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There was plenty of talk late Thursday afternoon in the in-game Rangers chat and even this morning on Twitter and email about manager Ron Washington's decision to pinch hit Brandon Snyder for Mitch Moreland in the seventh inning of Thursday's eventual 5-4, 10-inning loss to the A's.

My colleague, Tim MacMahon, certainly questioned the decision, as he wrote here. And that's the great thing about baseball: We can debate strategy all the time.

But I had no issues with Washington's decision Thursday. Yes, Mitch Moreland had hit two homers, but both came against right-handed starter Brandon McCarthy. Moreland's numbers against lefties are, in a word, terrible. He's 3-for-16 vs. lefties this season. Want a longer track record? He's got a .224 career average vs. southpaws.

Snyder, on the other hand, has been crushing left-handed pitching so far this season. He was 8-for-22 (.363) with three homers and seven RBIs before that at-bat. The percentage is way in Snyder's favor over Moreland there. Homers or not, Moreland hasn't hit left-handed pitching. Essentially, Washington wanted to try to win that game in the seventh inning. And when the A's brought in lefty Jordan Norberto, who is holding lefties to a .217 average with one RBI this season, Washington played the percentages.

What if Moreland walks up there and does what he's done throughout his career against lefties in that seventh inning? Are we all talking about how Washington didn't utilize his bench? Of course we are. Washington had a hot hitter against lefties ready to go and went with him. It didn't work out. But to then say the decision was flawed because Snyder came up again two innings later in a completely different situation isn't fair. Washington is trying to win the game right there in the seventh. He felt Snyder was his best option and the numbers say he's right -- two homers by Moreland or not.

But that's just me (and Mike Peasley, I might add). What about you? Are you still fired up about this decision?

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Craig Gentry was speeding all over Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in Wednesday's 4-1 win over the A's.

He raced down the first-base line after putting down a perfect bunt toward the third baseman in the third. He hustled to first on a ground ball to third and beat out the throw. And he sprinted to the left-center gap on a fly ball hit by Seth Smith to lead off the seventh.

"I've played with Gentry all the way up from Double-A on and speed is a huge part of his game," first baseman Mitch Moreland said. "He runs about as fast as I've seen. I've seen him do some pretty impressive stuff. What he did (Wednesday), I've seen him do 100 times, I feel like. He's good at it. He's going to find a way to take the extra base or beat out a ball. It's fun to watch. Sometimes you drop your jaw. He can get after it."

Gentry did that a few times Wednesday as he showcased his speed. But his infield single in the fourth was a key play. He hit a ground ball to third baseman Josh Donaldson, who hesitated just enough to throw the ball late to first. Gentry was hustling out of the box and beat the throw.

"When you hit a ground ball right at a guy, I'm thinking,' Just hustle down the line and hope for the best,'" Gentry said. "Luckily, he double-clutched. But I didn't see it. As soon as I hit the bag, I knew."

Gentry's bunt single was just his second of the season. He said he saw Donaldson, out of the corner of his eye, drop back a few steps and figured he had room to drop a bunt. It's something Gentry wants to incorporate more in his game.

"A lot of times I feel like they're playing too far in on me for me to feel comfortable putting it down," Gentry said. "I want to do that more."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish is always looking for an edge. And going into Wednesday's game against the Oakland A's, Darvish and catcher Yorvit Torrealba talked about using his fastball as an out pitch.

"These teams study me just like I study them," Darvish said through interpreter Joe Furukawa. "In previous starts I was going to my breaking ball as out pitch. Knowing that, I was able to use my fastball hard in and up in the zone to get some outs."

Quality starts are becoming the norm for Darvish. He earned his fifth quality start in his last six outings -- the only start that wasn't a quality one was the game in which he returned after a nearly two-hour rain delay to still pitch 5 1/3 innings. Against the A's, Darvish gave up just one run (in the first inning) on four hits in 7 2/3 innings. He had two walks and seven strikeouts in the 4-1 win. It was Darvish's sixth win of the season, the most by any rookie in the majors this season. He's now 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA and 53 strikeouts with 22 walks in his last seven starts.

And he did it by getting ahead in the count and then adding more changeups than he's thrown all season and mixing his pitches in a variety of counts, keeping hitters off-balance. In the process, he gave the Rangers bullpen a much-needed break after they were needed the past two nights.

