Rapid reaction: Rangers 10, White Sox 6

April, 30, 2013
Apr 30
10:24
PM CT


ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers overcame a slow start by both Yu Darvish and their bats to pound the Chicago White Sox 10-6 on Tuesday night at Rangers Ballpark. Texas has won seven of its past eight games at home.

Moreland coming alive: Mitch Moreland has been the Rangers' hottest hitter over the past week and he continued his surge against the White Sox. Moreland was 3-for-3, including a line-drive double to left field off a left-handed reliever, Donnie Veal, to give the Rangers a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Moreland's three hits were against left-handed pitchers, boosting his season average to .243 against southpaws.

Kinsler drives them in: The Rangers might be struggling with runners in scoring position, but leadoff hitter Ian Kinsler isn't. He had two more RBI hits Tuesday, one to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth, and another a key insurance run with two outs in the sixth inning. Kinsler is up to .391 for the season with runners in scoring position. He is 4-for-11 with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Six-run sixth: The Rangers snapped a 4-4 tie, then broke the game open with a six-run sixth inning. They scored in a variety of ways. The aforementioned RBI double by Moreland and RBI single by Kinsler gave them a 6-4 lead. The Rangers loaded the bases and then White Sox reliever Nate Jones had a forgettable three-pitch sequence. He threw consecutive wild pitches to score Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Adrian Beltre then snapped out of his slump with a two-run home run to left field for a 10-4 lead.

Back-to-back: The Rangers woke up a quiet crowd with back-to-back home runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. Nelson Cruz, who has carried the offense, broke through against White Sox starter Jose Quintana with his sixth home run of the season, a sky-high shot to left field. Jeff Baker, who has played his way into the lineup on a regular basis against right-handed starters, tied the game at 2-2 with a 434-foot home run to center field, his second of the season.

Taking advantage: The Rangers jumped on a mistake by the White Sox in the bottom of the fifth. Craig Gentry grounded into a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a throwing error by Chicago second baseman Tyler Greene. It worked essentially as a sacrifice, with a faster runner, Gentry, ending up at second instead of Moreland. Kinsler gave the Rangers the lead with a double inside the third-base bag. Andrus followed with a single up the middle for a 4-2 lead.

Darvish settles in: Darvish allowed two runs in the first inning on four hits. The first one, a one-out triple by Greene, should have been caught by Cruz in right field. The White Sox jumped on the opening. Alex Rios and Konerko had RBI singles to snap Darvish's 19-inning scoreless streak.

Hanging curveball: Darvish was settled in until the top of the sixth, when he had a lead-off walk and later failed to execute a 3-6-1 double play as he wasn't able to keep his foot on the first-base bag. The Rangers paid for it as No. 9 hitter Dewayne Wise connected with a hanging curveball for a two-run homer to tie the game 4-4. Wise had two hits in 22 at-bats entering Tuesday. He had three hits in three at-bats versus Darvish and was 4-for-4 for the night.

Walk-up crowd: Darvish is drawing fans to the ballpark. The Rangers had 4,000 fans walk up and purchase tickets Tuesday night as the stadium filled in nicely in the early innings. The final crowd total was 40,646.

Scheppers streak ends: Tanner Scheppers relieved Darvish in the top of the seventh and quickly saw his scoreless innings streak to start the season end. Scheppers allowed a two-out home run to Adam Dunn, ending the right-hander's streak at 12⅔ innings.

Up next: A pair of 24-year-old pitchers face off Wednesday night when Rangers right-hander Nick Tepesch (2-1, 2.52) faces White Sox left-hander Chris Sale (2-2, 4.09 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. on ESPN-FM 103.3 FM and 1540-AM.

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103.3 FM ESPN PODCASTS

Galloway & Company: Rangers talk

Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Mark Friedman discuss the latest with the Rangers, including their loss last night and Ron Washington's decision to leave Nick Tepesch in the game.

Fitzsimmons & Durrett: Buster Olney

ESPN senior MLB analyst Buster Olney joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss the Rangers' strong start, Matt Harrison's additional back surgery and much more.

Galloway & Company: Rangers talk

Randy Galloway, Matt Mosley and Glenn "Stretch" Smith discuss the first month of the 2013 season for the Rangers.

Fitzsimmons & Durrett: Ron Washington

Ron Washington joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to discuss Yu Darvish, the Rangers' recent losses and if the notion that the team looked fatigued is warranted this early in the season.

Galloway & Company: Tanner Scheppers

Tanner Scheppers joins Matt Mosley and Chuck Cooperstein to discuss pitching for the Rangers and what it's like watching Yu Darvish.

Fitzsimmons & Durrett: Jim Bowden

Jim Bowden discusses the state of the Rangers rotation, Mitch Moreland's struggles, the weaknesses of the team and if Jurickson Profar should have been shipped during the offseason.

Galloway & Company: Justin Grimm

Rangers pitcher Justin Grimm joins Galloway & Company to discuss his last start, being called up from the minors and much more.

Fitzsimmons & Durrett: Ron Washington

Manager Ron Washington joins Ian Fitzsimmons to discuss the Rangers' comeback win over the Angels, A.J. Pierzynski's value to the team and much more.

TEAM LEADERS

WINS LEADER
Yu Darvish
WINS ERA SO IP
5 2.33 58 38
OTHER LEADERS
BAI. Kinsler .330
HRN. Cruz 6
RBIN. Cruz 20
RI. Kinsler 17
OPSI. Kinsler .939
ERAY. Darvish 2.33
SOY. Darvish 58

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