• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Kinsler powers Rangers over Astros

Jun 30, 2011 - 3:54 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Ian Kinsler continued his power surge, smacking two solo home runs, including one to start the game, to lead the Texas Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros in the middle tilt of a three- game interleague series at Minute Maid Park.

Kinsler homered and had three RBI in Tuesday's 7-3 victory.

Andres Blanco had a pair of hits, including a double, while Adrian Beltre chipped in with an RBI single for the defending American League champs, who have won the first two games of the series and three of their past five.

Colby Lewis (7-7) tossed 6 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on six hits while fanning six to earn the win. Lewis also chipped in offensively with a double.

Carlos Lee belted a home run while Clint Barmes added an RBI single for the Astros, who have lost five consecutive games.

Brett Myers (3-7) worked seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out four and walking two to absorb the loss.

"I made a mistake and they came out swinging the bats," Myers said of his performance. "I just had to make an adjustment. I was able to do that for the most part and tried to keep us in the game the best I could."

Neftali Feliz worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to earn his 16th save of the season.

Texas wasted no time taking the lead in its first at-bat, as leadoff man Kinsler blasted a 2-2 changeup from Myers into the left field seats for his 10th home run of the season. Blanco followed with a double, advanced to third on a Josh Hamilton groundout and scored on a Beltre single to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

The Rangers extended their lead to 3-0 in the third as Kinsler took Myers deep for the second time in the game on a 3-2 cutter that stayed out over the heart of the plate. It was Kinsler's 11th homer of the 2011 campaign.

"I just needed a good game honestly, it doesn't matter where," Kinsler said. "I just wanted to be able to help the team win. Colby (Lewis) did a great job tonight, and to put those two runs on the board early helped him out."

Houston's only offense of the night came in the seventh, as the Astros plated a pair of runs. Lee blasted a ball deep into the seats in left for his sixth homer of the year to cut the deficit to 3-1. The Astros added a second run on an RBI single by Barmes for a one-run game.

After giving up a double, Lewis was pulled in favor of reliever Darren Oliver, who got pinch-hitter Jason Michaels to ground out to preserve the slim lead.

Game Notes

Prior to the game, the Astros placed outfielder Jason Bourgeois on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Brian Bogusevic from Triple-A Oklahoma City...The Rangers' Michael Young had his 13 game hitting streak snapped...Barmes went 1- for-3 and is only two RBI short of 300 for his career...Texas is 8-0 at Minute Maid Park...It was Kinsler's eighth career multi-homer game. His last came on August 27th, 2009 against the New York Yankees.