"He needed to save the bullpen," manager Ron Washington said. "Tonight he helped us catch up."

Darvish was also more efficient than he has been in a while. He needed 118 pitches to get through 7 2/3 innings. It took him 112 to throw six innings in Cleveland earlier this month. He said he felt like he had an easy motion Wednesday and felt fine physically, even after he had to stay loose during a one-hour, 56-minute rain delay against the Angels on Friday night.

"It was nothing different from my previous outing," Darvish said. "I was able to rest my body and get my work in."

Darvish also decided to change up his uniform choice. The starting pitcher chooses the uniform and Darvish decided on red.

"The last two nights we wore blue and didn't play our game," Darvish said. "I wanted to change it up. I heard some of the position players like playing in red."

They played well behind him, too. The Rangers, who had some defensive breakdowns in the Royals series, made all the plays on Wednesday. Adrian Beltre ranged to his right to take away a double and get an out. Craig Gentry scampered to one of the deeper parts of the park to catch a hard-hit fly ball, and Darvish stabbed a chopper headed his way.

Mike Adams came in with two on and two outs in the eighth to relieve Darvish and got a strikeout. Joe Nathan closed the game out with three straight strikeouts. So Darvish's good night was completed with a perfect one from the bullpen.

"He's doing exactly as advertised," Washington said about Darvish. "He's keeping the team in the ballgame. He's got strikeout stuff. Every time he takes the ball, you might see something new from him."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- It wasn't Game 2 of the ALCS, but Nelson Cruz's grand slam in the third inning Sunday did ignite a sellout crowd of 46,669 and served as further proof that he is hitting his way out of an early-season funk.

Cruz mashed the homer 344 feet to left field, just going over the wall and inside the foul pole to turn a 2-2 game into a 6-2 Rangers lead. Adrian Beltre, on third base when Cruz hit the blast, jumped up and down as the dugout erupted. The homer was only the start for a Rangers offense that pounded out 19 hits and 13 runs in the 13-6 victory, taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels.

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"He certainly was very productive tonight," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.

It was Cruz's third grand slam of his career in the regular season. And of course he had a big one in extra innings in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series in 2011 vs. Detroit, becoming the first player in big league history to hit a postseason walk-off grand slam.

But Cruz had actually been building toward Sunday's four-hit night. He was batting .283 in his last 13 games after starting the season so poorly. And despite hitting just .228 (11-for-48) off Jered Weaver, Cruz used all parts of the field and felt good.

"I said before that I felt like my swing was there, just not the results," Cruz said. "I thought it would come. It's good to see it."

Cruz wasn't the only hitter that performed well Sunday. Elvis Andrus was 4-for-5 and is hitting .328 this season. Mike Napoli, who has been scuffling the past few weeks, was 3-for-4. In fact, every starter in the lineup got on base and only one didn't have a hit was David Murphy.

But Murphy had one of the biggest at-bats of the game. He was down 0-2 in the count and worked it back to 3-2 before walking to load the bases for Cruz in the third. Cruz followed with the grand slam.

"It's a fun lineup to be a part of," Josh Hamilton said. "Every night somebody steps up. Either all of us, or bottom of the lineup or top of the lineup. It flip-flops or varies, which is a good thing to be able to say as a team. It's just fun to be a part of."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers bench coach Jackie Moore left Sunday's 13-6 Rangers win in the sixth inning after feeling light-headed. The 73-year-old felt better before the game ended and was taken to Medical Center of Arlington for observation.

Rangers officials said Moore's EKG was normal and that he was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

Moore is in his fourth season as bench coach. He has been a player, coach or manager for 54 consecutive years in baseball.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton is still taking swings with the bat that he used to crush four home runs in Tuesday’s historic game in Baltimore.

“I hope I don’t launch it into the stands,” said Hamilton, who frequently tosses bats into the stands on certain swings and misses.

Hamilton said the bat is marked with a sticker so that he knows which one it is, but he plans on continuing to use it.

“I’ll swing it until it breaks,” Hamilton said.

Then, maybe, the bat will head to the Hall of Fame or some other display. Until then, Hamilton is still busy sending balls out of the ballpark at an extremely high rate.

