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ARLINGTON, Texas -- A.J. Pierzynski could very well get another day off Wednesday as he rests a sore oblique muscle.

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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. Listen

On Saturday, No. 2 and 3 hitters Elvis Andrus and Lance Berkman had a scheduled day off. Berkman was given time off in the cold weather in Chicago a few weeks ago.

Rangers manager Ron Washington is serious about giving his regulars more time off during the season. Washington said in the days after the Rangers were eliminated by Baltimore in the AL wild-card game that he wished he had given his everyday players more rest. The Rangers lost 10 of 14 games and were swept by Oakland to end the 2012 season.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre was among five Rangers who played in at least 156 games. Ian Kinsler, Nelson Cruz and Andrus all played in the most games of their careers.

"My regulars were healthy and they were able to go out there, but if I can look back now maybe I could have done something in the middle of the season where I could have given them some time down," Washington said in post-mortemum news conference last October. "My everyday guys, I rode them, man."

Andrus, Beltre and Kinsler all had full days off in April. Veterans Pierzynski and Berkman have had a combined 10 games off. Washington has avoiding using regulars in pinch-hitting situations to make sure his players get a full day off.

The Rangers are off to another great start. Washington's approach could help bring a stronger finish.

Let's talk: Washington continues to get positive results when he makes a rare visit to the mound to talk to a pitcher. The skipper went to talk to reliever Robbie Ross after he hit Adam Dunn and fell behind Paul Konerko in the top of the ninth with two outs and a 10-6 lead. Ross responded by getting Konerko to ground out to end the game.

The Rangers have this April thing down.

The Rangers won for the 17th time Tuesday night, beating the Chicago White Sox 10-6, and have gone three consecutive Aprils with at least 16 wins. It's the third time in club history they've won 17 games in April. The 1989 Rangers -- with new acquisitions Nolan Ryan, Rafael Palmeiro and Julio Franco -- faded and finished 83-79. Last year's Rangers were 17-6 in April and reached the American League wild-card game.

The 1998 Rangers are the only team in club history to top that, going 18-7 in April. They went on to win the club's second AL West title before losing to the New York Yankees in the AL Division Series.

Pitching carried the Rangers this April. They have a 3.14 ERA, best in baseball. Yu Darvish was 5-0, with all the wins coming after Rangers losses. The offense was inconsistent but might be re-energized after Tuesday's 10-run outburst, which was sparked by the continued surge of Mitch Moreland and a two-run home run by Adrian Beltre.

"We're a good team. We're a very good team," Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler said. "We have a lot of guys on this team that love to win and love to play baseball. We work hard, and when you have that and you win, it snowballs. We're a good team, and we're going to continue to play good baseball and see what happens."

Other notes:

1. Opening wins: The Rangers won their eighth straight series opener going back to their loss to Houston on opening night. The Rangers have been able to grind through the schedule because of it. They are 17-0-3 in their past 20 series when winning the opener.

2. Cruising in April: Nelson Cruz carried the Rangers in the last two weeks of the month. He hit safely in nine of 12 games, and batted .364 with five home runs and 15 RBIs. He sparked the Rangers again Tuesday night with a two-out home run to left field to cut Chicago's lead to 2-1. White Sox starter Jose Quintana, who had allowed two hits before Cruz's homer, gave up five hits to the next nine Rangers batters.

3. Beltre breaks out: Beltre snapped an 0-for-11 stretch with runners in scoring position with a two-run home run to cap a six-run sixth inning. Manager Ron Washington proved prophetic, having said on "Fitzsimmons and Durrett" on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM on Tuesday that Beltre would do something big in his fourth at-bat. The manager knows.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish wins after a Rangers' loss. He wins when he's not as his best.

Again on Tuesday night, he was the Rangers' ace.

Darvish found a way to get through six innings in Tuesday's 10-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox, overcoming a hanging breaking ball that No. 9 hitter Dewayne Wise hit for a game-tying two-run homer in the top of the sixth.

Darvish bounced back with his ninth strikeout of the game, fanning Alejandro De Aza on a slider. Then Darvish took a seat in the Rangers' dugout and watched as his offense put up six runs to give him his fifth victory in April.

"He's a pitcher," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He finds something in his repertoire of pitches to find a way to get outs."

On Tuesday, that pitch was his four-seam fastball, which helped Darvish throw four shutouts innings after allowing two runs in the first. Darvish had five of his nine strikeouts during that stretch, upping his American League-leading total to 58.

