After winning a majority of their recent games with "small ball", the Rangers broke out the boomsticks last night, hitting five homers in an 11-5 win over the Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago.
Jeff Baker, Adam Rosales, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland each went yard the traditional way, while Ian Kinsler added a controversial inside-the-park home run, giving the Rangers their fourth straight win, and tying a franchise record with their ninth straight win on the road.
The Rangers' lead in the AL West is now 3 1/2 games over Oakland, thanks to the A's 9-7 loss to Baltimore at Camden Yards.
The homers allowed Rangers starting pitcher Martin Perez to overcome a rough second inning, where he gave up three runs on 31 pitches. The southpaw allowed just one run on two hits after that, setting down the last nine in a row before exiting the game and earning his seventh win of the year.
The Rangers will send ace Yu Darvish to the mound tonight in the annual Civil Rights Game. Darvish is 12-5 on the year, with a 2.68 ERA and a major-league high 214 strikeouts. The White Sox will counter with lefty Hector Santiago, who is 4-7 with a 3.27 ERA for the season.
Game time tonight is set for 6:05, on Fox Sports Southwest.