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Rangers hope to pad AL West lead with KC in town

May 27, 2011 - 3:07 PM (Sports Network) - The first-place Texas Rangers are hoping to create a little separation atop the American League West. A visit from the Kansas City Royals could be just the thing they need.

The Rangers look to win their ninth straight home game over the Royals and send the sinking ballclub to a season high-tying sixth straight defeat overall tonight in the opener of a three-game series in Arlington.

Texas has won three of its last four games and comes into this series with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels for the top spot in the AL West. The Rangers have held at least a share of first place since May 16, but haven't led the division by more than one game since they owned a 1 1/2-game edge back on April 27.

Thursday served as an off day for the Rangers following a 2-1 victory over the White Sox in the rubber match of a three-game series on Wednesday. Mitch Moreland and Ian Kinsler both drove in a run, while C.J. Wilson yielded just one run over 6 1/3 innings and retired 15 straight at one point.

"I started off great," said Wilson. "I threw a lot of strikes and I was ahead of the guys the first couple of innings. The last couple of innings I just started kind of flirting with the strike zone a little bit instead of pounding it, I guess."

The White Sox placed runners on the corners in the top of the ninth, but Neftali Feliz bore down to pick up his 10th save of the season.

The Rangers haven't lost at home to the Royals since April 18, 2009 and have won 14 of their past 18 versus Kansas City overall since that defeat as well. Texas has already won four of five versus the Royals this year, including a three-game home sweep from April 22-24.

Texas' Josh Hamilton missed that series, as well as a two-game set in Kansas City last week, due to a right arm fracture, but returned to action on Monday for his first game since suffering his injury on a head-first slide on April 12. He went 5-for-9 with a homer in his first two games back before an 0-for-3 outing on Wednesday.

Hamilton is just a career .225 batter in 21 games versus the Royals, who have lost five straight and 10 of their last 12. A defeat tonight would match their longest losing streak of the season first set from April 22-28.

The Royals are just 12-23 since starting the season 10-4 and were just swept in three games by the Orioles. Baltimore won Thursday's finale in 12 innings, 6-5, on Vladimir Guerrero's run-scoring single off reliever Louis Coleman.

"When you play 162 games, you're going to have heartbreakers, but you just move on and get after it the next game," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "You can't let it get you down, you just have to keep battling."

Melky Cabrera had a two-run single for the Royals and is hitting a solid .324 (11-for-34) over his past eight games. He'll look to stay hot tonight and support right-hander Nathan Adcock, who will make the second start of his major league career this evening.

Adcock began his career with eight relief outings before starting against the Cardinals on Saturday. He hurled five scoreless innings, giving up three hits and one walk, but got a no-decision in his team's 3-0 loss. A Rule 5 selection who never pitched above Class A before this season, Adcock retired the final eight batters he faced and has a 1.66 earned run average on the season.

The 23-year-old has allowed five runs this season, with three of them coming in a game at Texas on April 22. Adcock yielded homers to Adrian Beltre and Moreland over his 2 2/3-inning relief outing.

Taking the hill for the Rangers tonight will be Colby Lewis, who is 3-2 over his last five starts with a 1.85 ERA but was denied a third straight win on Saturday versus the Phillies.

Coming off a five-hit shutout versus the White Sox, Lewis yielded two runs over 6 2/3 innings, dropping a 2-0 setback to former teammate Cliff Lee. The right-handed Lewis fell to 4-5 in nine starts this season, but still lowered his ERA to a season-best 3.69. Texas has scored one run or less in three of his five losses this season.

The 31-year-old will face the Royals for the first time since 2003 and is 1-1 with a 9.64 ERA in three career games against them, including two starts.