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Tejeda allows just two hits as Rangers defeat Astros

May 19, 2007 - 5:05 AM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Robinson Tejeda ended the Texas Rangers' pitching woes with a major performance.

Tejeda did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and Ramon Vazquez belted his first homer of the season as the Rangers ended a four-game losing streak with a 7-4 triumph over the Houston Astros in the opener of their interleague series on Friday.

Nelson Cruz also homered and Sammy Sosa added a two-run double for Texas, which had allowed four or more runs in nine of its previous 10 games. The Rangers were just 2-8 in those contests.

Tejeda (3-3) yielded a run, two hits and four walks in five-plus innings while striking out six for his first win in three starts.

The righthander allowed two singles and a walk in the sixth, and with Carlos Lee coming to the plate, Rangers manager Ron Washington lifted Tejeda in favor of Scott Feldman, who got Lee to ground into a double play.

"(Tejeda) threw the ball as well as we've ever seen him throw it," Washington said. "He didn't want to come out of the game, but what pitcher does? He was out of gas. It wouldn't have been right of me to leave him in, and Carlos Lee does something crazy like he's capable of doing. I just wanted to bring in a fresh arm and a sinkerballer to get the double play. And he did."

After inducing the double play, Feldman balked in a run with two outs to spoil the shutout bid.

Feldman recorded four outs and Frank Francisco tossed 1 2/3 innings before Eric Gagne worked around a walk in the ninth for his second save of the season.

Tejeda was making his first start since May 9, when he left after 3 2/3 innings of a 6-2 loss to the New York Yankees with soreness in his pitching arm. The 25-year-old Dominican had a successful bullpen session on Wednesday and was cleared to start against Houston.

"I felt much better," Tejeda said. "It's kind of hard after I hurt my arm. I came into the game feeling comfortable. Sometimes it can enter your mind, but it didn't. I forgot about the pain and everything."

Tejeda's performance was a welcome relief to a staff that entered Friday with a 5.24 ERA, the second-worst mark in the major leagues.

With the game scoreless in the top of the third, Kenny Lofton singled and Michael Young walked before Sosa hit a one-out double off Matt Albers to the left-center field wall, plating both runners.

"I was missing just a little bit down and I didn't get the ball far enough in to Sosa," Albers said. "I've got to find a way to get the ball down."

Cruz doubled the lead by launching a 1-1 pitch into the right field seats. Cruz was moved into the fifth spot in the batting order after the Rangers learned third baseman Hank Blalock will miss 10-12 weeks after shoulder surgery.

"I try to make adjustments because they pitch better if you hit fifth or seventh or eighth," Cruz said. "You get more curveballs. I just do my thing."

One batter later, Vazquez blasted a 3-1 offering over the wall in right to make it 5-0. Vazquez, whose contract was purchased from Class AAA Oklahoma on Thursday, hit his first major league home run since July 24, 2006.

"It definitely feels good to go out there, get hits and help the ball club," Vazquez said. "But I've been here before and have had good games before. I got good pitches to hit, that's all."

Albers (1-3) finished the inning but did not return for the fourth. The rookie righthander, who yielded seven runs and nine hits in just three innings against Cincinnati on May 10, was reached for five runs, six hits and two walks in this one.

"I thought (Albers) made some good pitches," Astros manager Phil Garner said. "He didn't get the calls."

Texas scored a run in the fourth on an RBI base hit by Young and added another in the sixth on Lofton's run-scoring single.

Mike Lamb had a RBI double and Brad Ausmus added a run-scoring single for the Astros, who have lost two straight following a four-game winning streak.

"We just didn't swing the bats the first half of the game," Garner said. "We woke up the last half but we were already in a bind."