He’s had one of the most impressive weeks of power the game has seen. Hamilton belted another home run in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Angels, pushing his total to nine home runs in the last week (six games). Only Frank Howard of the Washington Senators in 1968 has more home runs in a six-game span (he hit 10).

Read the rest of the story here.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Matt Harrison got ahead to Mark Trumbo 1-2 to start the seventh inning, but wasn't able to get the young hitter to swing and miss at anything after that.

"I couldn't finish him," Harrison said.

Instead, Trumbo fouled off a strike and took three balls to draw a leadoff walk, setting up the inning for the Angels. After the walk, a couple of great bunts made the difference. Howard Kendrick took a 1-0 fastball for a strike and Michael Young took a few steps back, figuring Kendrick wouldn't be bunting.

"It was just put in the perfect spot," Young said.

The bunt down the third base line put runners at first and second and ended Harrison's day. The nearly unhittable Alexi Ogando entered and faced the speedy Peter Bourjos with two on and no outs. Bourjos followed Kendrick's lead, dropping a bunt down the line. Ogando fielded it quickly and threw to first, but there aren't many players faster than Bourjos, who beat the throw.

"You have to give the Angels credit, they executed," manager Ron Washington said.

Erick Aybar hit a sacrifice fly to left field to put the Angels up, 3-2. And after John Hester's infield hit (Elvis Andrus made a nice diving stop to keep a run from scoring on it), Mike Trout hit a sacrifice fly to right. Nelson Cruz made a nice throw home, but it wasn't in time to get Kendrick.

So a walk, two bunt singles, an infield single and two sacrifice flies vaulted the Angels into the lead. They didn't let go of it, holding on for the 4-2 victory.

Walks really hurt Harrison on Saturday. He also issued one to Torii Hunter with two outs in the fourth. Trumbo then hit a 1-0 fastball 420 feet to left field to give the Angels a 2-0 lead.

"I didn't make him earn his way on," Harrison said about Hunter. "I made a mistake to Trumbo and he hit it."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- When Yu Darvish faces Albert Pujols for the first time Friday. ESPN Stats & Info expects Darvish to throw Pujols something other than fastballs. Here's part of that thinking:

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Darvish has many pitches, including two different curveballs. Almost 15 percent of Darvish’s pitches this season (98 of 661) have been curveballs, and opponents are hitting just .059 against it. That’s the lowest batting average this season against a pitcher who has thrown at least 75 curveballs.

Darvish has been tough on right-handed hitters this season (.196 BA, 9-46), which does not bode well for the struggling Albert Pujols.

Based on the numbers, Pujols can expect to see a heavy diet of off-speed pitches from Darvish. Pujols is hitting .239 against fastballs and .125 against off-speed pitches (changeups, curves, sliders).

As good as Darvish is against righties, left-handed bats have teed off on his fastball. Left-handed batters are hitting .457 against his heater, another reason why the Angels might see a lot of off-speed pitches from Darvish.

There's lots of good C.J. Wilson-Darvish stuff in the complete post here.

BALTIMORE -- The Texas Rangers' journey through Toronto, Cleveland and Baltimore started with some banged up players, some rough starts and some series losses. But it ended with an historic game from Josh Hamilton and three wins in four games over the Orioles, who had the best record in the AL with the series began. A few notes on what we learned about the Rangers on this road trip:

* After starting the road trip 2-4, the Rangers regrouped in Baltimore to go 5-5.

"The way the road trip started, to be 5-5, we'll take that," catcher Mike Napoli said. "We wanted to do better, but we'll take it."

* They head back to Arlington with a little momentum and a little better health. Maybe that second part is more important. Adrian Beltre's hamstrings didn't take well to the turf in Toronto and he didn't start at third base until Thursday in Baltimore. He came off the bench in Toronto and was eased back into the lineup. He looked good at third base Thursday (playing in Game 1) and his bat is big in the lineup.

* Josh Hamilton didn't play in Toronto with a stiff back, but returned to the lineup in Cleveland and then had his memorable four-homer night Tuesday at Camden Yards, becoming the 16th player in big league history to do that. Hamilton added a two-run homer in the first inning of Game 2 on Thursday, giving him six two-run homers in the four-game series in Baltimore. He was 8-for-17 with six homers and a double. His only single came in Game 1 on Thursday.

