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Teixeira, Lee huge as Rangers crush Indians

Sep 23, 2006 - 3:41 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Mark Teixeira and Carlos Lee made easy work of the Cleveland Indians' pitching.

Teixeira collected three hits and drove in four runs and Lee homered twice as the Texas Rangers coasted to a 12-4 victory over the struggling Indians.

Teixeira had an RBI single in the first inning and delivered his 29th homer, a two-run blast, in the third off Cleveland starter Paul Byrd (9-9), who is winless in his last four outings. The 26-year-old first baseman also supplied a two-run double that capped a four-run fourth.

Teixeira became only the fourth player in franchise history to drive in at least 100 runs in three straight seasons.

"It's something I expect out of myself," Teixeira said. "If you play an entire season and stay healthy, at the end of the year you're going to put up numbers. I think 100 RBI is one of those statistical points you look at and say, 'OK, this is what I want to get to at least.' Now that I'm there, it's nice to kind of get it out of the way."

Lee launched his first homer of the contest in the third. A two-time All-Star, Lee registered his 36th blast of the season off rookie Jeremy Guthrie in the seventh to make it 9-3. It was his 15th career multi-homer game and third of the season.

"I feel good in the box right now," Lee said. "It feels like the ball looks a lot bigger. My power numbers and RBI could have been a lot better, but I'm happy."

Texas starter Adam Eaton (7-4) recorded the win, allowing three runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 frames in winning his fourth straight decision. He walked one and struck out three.

"I didn't really have great stuff (Friday) but I battled through," Eaton said. "With the offensive support I had, it made it a lot easier to go out there and just throw. I just wish I could've gone a little deeper. I don't know how many hits I gave up with two outs. That was kind of frustrating."

Michael Young registered four RBI for the Rangers, who will miss the postseason for the seventh consecutive campaign.

"Even though we're not in the (playoff) race, we want to help each other out," Young said.

Byrd gave up eight runs - four earned - and eight hits in four innings for the Indians, who dropped their fourth consecutive game.

"I had a good slider and changeup. For the most part, I located them pretty well," Byrd said. "It was just one of those things when I did make a mistake, they hit it hard and they got their hits at the right time."