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Napoli drives Rangers past Rays

May 31, 2011 - 5:37 AM St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - Mike Napoli hit a pair of homers and drove in five runs, as the Texas Rangers used a 20-hit attack to crush the Tampa Bay Rays, 11-5, in the opener of a three-game series.

Endy Chavez went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBI for the Rangers, who have won three in a row. Mitch Moreland hit a solo homer and scored three times for the victors.

"Everyone stepped up and got a hit or got on base to get us going," Moreland said.

Derek Holland (4-1) gave up five runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings to pick up his first win since April 22. The left-hander also struck out seven and walked five for Texas, which started a seven-game road trip on Monday.

Justin Ruggiano hit a three-run homer for the Rays, who got a solo homer from Ben Zobrist.

Wade Davis (4-5) allowed a season-high seven runs on 12 hits over just 2 2/3 frames in the loss.

Tampa Bay shortstop Sean Rodriguez committed three errors in the game. The Rays did not commit two errors in a game through their first 52 games of the season, setting a major league record previously held by the 2010 Twins (first 48 games). Monday's contest was Tampa Bay's first multi-error game since October 3, 2010.

This series is a rematch of last year's American League Division Series that the Rangers won in five games.

The Rangers came out of the gates on fire, to say the least. Elvis Andrus got the game started with a double to left and scored two batters later on Josh Hamilton's double. Michael Young followed with a single to put men on the corners. Adrian Beltre knocked in Hamilton with a base hit for a 2-0 edge.

Texas tacked on five more runs in the third. Beltre and Moreland singled to put men on first and second with one out. Napoli brought home both runners with a blast over the wall in left. Chavez made it back-to-back homers with a shot over the wall in right. Andrus' second double of the game and a David Murphy's infield single put men on the corners. Hamilton plated a run with a sacrifice fly. Young then singled to chase Davis from the game. Brandon Gomes recorded the final out of the frame, but not before the Rangers took a 7-0 lead.

Moreland's solo homer to right in the fourth made it an 8-0 game, and Texas had already tied a season high in hits (15) through four innings.

"When you get off to that kind of start it really makes things more difficult," Rays manager Joe Maddon said.

Tampa Bay finally got on the board in the home fourth. B.J. Upton walked, stole second, moved to third on Napoli's throwing error and scored on Matt Joyce's two-out single.

Napoli's second homer of the game in the sixth -- a solo shot to right -- made it a 9-1 contest.

The Rays used the long ball in the home sixth to make things a bit interesting. Zobrist hit a solo shot to left-center field and Ruggiano hit a three-run homer to right, cutting the gap to 9-5. Mark Lowe took over for Holland on the mound and loaded the bases with two outs. Upton went down swinging to end the inning.

Texas put a two-spot on the board in the eighth to put the game away. Napoli's RBI double and Chavez's run-scoring single gave the Rangers an 11-5 lead.

Game Notes

Tampa Bay won four of its six matchups with the Rangers last season....Holland improved to 3-1 lifetime against the Rays...Texas' 20 hits was a season- high...Johnny Damon of the Rays has reached base safely in 24 straight games...Hamilton went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.