"I'm excited and happy I had a good series, but the series is over with now," Hamilton said. "We've got to go home and think about Anaheim."

* Elvis Andrus continues to swing a hot bat. He has now reached base safely in 28 games, tying Curtis Granderson for the longest streak this season. Granderson's streak ended Wednesday. He was 19-for-42 (.452) with seven RBIs on the 10-game road trip. He had a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in Game 2 on Thursday.

"He came up big tonight, no doubt about it," Washington said. "The stuff that Josh (Hamilton) was doing, Elvis was on the basepaths. That big hit he got with two outs was huge to give us the lead."

* Is Thursday a sign that Mike Napoli might slowly be figuring things out? Napoli had a struggling road trip at the plate, coming into Thursday's game at 4-for-27, but he had two hits, including his first triple in two years (and the fifth of his career). The triple scored Nelson Cruz to tie the score. Napoli later scoed on Andrus' single to give the Rangers the lead.

"I was just trying to move the runner over and when I saw (Nick) Markakis dive for it and not get there, I kept running," Napoli said.

He said he worked with hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh on Thursday and they found something on video that Napoli was doing and he fixed it. Now the key is trying to make it a habit and do it more consistently. Perhaps a series against his former team will help Napoli do that.

* Derek Holland had a good road trip, after struggling in two home starts. He gave up one earned run in 13 1/3 innings in Cleveland and Baltimore.

"I didn't change anything," Holland said. "The only thing I was doing is leaving my off-speed stuff too much over the plate. I fixed that and got my fastball command going. That helped."

His manager was pleased with Holland's poise in the second game of Thursday's doubleheader. After the Rangers made three errors in the second inning that allowed three unearned runs to score and turn a 2-0 Rangers lead into a 3-2 deficit, Holland was able to bear down and not allow any more runs. He got through six innings and turned things over to the bullpen.

* Cruz wasn't hitting when this road trip started, but he went 11-for-43 (.255), which was an improvement over what he was doing at home.

* Neftali Feliz and Matt Harrison also had bounce-back starts in Baltimore, perhaps giving them some confidence for the upcoming homestand.

* Mike Adams walked his first batter of the season Thursday, issuing two walks. He had gone 11 2/3 innings without one until Thursday, but he worked out of the trouble he was in to not allow a run in the eighth of the Rangers' win. Closer Joe Nathan also got some work, giving the bullpen a little action before this weekend.

BALTIMORE -- Texas Rangers clubhouse manager Richard "Hoggy" Price got the fastest clubhouse attendant he could find -- 19-year-old Mike Apicella -- and put a blue jersey with Robbie Ross' name on it in his hands and told him to "stop for no one" as he sprinted to the bullpen.

The reason for the rush was that Ross had a rookie moment Thursday, warming up during the eighth inning with a gray jersey on. The only problem? The Rangers were wearing blue tops for Game 2 of the doubleheader. They wore gray for the first game.

"After the first game, I came in here and ate and left my sweatshirt on," Ross said from the clubhouse following the game. "I ran out to the field. So when they told me to get up and get ready, I was still wearing the gray jersey. I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' Actually, I looked up and (Scott) Feldman and (Mark) Lowe are looking at me. They told me to calm down and throw the ball and they'd get me a jersey."

Ross took some ribbing from teammates for the mistake, as you can imagine. But he stopped at one point during his warmups and put the blue jersey on. Turns out, he wasn't needed to go into the game.

"If I have to wear the wrong jersey for us to get a 'W,' that's fine with me," Ross said.

Ross said he isn't sure what to expect in terms of a Kangaroo Court fine, but something is bound to be coming on that front. Ross is already in charge of the pink backpack full of items the relievers may need during their time in the bullpen during games. He has to wear a cowboy outfit complete with stuffed pony to the bullpen before each game, too. Ross does a good job of taking it all in stride.

But he'll be sure and wear the correct jersey from now on.

BALTIMORE -- Texas Rangers starting pitcher Colby Lewis didn't know what to make of one of the strangest starts you'll see from a pitcher.

He took peaks and valleys to a new extreme in Thursday's 6-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of a doubleheader. It was either really good or really bad for Lewis. In between never showed up for him at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He gave up five hits and all of them were homers, yet he also had a career-high 12 strikeouts. No pitcher since 1918 has done that.