Darvish allowed a season-high four runs and still boosted his record to 5-0 this season after a Rangers' loss. He's now 12-3 for his career in that situation. That's an ace.

He also became the sixth pitcher in club history to win five games in April and the first to do it since Aaron Sele and Rick Helling both pulled it off in 1998. An ace-like start.

Darvish might well have escaped the top of the first unscathed had Nelson Cruz tracked down a fly ball headed for the right-field corner. Instead it eluded Cruz's outstretched glove and Tyler Greene had a one-out triple. The White Sox turned that into two runs, but Darvish avoided giving up a big inning with a strikeout of shortstop Alexei Ramirez on a slider with runners at second and third to end the inning.

Teams have to get to Darvish in the first inning. He's allowed seven of his 10 runs in the opening frame. Even with the first-inning hiccup, and the Wise home run, Darvish ended up a winner Tuesday night.

The ace delivers yet again for the Rangers.

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.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nelson Cruz’s work with the bat has been impressive. But perhaps even more important has been his ability to stay on the field.

Cruz revamped his offseason routine prior to the 2012 season and it paid off as he played in a career-best 159 games. On Sunday, Cruz is in the lineup for the 25th time in 25 games this season -- one of only three Texas Rangers who can make the claim.

For Cruz, it’s simply a matter of understanding his body.

“You know what you need to do to prepare,” Cruz said. “Sometimes your body tells you you need to rest. You have to make sure you’re loose for the games, make sure you work out during the season, outside the season.”

Cruz said he’s extra diligent with his hamstring and quads, which conspired among other maladies to limit him to an average of 113 games from 2009 to 2011, with 128 games his career high until last season.

The resulting health has put Cruz in position to be among the league’s offensive leaders in several categories. His 19 RBI are tied for fifth in the American League, his five home runs are tied for 13th and his .322 batting average is good for 13th, as well.

And thanks to Cruz’s renewed focus on staying healthy, manager Ron Washington has been less tempted to pull him out of the lineup for maintenance days.

“He’s an animal, look at him,” Washington said. “At some point I’m going to give him a day off, but I got him a day DHing, and I’ll get him another day DHing. It’s just that he’s been productive, and sometimes it’s hard to pull that out of the lineup.”

Cruz is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in seven straight contests. Saturday’s game snapped a six-game RBI streak in which he drove in 13 runs.

Lineup staples: In addition to Cruz, Adrian Beltre and Mitch Moreland have been in the lineup every game this season. Moreland’s career high is 134 games played for the 2011 Rangers. Beltre has played in 152 or more games eight times in his career, including 156 for Texas last season. His career high of 159 games came for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2002.

Elvis Andrus, David Murphy and Ian Kinsler have played in every game but one this season. Washington considered sitting Kinsler on Sunday, but the Rangers’ second baseman resisted with an off day scheduled for Tuesday.

Strikeout guy: Tuesday’s starter, Yu Darvish, leads all of baseball with 49 strikeouts this season. But he’s also topped seven innings just once and pitched six or fewer innings in three of his five starts.

It comes with the territory for strikeout pitchers, and Washington certainly isn’t complaining. But that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind seeing fewer pitches and longer outings from his right-hander.

“If you can strike out a guy out in a certain situation, I love a strikeout,” Washington said. “But you can be striking out 17 or 18 guys and you’re throwing a lot of pitches. All you have to do is throw one pitch and you can get a ground ball and get a guy out.”

But Darvish fans need not worry about Washington and the Rangers trying to tweak the 26-year-old’s approach.

“Yu’s a strikeout guy,” Washington said. “I’d like to see him get some quick outs, but I’m not going to try to change him. I’m saying that to me, saying that to the pitching coach. I’m not saying that to Yu Darvish.”

STOCK UP

Nick Tepesch: What can you say about rookie right-hander Nick Tepesch. All he's done so far is throw strikes. He hasn't walked anyone since three free passes in the second inning of his debut April 9 against Tampa Bay. Since then he's gone 19 innings without a walk. He's reached double-digits in ground ball outs in his three starts other than the one last Saturday when Tepesch left in the second inning after getting hit on the wrist by a line drive.

Nelson Cruz: Cruz became the third player in Rangers history with three home runs in four days that were either 3-run homers or grand slams. Cruz had two 3-run homers against the Angels on Tuesday and Wednesday and a grand slam against Seattle on Sunday. Jeff Burroughs had three 3-run home runs April 29 and May 1-2, 1976. Larry Parrish had two grand slams and a 3-run homer in July 1982.

