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Jul 26, 2009 - 4:37 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Texas (53-41) at Kansas City (37-58), 2:10 p.m. EDT

While the Texas Rangers stumbled into the All-Star break, so did right-hander Kevin Millwood.

With five wins in their last six games, though, the Rangers are back on track. After his last performance, it appears Millwood is too.

Millwood makes his second start following the All-Star break on Sunday afternoon when Texas concludes a three-game set with a Kansas City Royals club looking to end a difficult homestand with back-to-back victories.

The Rangers (53-42) lost three of four at Seattle to close the first half, then dropped two straight to Minnesota following the midsummer classic. Texas, though, is still within 4 1/2 games of the surging Los Angeles Angels for the AL West lead, even with Saturday's 6-3 loss to the Royals that snapped the Rangers' five-game winning streak.

Millwood (9-7, 3.44 ERA) was scheduled to take the mound in the Rangers' first game following the All-Star break, but after going 0-2 with an 8.83 ERA in his previous three outings, Texas manager Ron Washington pushed back the right-hander's start.

That decision paid off as Millwood - making his first start in nine days - went six innings and yielded two runs and six hits in Monday's 6-3 victory over Boston.

"I think the time off made him look stronger out there," Washington said.

Sparked by Michael Young's leadoff homer off Red Sox right-hander John Smoltz, the Rangers rallied with five runs in the sixth inning.

"I was real happy when Michael hit the home run to tie it up," Millwood said. "You don't expect to score five runs in an inning off a guy like that."

Millwood tossed a complete game in a 2-0 loss to Kansas City (38-58) in Arlington on April 18, but was outpitched by Royals ace Zack Greinke. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 4.06 ERA in six starts at Kauffman Stadium.

Young went 3 for 4, including his 13th homer of the season, but Texas had just one hit in the final five innings and struck out a season-high 16 times in Saturday's defeat.

"When you strike out that much, you're not putting a lot of pressure on the defense," Washington said.

The Rangers will try to put more pressure on Royals right-hander Sidney Ponson (1-6, 7.63) in the series finale.

Making his first appearance in nearly two months due to a right elbow strain, Ponson surrendered six runs and eight hits over five innings in Tuesday's 8-5 loss to the Angels.

Ponson, 1-5 with a 6.53 ERA in seven starts, is 0-2 with a 12.15 ERA since his last win May 6. The veteran right-hander, though, is 9-1 with a 5.04 ERA in 17 starts versus Texas.

Another solid start by Ponson would be welcomed by Royals manager Trey Hillman, whose bullpen went 0-4 with a 9.68 ERA during a 10-game skid that ended Saturday.

Instead of handing the ball to a setup man Saturday, Hillman brought in closer Joakim Soria in the eighth inning.

"The eighth inning has been so treacherous for us, and I just told him you've got to be mentally prepared for it ahead of time and physically you've got to sell us on the fact that you can," Hillman said.

Soria struck out three and allowed no runs for his third career six-out save as the Royals snapped a seven-game slide at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City second baseman Alberto Callaspo went 3 for 4 on Saturday and is batting .429 (12 for 28) during his seven-game hitting streak.