"It was a freakin' weird game," Lewis said. "I don't know how to justify that game."

Lewis gave up home runs to the first three batters he faced, falling behind 3-0 after just eight pitches as Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis all hit home runs. It was the first time in American League history that a team started a game with three straight homers (fourth time overall).

Lewis then did a tremendous Cy Young impersonation, retiring the next 18 batters he faced -- 11 of them on strikeouts. His slider was nasty, his fastball command solid, and he was unhittable. It was an impressive run and unlikely, given his start.

But in the seventh, he lost his remarkable form and gave up two more home runs -- a solo shot to Adam Jones and a two-run homer to Wilson Betemit, allowing six runs on five hits -- all of them homers. He collected a career-high 12 strikeouts in the process.

"It seemed like one of those days where you have really good stuff and if you miss your spot and it's not just a hit, it's a homer," Lewis said. "It was weird. You can't really look at it any other way. It was a weird game."

Lewis, who is now second in the AL in homers allowed with 11 on the year (so 45 percent of that total came in his seven-inning start Thursday), said he felt he threw good pitches on three of the homers. He'd like the slider back that he threw to Markakis in the first, saying he didn't bury it enough. Markakis hit it off the foul pole in right. And he threw a 2-0 fastball that was too high to Hardy, who is hitting the ball well right now and was looking for a fastball on that count.

"He kept us in the game," manager Ron Washington said. "He settled down and made some adjustments. It was just two innings. It just so happened it was the first and the seventh."

Lewis was still shaking his head after the game. He said he felt great, had good stuff and thought he had the energy to even pitch longer. He said he didn't allow the three straight homers in the first to rattle him.

"I'm not worried about it," Lewis said. "Somebody's going to get out. The best hitters get out seven out of 10 times. Eventually, something is going to happen."

BALTIMORE -- In his first at-bat since mashing four homers on Tuesday night, Josh Hamilton struck out against Baltimore Orioles lefty Wei-Yin Chen. It was Hamilton's first at-bat of his career off the rookie. He now has five homers in his last seven at-bats.

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Hamilton became the 16th player in big league history to hit four homers in a game and the last since Carlos Delgado in 2003 when he had four two-run homers off three different Orioles pitchers Tuesday. But Mother Nature delayed Hamilton's encore another 24 hours after rain postponed Wednesday's game, setting up Thursday's doubleheader at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Coming into the doubleheader, Hamilton led the American League with 14 homers, 36 RBIs and a .406 batting average.

The 2010 AL MVP is in left field for this first game of the doubleheader and batting in his customary third spot in the order.

BALTIMORE -- Rangers infielder and designated hitter Michael Young gets mad. But the slugger doesn't get frustrated.

Before Monday's game, Young was hitting .208 (11-for-53) in his last 13 games to see his average dip from .414 to .315.

"I get mad," Young said before Monday's game. "I'm extremely competitive. I don't like going up there and not get the results I want. But I clear it and I try to get ready for my next at-bat. There's a big difference about being mad about something and being frustrated. To me, frustrating is when you're searching for answers and you're not sure what's happening. Frustration, to me, is synonymous with desperation. That's not the way I feel."

Perhaps Monday was just what he needed to get going again at the plate. Young was 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs in the Rangers' 14-3 win over the Orioles. The three RBIs match his entire total since the start of the Tampa Bay series.

Young hasn't let his struggles get to him much. He's spent time in the cages and watching video -- as he always does -- and working on what he calls the fundamentals.

"I make my adjustments pitch to pitch, at-bat to at-bat, game to game, but I don't make any major overhauls," Young said. "If I get in a stretch where I don't get the results, I bear down on the fundamentals and expect things to change.

"Sometimes you don't get results. The one thing I want to do is keep things simple, bear down in strike zone, have a good at-bat, get a good pitch to hit and hit it as hard as I can."

Young was at first base Monday and could be at third base Tuesday if Adrian Beltre isn't ready to play the field (and he was still limping around the bases on Monday as the DH).

"I'm going to keep working and stay hungry," Young said.

BALTIMORE -- Matt Harrison sounded a little bit like a golfer as he discussed the adjustments he made prior to and during his quality start Monday night in the Rangers' 14-3 win over Baltimore at Camden Yards.

