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Wilson, Rangers shut down Rays

Sep 7, 2011 - 6:03 AM St. Petersburg, FL (Sports Network) - C.J. Wilson threw a five-hitter for his first career shutout Tuesday and the Texas Rangers rolled to an 8-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Wilson (15-6) beat the Rays for the second time in six days, striking out six and walking three for his sixth career complete game and third of the season.

He matched his career-high win total from 2010, when he became a full-time starter, and is the first left-hander in franchise history to win 15 games in back-to-back seasons.

"He had a good cutter working tonight, tight slider, moving his fastball around," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He was in control."

The offense allowed him to relax, banging out 12 hits to rebound from a 5-1 loss in the opener of this three-game series on Monday. Tampa Bay's James Shields threw a complete game in that one.

"It was kind of like yesterday's game in reverse," Rays manager Joe Maddon said Tuesday.

Ian Kinsler and David Murphy hit leadoff homers in the first and second innings and Murphy finished 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored for the AL West-leading Rangers.

The Rays had a three-game winning streak snapped. Jeff Niemann (9-7) was knocked around for nine hits and seven runs in just 4 2/3 innings to take the loss.

The right-hander, who is 1-3 in his last four starts, gave up five runs in five innings last Thursday against Texas. Wilson pitched six innings for the win in that game.

The rematch between Wilson and Niemann was one-sided from the start.

Kinsler worked a 3-0 count and belted his 26th homer of the year on Niemann's fifth pitch of the game, while Murphy hit his ninth homer on the third pitch of the second inning to make it 2-0.

Elvis Andrus singled to spark a three-run rally in the third inning, coming home on Josh Hamilton's double, and Murphy hit a two-run double with two outs to give Texas a 5-0 lead.

Niemann retired the Rangers in order in the fourth inning, but was pulled after giving up a double to Hamilton, a single to Michael Young and a sacrifice fly to Adrian Beltre in the fifth. Murphy then greeted Cesar Ramos with an RBI double on the reliever's second pitch, making it 7-0.

Murphy hit a leadoff single against Jake McGee in the eighth inning and scored on Mike Napoli's double for the game's final run.

Wilson threw 73 of his 117 pitches for strikes and faced the minimum in six innings, including each of the last three. The lefty is 5-1 in his last six starts and 4-0 lifetime against Tampa Bay.

"He has to know that we can beat him," Maddon said. "And we haven't done that yet."

Game Notes

The Rays fell to 3-2 on a nine-game homestand...Texas was 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded six, while Tampa Bay was hitless in three chances with runners in scoring position and stranded four.