The win moved the Rangers five games ahead of the Houston Astros in the American League West, their largest lead since the All-Star break.
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Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor (12) throws to first after forcing out Kansas City Royals’ Raul Mondesi at second during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 30, 2016, in Arlington, Texas. The right-hander gave up six hits with the Rangers only getting to him for a run in the third inning. Sam Dyson pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his 22nd save. Dillon Gee gets the ball, and he’s 3-4 with a 4.54 ERA and 55 strikeouts this season.
Harrell was the eighth Rangers pitcher to make a start in July.
Now, the veteran is hoping to be a boost for a Texas pitching staff that is in desperate need of starting help because of the injuries to Colby Lewis and Derek Holland.
“This team’s already on a roll”, Harrell said. “Keep grinding away. You can’t tell them to go out and get a hit”. “I made a couple mistakes that they obviously capitalized on”. “Times are just rough”.
Moreland was 11-for-22 with five homers and nine RBIs in the week that ended on Sunday.
Rangers: Slugger Prince Fielder’s season-ending surgery Friday to fix a herniated disk in his neck went as expected.
The power surging Odor hit his 21st homer of the season in the seventh, barely clearing the 8-foot wall in right field.
“It’s always nice to get it going a little bit, ” Moreland said on Sunday.
Moreland hit 4 home runs in the Rangers’ 4-game sweep of Kansas City over the weekend, including his 10th career multi-homer game on Thursday and his second game-ending home run on Saturday. He had a 6.43 ERA in six previous starts. “It just takes time”. First pitch is set for 6:10p. Gee played collegiately at Texas-Arlington and makes his off-season home in nearby Fort Worth. Adrian Beltre got his 2,873rd career hit, tying him with Babe Ruth for 43rd place all time.
With Davis put on the DL, LHP Matt Strahm was brought up from Double-A Northwest Arkansas and made his major league debut. He faced three batters and allowed one earned run.
In fact, the biggest surprise of Sunday might have been five runs from a lineup with three regular starters taking a day off, not to mention the continued absence of injured outfielder Shin-Soo Choo.
The Royals will try to end a 4 game losing skid tonight as they begin a 4 game series at Tampa Bay.
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Rangers: Lefty Martin Perez (7-7) was 4-0 in five starts in June, but goes into his sixth start in July still without a win. He struck out one and walked two while throwing 66 of 98 pitches for strikes in 5 2-3 innings. Both losses have come since returning from the disabled list on July 16 following shoulder discomfort.