Big innings: The Rangers were the last team to score four or more runs in an inning. They're making up for it now. The latest outburst was Wednesday's 9-run fourth inning against the Angels. The Rangers went on to win 11-3. It was the most runs the Rangers have scored in a road inning since Aug. 22, 2007 in Baltimore when they scored 30 runs and won 30-3.

STOCK DOWN

The schedule maker: The Rangers were forced to travel two time zones to Minneapolis because of a night game Wednesday night in Anaheim, arriving at their hotel at 6:30 a.m. It would have been kind of the Angels to play a day game, but the Halos protected their home gate with a night game instead. The Rangers responded by winning 2-1 Thursday night. Coaches and players have long said it's the second game after a morning arrival that impacts their energy the most.

Mitch Moreland: Mitch Moreland has seven hits in his last 23 at-bats as he rebounds from a tough start. But he's still struggling against left-handed pitching. Moreland has three hits in 27 at-bats with one RBI against lefties. A healthy Jeff Baker could take away playing time, starting Friday night against Twins left-hander Scott Diamond.

Joakim Soria: Soria's return to the big leagues after Tommy John surgery won't happen until June because of a strained pectoral muscle. The Rangers' bullpen has been stellar so far, but Soria is expected to be an important addition when he makes it back.

We'll know some time in this calendar year if this is the last season as a Ranger for free-agent-to-be right fielder Nelson Cruz.

So it's worth taking the time to appreciate how Cruz over the years has been able to carry the Rangers' offense for stretches. He's going through one of those get-on-my-back moments this week.

Cruz has been the backbone of the offense. He drove in the Rangers' first run in Thursday's 2-1 victory at Minnesota as his road-weary team played a game 12 hours after arriving in the Twins Cities.

He would have homered for the fourth straight game Thursday night if he were playing in any ballpark but Target Field. Cruz's missile of a line drive in the second inning slammed against the extended cemented wall in right field, scoring Adrian Beltre for a 1-0 lead. The ball bounced back so quickly back to Twins right fielder Chris Parmelee that he was able to throw out Cruz trying to turn a single into a double.

Cruz has RBIs in five straight games, totaling 12 after driving in six runs in the Rangers' first 17 games. He starts Friday's games sixth in the American League in RBIs, eight behind former teammate Mike Napoli now playing for Boston. Cruz has overtaken Ian Kinsler for the team lead.

Cruz's latest stretch is why he's so valuable to a lineup. And while Cruz didn't make the catch fans will never ever forget in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series, it's become easy to take for granted what he has meant to the Rangers' offense in the regular season and postseason.

Don't forget Cruz has the most home runs and RBIs in a postseasons series in baseball history when he went for 6 HRs and 13 RBIs in the 2011 American League Championship Series against Detroit. Another case of Nellie being Nellie.

Enjoy Cruz's latest streak while you can. This might be one of the last ones in Texas.

A new more notes from Thursday's series-opening win in Minnesota:

1. Hot start: The Rangers at 15-7 are off to their third best start in franchise history after 22 games. Only the 1989 Rangers led by new acquisitions Nolan Ryan (free agent) and Rafael Palmeiro and Julio Franco (trades) have started a season better with a 17-5 record. The '89 Rangers finished 83-79. The 2012 Rangers opened the season with a 16-6 record. You know the story of how last year's team finished.

2. Series machine: The Rangers haven't lost a series -- at 5-0-2 the only team in baseball not too -- and are a good bet to win or at least split this four-game series with the Twins after winning Game 1 Thursday. The Rangers are 17-0-2 in their 19 series when they win the opener.

3. Making Worley work: The Rangers put Twins start Vance Worley to work Thursday night. Worley threw 102 pitches in five innings as the Rangers continued their season trend of getting to an opponent's bullpen. The highlight was No. 9 hitter Leonys Martin fouling off seven consecutive pitches in the second inning as Worley threw 37 pitches. It didn't lead to a big offensive night for the Rangers, but a similar approach on Friday night probably will.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Rookie Nick Tepesch gave up just one run and Elvis Andrus’ first RBI since April 13 was the difference as the Texas Rangers squeaked out a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Tepesch A-OK: Tepesch appeared no worse for wear after leaving his previous start in the second inning following a line drive off his right wrist. The right-hander retired the first 12 Twins he faced on Thursday before Justin Morneau led off the fifth inning with a single. Tepesch held Minnesota scoreless through 6 1/3 innings before Josh Willingham’s solo home run ended the shutout. Morneau followed with a groundout, but Chris Parmelee and Trevor Plouffe hit back-to-back singles to chase Tepesch from the game. With the Rangers clinging to a 2-1 lead, Robbie Ross induced a groundout from pinch hitter Ryan Doumit to end the threat.

