Odor powers Rangers past Royals
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rougned Odor homered twice as the Texas Rangers pounded the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Friday night.
Odor's first homer capped a three-run first inning and his second was part of a two-run seventh inning as the Rangers collected 12 hits on the night and had three homers. The Royals have now dropped eight of their last 10 games. Texas increased its lead to four games in the American League West, the largest it's been since July 19.
Right-hander A.J. Griffin (4-1) was the beneficiary of the offense. He allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings. The outing was his longest since May 2 and he notched his first victory since April 26.
Kansas City's Edinson Volquez (8-9) struggled from the start as the Rangers got three runs off him in the first as Ian Desmond and Adrian Belte collected RBI before Odor's homer.
Texas extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth on an RBI double from Nomar Mazara and a run-scoring single from Mitch Moreland. The Royals got those two runs back in the top of the sixth as Eric Hosmer ended Griffin's night with a two-run homer.
The Rangers weren't done scoring though. Jurickson Profar hit a solo homer in the sixth and Desmond scored ahead of Odor's second homer in the seventh on a wild pitch.
Volquez surrendered six runs (five earned) on nine hits in his six innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Kendrys Morales had two of the seven Kansas City hits. Odor went 3-for-4 while Desmond, Moreland and Beltre each had two hits.
The Rangers jumped on Volquez for three runs in the first as Ian Desmond put Texas up 1-0 with a grounder and Adrian Beltre followed with an RBI single. Odor slammed a homer, his second of the series, to make it 3-0.
The Rangers tacked on two runs in the fifth with a run-scoring double from Nomar Mazara and a single by Mitch Moreland.
NOTES: The Rangers added RHP Lucas Harrell to the roster and announced that he will start Sunday against Kansas City. To make room for Harrell, the Rangers optioned RHP Shawn Tolleson to Triple-A Round Rock. Tolleson started the season as the closer but has a 7.68 ERA in 37 outings. ... RHP Kyle Lohse, who was designated for assignment by Texas on Tuesday, declined an outright assignment and is now a free agent. ... Kansas City activated OF Lorenzo Cain from the 15-day disabled list after having been out since June 28 with a strained left hamstring. The Royals sent OF Brett Eibner to Triple-A Omaha to clear a roster spot for Cain. ... With his win Thursday night, Texas LHP Cole Hamels became the first pitcher in club history to have at least 12 victories and fewer than four losses in one season by the end of July. Hamels (12-2) won't pitch again until August. ... Rangers OF Jurickson Profar made his first big-league start in the outfield since 2013.