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Rangers hit 5 HRs, trim Angels' AL West lead

Aug 8, 2009 - 8:45 AM By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer

ANAHEIM, Calif.(AP) -- The Texas Rangers are chasing down the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels one homer at a time, and even Omar Vizquel is helping out.

Vizquel drove in three runs with four hits, including his first home run since 2007, and his teammates hit four more homers, including Josh Hamilton's three-run shot, and the second-place Rangers beat the Angels 11-6 on Friday night.

Hank Blalock, Michael Young and Taylor Teagarden also connected for the Rangers, who trimmed the Angels' division lead to 3 1/2 games by chasing starter Joe Saunders in the second inning and battering three relievers for 15 hits. Texas has hit 25 homers against the Angels this season while winning eight of the 10 meetings.

"We hit the ball hard, and that wakes up the team a little bit," said Vizquel, whose club lost three of four to last-place Oakland earlier in the week. "We raised the level of our game against these guys. ... I was happy I got a home run. I didn't want to leave without hitting one this year. It's always nice to hit one, to know that you can still hit one out of the ballpark."

Every starter except Andruw Jones got a hit for the Rangers, who increased their major league-leading total to 168 homers. They connected three times in the fifth inning, when Vizquel's fly ball found the short right-field porch for the 42-year-old infielder's first homer since Sept. 30, 2007.

Scott Feldman (11-4) recovered from a shaky first inning to pitch six strong innings for the Rangers, who lost the AL West lead to Los Angeles four weeks ago. But Texas' success against the Angels could prove decisive with two more series between them after this weekend.

"It's nice to have a lot of runs on the board early," said Feldman, who won for the sixth time in eight starts. "It made it real easy to get a lot of rest between innings. We've been swinging the bats pretty good the last couple of games, and hopefully we can keep playing well. Hopefully we can win this series and get some momentum."

Maicer Izturis hit a three-run homer and tied his career high with four RBIs for the Angels, who trailed 9-1 by the fifth inning of a rocky homestand opener. Los Angeles, which has lost three of four for the first time in five weeks, put Saunders (9-7) on the disabled list after the game because of shoulder tightness.

Saunders gave up five hits and five runs in his shortest start of the season, and the Angels shut him down afterward, recalling right-hander Jose Arredondo from Triple-A Salt Lake.

"We're just at a stage where this thing needs to calm down for him to be effective," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think it's fairly obvious now he's a long way away from where he needs to be."

Yankees 2, Red Sox 0, 15 innings=

At New York, Alex Rodriguez homered with two outs in the 15th inning, his first shot in three weeks, to give New York its fifth straight win and 10th walkoff victory of the season.

Derek Jeter singled to lead off the 15th off Junichi Tazawa (0-1), called up Friday after the Red Sox released John Smoltz. After two outs, Rodriguez lined a shot into the bullpen in left-center, his first homer since July 19, a homerless drought of 72 at-bats.

Phil Coke (3-3) pitched the 15th inning for the win in the game that lasted 5 hours, 33 minutes.

Mariners 7, Rays 6, 11 innings=

At Seattle, late-game replacement Ryan Langerhans hit a two-run homer off Tampa Bay closer J.P. Howell (6-3) in the 11th inning for the Mariners, who trailed 5-1 in the seventh. Langerhans, acquired on June 28 from Washington, had his first career game-ending hit and snapped Tampa Bay's three-game winning streak.

Jason Bartlett homered off Shawn Kelley (4-1) in the top of the inning for a 6-5 lead.

Tigers 10, Twins 8=

At Detroit, Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila homered in the Tigers' six-run first inning. It was Avila's first major league homer, and the son of Tigers vice president and assistant general manager Al Avila finished with two hits and four RBIs in his second game in the big leagues. Placido Polanco had four hits and drove in a run for Detroit.

Joe Mauer homered, knocked in three runs and had four hits for the Twins. Denard Span had four hits.

Armando Galarraga (6-10) gave up four runs - three earned - in five innings for the win.

Orioles 7, Blue Jays 5=

At Toronto, Nolan Reimold had two RBIs to help rookie right-hander Jason Berken win for the first time since May 26. Berken (2-9) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings.

Vernon Wells and Alex Rios hit back-to-back homers in the second for Toronto.

Athletics 9, Royals 4=

At Kansas City, Vin Mazzaro ended his eight-game losing streak, and Cliff Pennington had his first career three-hit game for Oakland.

Mazzaro (3-8), a 22-year-old rookie, picked up his first victory since June 7. He gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings.

Pennington had two doubles and two RBIs. Scott Hairston drove in three runs.

Indians 6, White Sox 2=

At Chicago, Kelly Shoppach hit a two-run homer and a solo shot to lead Cleveland.

The Indians won despite grounding into six double plays, tying an American League record for the 14th time. They have won 11 of 16.

Indians starter Jeremy Sowers (4-7), who came into the game with an 0-6 record and a 6.31 ERA against Chicago, pitched seven-plus innings, allowing two runs and six hits.

White Sox starter Mark Buehrle (11-6) continued to struggle after his perfect game against Tampa Bay on July 23. Buehrle allowed six runs and 11 hits in 7 2-3 innings. He is 0-3 with a 8.35 ERA since his perfect game.