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Rangers hope to stay hot against Toronto

May 27, 2012 - 2:38 PM (Sports Network) - The Texas Rangers have one of the deadliest lineups in baseball, and if Saturday taught us anything it is that it is impossible to ever count them out of a game.

After giving up a pair of runs in the top of the 13th inning, the Rangers came back in the bottom of the frame with a resounding response, collecting three straight hits, capped off by a Josh Hamilton walk-off two-run home run to claim the 8-7 victory.

"That was huge," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "We certainly needed it. We didn't deserve to lose that ballgame, because we put ourselves in position quite a few times."

The homer was Hamilton's 20th of the year and his three RBI raised his total to 53, both tops in the majors.

Yoshinori Tateyama (1-0) made just one out, relieving Robbie Ross in the 13th after Ross gave up two unearned runs, but it was enough to earn the win.

Jason Frasor (0-1) was credited with the loss as he came in specifically to pitch to Hamilton after Ryota Igarashi allowed Kinsler and Andrus to reach base.

Yunel Escobar, Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie, and David Cooper each had two hits for the Blue Jays.

Toronto turns to Kyle Drabek to try and avoid the three-game sweep this afternoon. After losing four consecutive starts from April 25-May 11, Drabek has recovered with back-to-back wins to pull his record to 4-4 on the season.

Drabek shut down the Yankees on May 16 by allowing three hits and one earned run in seven innings of work. He followed that up with another fine performance against Tampa Bay last Monday, going six innings and allowing two earned runs.

"He created some jams for himself, but found a way to make a big pitch to get out of an inning," Toronto manager John Farrell said of Drabek's last start. "When he was in the strike zone he was powerful, he had good late action and they weren't squaring him up."

Though Drabek's recent success has lowered his ERA to an impressive 3.27, his control has been an issue, as he has issued 34 walks in 52 1/3 innings this season.

The Rangers will counter with their rookie sensation Yu Darvish, who has been as advertised so far with a 6-2 record and a 3.05 ERA. He's also tied for fifth in the American League in strikeouts with 63.

After winning five of his previous six starts, Darvish struggled against the Mariners on Monday night, allowing four hits, six walks, and four earned runs in four innings of work, his shortest outing of his major league career.

Darvish faced the Blue Jays in Toronto back on April 30, putting together one of his most impressive lines of the year (7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 9 K).