Andrus's walk-off hit lifts Rangers past Royals
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus lined an RBI single off Kansas City's Peter Moylan to score Rougned Odor in the ninth inning and lift the Texas Rangers to a 2-1 victory.
The Rangers have won nine straight games against Kansas City and have their longest winning streak of the season at three. Two of the three wins for the Rangers in the series have come in walk-off fashion.
Odor opened the ninth with a single of Travis Wood (0-2), who faced one batter. Odor stole his first base of the season and set the stage for Andrus.
Right-hander Matt Bush (1-0), the third Texas pitcher, picked up the win with a scoreless ninth. He allowed a two-out single but struck out Brandon Moss.
Texas starter Nick Martinez, who was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Friday, made the most of his first start with a no-hitter through five innings.
Kansas City finally got to him in the sixth when Drew Butera grounded a one-out single to left. That got the Royals going as they tallied three hits off Martinez in that inning, with an RBI single from Mike Moustakas tying the game at 1.
Martinez matched a career high by pitching seven innings. He allowed one run on four hits and struck out three.
Martinez got an early run to work with as Mike Napoli led off the second inning with a solo homer into the right-field corner off Kansas City right-hander Ian Kennedy.
That would be the only mistake Kennedy made in his seven innings. He matched Martinez by allowing only one run on four hits in seven innings.
All six of the Kansas City hits were singles. Texas was 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position and had six hits, with three coming from Carlos Gomez.
Martinez allowed just one baserunner in the game's first five innings, that coming on a two-out walk to Brandon Moss in the second inning. He got out of that inning with a fielder's choice grounder.
NOTES: C Salvador Perez was a late scratch for the Royals after being in the original starting lineup. A stiff neck forced Perez to miss his first game of the season. ... Texas C Mike Napoli is 3-for-20 against Kansas City RHP Ian Kennedy, with two of the hits home runs. ... Texas OF Nomar Mazara went 0-for-3 and is in an 0-for-19 slump over his last five games.