-2b 0 1 0 0Navarr c 3 0 1 0Burrell ph 1 0 0 0Riggns c 0 0 0 0Totals 35 7 11 7 Totals30 6 7 6
Tampa Bay 000 000 034—7Texas 020 030 010—6E_C.Davis (5). DP_Texas 2. LOB_Tampa Bay 8, Texas 3.
Rangers 15, Rays 3September 26th, 2009 Rangers 15, Rays 3
Tampa Bay Texasab r h biab r h biBartlett ss 3 1 2 1 Borbon lf5 2 1 2FPerez lf 1 0 1 0 Andrus ss2 1 1 0Crwfrd lf 3 0 2 0 Vizquel ph-ss2 0 0 0Kapler rf 1 0 0 0 Hamltn dh6 0 2 4Longori 3b 2 0 1 0 M.Byrd cf3 2 2 5ChRchr 1b 1 0 0 0 Gentry cf2 0 1 0Zobrist rf 2 0 0 1 Blalock 1b5 1 1 0Riggns c 1 0 0 0 Kinsler 2b3 2 1 1Burrell dh 4 0 0 0 Germn 2b1 0 0 0WAyar 1b-3b 4 0 0 0 DvMrp rf5 2 2 2BUpton cf 4 1 0 0 IRdrgz c4 2 3 1Zaun c 2 1 1 1 Rchrds c1 1 1 0Brignc ph-ss 2 0 0 0 C.Davis 3b5 2 4 0Iwamr 2b 3 0 0 0Totals 33 3 7 3 Totals44 15 19 15
Tampa Bay 110 1 0 0 000— 3Texas 000 1(11)1 02x—15E_Bartlett (18), C.Davis (4). DP_Texas 2. LOB_Tampa Bay 5, Texas 10.
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Tampa Bay Texasab r h biab r h biBartlett ss 2 1 0 0 Borbon lf4 2 3 0Crwfrd lf 2 1 0 0 Andrus ss3 1 1 0Longori 3b 4 0 1 1 Hamltn dh4 0 0 1Zobrist 2b 4 0 1 1 M.Byrd cf3 1 1 2Burrell dh 4 0 0 0 Blalock 1b3 0 0 0WAyar 1b 4 0 1 0 Gentry pr0 1 0 0Kapler rf 2 1 1 1 Vizquel 3b0 0 0 0Gross ph-rf 2 0 0 0 Kinsler 2b2 2 1 3Navarr c 3 0 0 0 DvMrp rf4 0 1 0Zaun ph 1 0 0 0 IRdrgz c3 0 0 0BUpton cf 3 0 2 0 C.Davis 3b-1b3 1 1 1Totals 31 3 6 3 Totals29 8 8 7
Tampa Bay 003 000 000—3Texas 210 110 03x—8E_F.Francisco (1). DP_Tampa Bay 3, Texas 1.
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Texas 000 000 030—3Tampa Bay 110 030 00x—5E_Nippert (1), Teagarden (5). LOB_Texas 5, Tampa Bay 7.
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