Rangers 9, Mariners 2
Nelson Cruz homered among three hits and Mitch Moreland added three hits and two RBIs as the Texas Rangers crushed the visiting Seattle Mariners 9-2 on Monday.
Mike Napoli chipped in two RBIs and scored a pair of runs for the Rangers, who moved 1 ½ games ahead of the idle Los Angeles Angels atop the American League West.
Cruz blasted his 25th homer – a solo shot – off Charlie Furbush in the second inning to get Texas on the board. The Rangers took the lead for good in the fourth, pushing across a pair of runs on back-to-back fielder’s-choice groundouts.
That was all the support that Matt Harrison (10-8) would need. The lefthander surrendered two runs and five hits while striking out six in seven innings. He has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his last seven starts.
Texas piled on Furbush (2-4) in the fifth, pushing across three more runs to knock the rookie out. Furbush, who was acquired as part of the trade that sent Doug Fister to the Detroit Tigers, is attempting to lock down a spot in the Seattle rotation for the rest of this season and beyond.