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Texas Rangers have cleaned up their act
Texas Rangers’ Elvis Andrus changes hairstyle, but not his baseball luck
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CLEVELAND — Pick a rookie. Any rookie.
With the Texas Rangers these days, there are plenty of good ones to choose, and any of them is capable of winning a game.Four made contributions Tuesday in the first game of a doubleheader at Progressive Field, but Julio Borbon made the biggest impact in carrying the Rangers to an opening victory.The outfielder, who has made a splash with his speed the past month, swatted two solo homers, and the second sparked a crucial three-run ninth inning as the Rangers outlasted Cleveland 11-9.A brief break between games didn’t cool off the Rangers’ bats. They collected 18 hits, one short of the season-high, en route to a 10-5 victory and their third doubleheader sweep of the season.Marlon Byrd went 4-for-4 in the opener and had the biggest hit, a three-run homer in the seventh that broke a 5-5 tie. But Borbon’s unexpected power surge helped provide a cushion the Rangers badly needed once the Indians’ bats got going."I’m kind of surprised. I’m not going to lie," said Borbon, who had only two homers in 96 games this year for Triple A Oklahoma City. "I felt really good at the plate. But going up there with the same approach and knowing what the [pitcher] was doing is the main thing."The Rangers collected 14 hits and built a 7-0 lead after four innings in the second game and appeared to be on their way to an easy sweep. However, they needed a three-run homer from Chris Davis in the ninth to secure a win that brought them within two games of wild-card-leading Boston.Davis’ homer came with two outs after an error and a hit extended the inning. Byrd had three more hits, giving him a club-record seven for the doubleheader."It’s pretty good to get back on track and win some ballgames," manager Ron Washington said. "We’ll come back tomorrow, get greedy and see if we can get a [series] sweep."Borbon, though, had been hitless in 12 at-bats, and his average has started to come back to earth some after a sizzling August. It’s still a more-than-respectable .329, but he has had some adjusting to do as the league’s pitchers adjust to him.His patience at the plate is one thing he tried to improve Tuesday."I had to go back and check out what I was doing, and it was more me getting myself out than anything," said Borbon, who also stole his 13th base. "I was swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. Putting it all together, and knowing what my plan is has been the key thing for me."Borbon and David Murphy had solo shots as the Rangers built a 4-0 lead. Rookie right-hander Tommy Hunter, though, allowed a run in the fourth, and two more in the fifth to offset a Rangers run in the top of the inning.He gave way to another rookie, Neftali Feliz, with one out in the sixth, but the normally dominant right-hander couldn’t snuff out an Indians rally. Michael Brantley looped a two-out double down the line to plate two and tie the game at 5-5.That’s when Byrd stepped in and hit his 16th homer of the season. The three-run cushion, though, wouldn’t be enough as Cleveland kept on scoring.Travis Hafner hit a solo shot in the seventh off Feliz, who saw a scoreless-inning streak of 20 1/3 innings snapped. He allowed three hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings, and his ERA ballooned to 0.76.But Feliz earned the first victory of his career."He’s only human," Washington said. "I can’t remember any pitcher who came to the big leagues and had a 0.00 ERA. He’s going to give up something."After Borbon’s homer in the ninth, Ivan Rodriguez had a two-run double to make it 11-7. That proved to be a key hit after Cleveland rookie Matt LaPorta hit a two-run homer of Frank Francisco in the Indians’ last gasp."We haven’t been in one of them in a while," Washington said. "From the fourth to the ninth, they put runs on the board, and got them all kinds of ways. But we hung in there, and made the last bit we put up stand up."Jeff Wilson, 817-390-7760
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