Rangers 6, Mariners 4
Nelson Cruz homered again to set an American League record and the Texas Rangers defeated the visiting Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday for their season-opening fourth straight victory.
Cruz has homered in each of Texas’ first four games to become the first AL player and third overall to accomplish the feat, joining Willie Mays (1971 Giants) and Mark McGwire (1998 Cardinals).
Elvis Andrus also homered and Julio Borbon added a two-run triple as the Rangers remained one of the AL’s two unbeaten teams (Baltimore Orioles).
Derek Holland (1-0) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings, and Neftali Feliz pitched a perfect ninth for his first save.
Borbon’s triple gave Texas a 3-0 lead in the second. The Mariners truck twice in the third on Justin Smoak’s run-scoring double and Miguel Olivo’s groundout prior to Cruz’s homer in the fourth that gave the Rangers a 4-2 lead.
The Mariners trailed 6-4 in the eighth after Olivo’s run-scoring single, but reliever Arthur Rhodes struck out Ryan Langerhans to end the inning.
Seattle’s Erik Bedard (0-1) gave up five runs – three earned – and four hits in five innings in his first major-league appearance in 20 months. Bedard suffered a torn labrum in July 2009, and didn’t pitch in the majors last season.
Milton Bradley went 3 for 4 for the Mariners.