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Rangers down Astros in Texas interleague battle

May 19, 2012 - 7:08 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Adrian Beltre finished with two hits including a solo homer, drove in two and scored twice as Texas downed Houston, 4-1, in the opener of this three-game interleague set.

Michael Young and Nelson Cruz knocked in a run each for the Rangers, who shook off an extra-inning loss to Oakland on Thursday to win for the second time in three outings.

Robbie Ross (5-0) tossed 2 1/3 scoreless relief innings to snag the win for starter Neftali Feliz. Feliz didn't make it out of the fifth, but scattered three hits and one run.

"He did as well as he could. He tried to go deep and tried to get it done, but it just wasn't there tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said about Feliz.

Jed Lowrie drove in the lone run for the Astros, losers in five of their last seven. Wandy Rodriguez (3-4) was charged with 10 hits and three runs over six innings in the setback.

"Wandy pitched pretty good. He again gave us a quality start and was able to get through some things," Astros manager Brad Mills said. "Offensively, it was tough to get things mustered up."

The Rangers picked up valuable insurance runs in the fifth and seventh innings, extending a one-run edge into the final margin of victory.

In the former, Beltre doubled with one down and scored when Young followed with a two-bagger. In the latter, Beltre deposited a Fernando Rodriguez offering over the wall in left center.

Koji Uehara followed Ross by retiring the side in order in the eighth, then Joe Nathan followed suit in the ninth to notch his ninth save.

Texas tallied twice in the third inning on a Beltre sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Cruz.

Lowrie's single in the home half plated Jose Altuve, who began the frame with a walk, stole second and advanced on a fly out.

Feliz exited in the bottom of the fifth after walking Altuve to start and issued a free pass to Lowrie with two outs. But Ross came on and induced an inning-ending grounder from Brian Bogusevic.

Game Notes

Texas became the first team in MLB history to play 14 different teams in its first 14 series of a season...The Rangers have won 15 of 19 meetings with the Astros since the start of the 2009 season...Both Feliz and Ross notched their first career at-bats, due to National League rules which stipulate that pitchers take a turn at the plate.