"I needed to keep my head still," Harrison said.

Many golfers tell themselves the same thing as they begin to swing, and Harrison needed to remind himself to keep his head still and his eyes on the target. That was something pitching coach Mike Maddux (a good golfer, I might add) discovered as he worked with Harrison in a recent bullpen session. The 26-year-old hurler put it to use Monday and saw results.

"It was a big difference for me tonight," Harrison said. "It worked for me tonight until the last couple of innings when I threw some bad pitches and left them up in the zone and they didn't miss them. Prior to that, everything was down and away when I wanted to throw it down and away and down and in when I wanted to throw it down and in."

Harrison allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings of work to earn the quality start and the win. It ended a two-start skid for Harrison, who gave up eight runs in just 3 1/3 innings in his last start in Toronto and seven runs (six earned) in five innings against Tampa Bay. The Harrison on Monday looked much more like the guy that pitched so well the first three starts of the season. He kept the ball down in the zone, pitched efficiently and stayed out of trouble for the most part.

"My two-seamer was sinking and not cutting over the plate, and also the same thing with my changeup," Harrison said. "I had good movement on it, so I was able to make them put the ball on the ground early in the game."

Manager Ron Washington was pleased with what he saw, especially the fact that Harrison threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of the 26 batters he faced.

"I felt he did a good job of keeping the ball down," Washington said. "He got ahead. He threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. He made pitches and put guys away. He did an excellent job."

BALTIMORE -- The Texas Rangers needed somebody to provide a big hit with runners in scoring position to get things rolling. They needed one good at-bat to get the offensive machine that rolled through parts of the AL the first few weeks to return.

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Rookie Brandon Snyder provided it. He had a career-high six RBIs on Monday, but his two-strike single to center in the second put the Rangers up 2-0 and seemed to get everyone calmed down and focused at the plate.

Snyder added a three-run homer in the sixth, and the Rangers offense was off and running from there. They ended up with 14 runs -- the second-highest total of the season -- and 19 hits on their way to a 14-3 win in the first game of a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles, who came in with the best record in the league.

The Rangers were just 8-for-31 with runners in scoring position in their last four games (1-3) before Monday night. They were 8-for-15 in Monday's 14-3 win.

"We needed to bust out," manager Ron Washington said. "It's been coming. We faced some good pitching in Toronto and Cleveland and they stopped us from driving in some runs that we've always been capable of getting. Tonight we were fortunate enough against [Brian] Matusz to put some balls in play in some situations and drive in some runs, and it became contagious."

It was Snyder that started it. And he did it in front of a host of faimly and friends. He is from Northern Virginia and had plenty of support at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Monday night. Even after the game, Snyder wasn't sure what to make of his career-high six-RBI night.

"I'll have to get up and read about it to make sure it really happened," Snyder said. "But I'm sure my mom is going to tell me all about it when I leave here."

She should. Snyder was the first-round pick of the Orioles in 2005 (13th overall), but was traded for cash considerations to the Rangers in January. The 25-year-old showed up in Surprise, Ariz., to compete for a bench spot on the club and was a longshot. But he hit well in spring training and the Rangers wanted a right-handed bat off the bench. So Snyder made the club. He's an infielder, but has been working on his outfield play with coach Gary Pettis and came up through the Orioles system initially as a catcher, so he gives Washington some options there.

Snyder said he wasn't treating Monday as any kind of revenge game.

"It's about us going out there and playing a good team right now," Snyder said. "They're obviously doing real well right now and we're playing well. It's not about guys who were Orioles and now Rangers or guys who were Rangers and are now Orioles. It's about going out there and playing ball and trying to win the series.

"I'm just really fortunate for the opportunity the Rangers gave me."

Snyder said that while it bugged him that he was traded and didn't really stick in Baltimore, he's thankful it landed him with a role on the Rangers.

"I look at that as a positive and something to build on," Snyder said.

Snyder's bat got things going, but everyone joined the offensive party. All nine starters had at least one hit. The last to do it was Josh Hamilton, who belted a two-run blast deep to left-center field in the ninth. Michael Young also hit a ninth-inning homer and had three RBIs. Nelson Cruz, who had been struggling, was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.

"It was good for us to do that," Cruz said. "We needed that kind of offense."