Streaking (Part 1): Texas has won six times in its past seven games, its best stretch since winning six of seven to kick off April. The Rangers are now a season-best eight games over .500.

Sweat it out: Right-hander Tanner Scheppers loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning and Texas still holding a 2-1 advantage, giving up a single, double and intentional walk. But Scheppers induced a full-count, ground-ball double play from Willingham to end the threat. Former Twin Joe Nathan worked around a two-out single in the ninth inning for his seventh save.

What might have been: A night after notching a nine-run fourth inning, the Rangers were once again poised to open the floodgates early against Twins starter Vance Worley. But Nelson Cruz’s liner off the right-field wall to drive in Adrian Beltre caromed directly to Parmelee, who fired to second base to easily cut down Cruz for the inning’s second out. David Murphy followed with a walk and Mitch Moreland hit an infield single, but Leonys Martin popped out to end the threat. Texas forced 37 pitches from Worley in the frame but managed just the one run. The Rangers once again threatened a big inning in the sixth when they loaded the bases with one out against reliever Josh Roenicke, but Moreland struck out and Martin fouled out to end the inning.

Out at second: Two innings after being thrown out at second base by Parmelee, Cruz was thrown out trying to steal second when Murphy swung and missed on a 3-2 slider. It was Cruz’s first stolen base attempt this season. After stealing 17 bases in 2010, Cruz has swiped just 17 bags since while being thrown out 10 times.

Cruz control: With a pair of singles and a walk, Cruz reached base three times on Friday for the third consecutive game. It marks the first time Cruz has accomplished the feat since reaching three times in three games from September 6-9, 2008.

Streaking (Part 2): A.J. Pierzynski’s single in the sixth inning pushed his hitting streak to six games, while Elvis Andrus extended his hitting streak to five with a fifth-inning double.

Baker nears return: Utility man Jeff Baker is expected to return to action on Friday. He has been out of the lineup since April 23 with a bruised left knee.

Up next: Justin Grimm (1-0, 2.70 ERA) looks to build on his career-high nine-strikeout performance his last time out. Twins left-hander Scott Diamond (1-1, 4.35 ERA) will face Texas for the first time since being ejected for throwing behind the head of Josh Hamilton last August. First pitch is 7:10 p.m. CT on TXA21, ESPN-FM 103.3 and in Spanish on 1540 AM.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Texas Rangers' best offensive inning of the young season centered around patience.

That is, until Nelson Cruz took the aggressive route.

PODCAST
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. Listen

The Rangers sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth inning of Wednesday night's 11-3, series-clinching victory against the Los Angeles Angels. It was the most plate appearances in a frame since last April. They managed nine runs, the most in a road-game inning since 2007.

And it began with restraint, as Adrian Beltre opened the frame by drawing his first of two walks.

"How weird is that?" Beltre asked reporters. "Two walks? Is that a record? Two walks in an inning? I think for me it is."

Cruz followed with a single, sparking a sequence that proved to be the turning point against rookie left-hander Michael Roth, the Angels' ninth-round selection in last year's amateur draft whose only other start this season came at Double-A Arkansas.

In all, there were five walks and five base hits in the fourth. Cruz sent fans to the exits with a broken-bat homer to left-center field that made it 9-0.

"When he gets through the baseball, it doesn't matter if the bat holds together or not," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He showed you what his strength is all about."

Cruz showed smarts, as well.

"When you see a guy struggling to find the strike zone, sometimes it's good to be aggressive," Beltre said. "Sometimes you get a good pitch to hit, and [Cruz] did. You assume he's going to throw a fastball, and he did."

The Rangers enjoyed very productive at-bats with runners in scoring position, going 5-for-9 in those situations one night after a weak 1-for-13 effort.

The lead grew to 11-0 by the time Yu Darvish, who tossed six scoreless innings, left the game. A light drizzle blanketed Angel Stadium in the seventh, but it had begun to pour long before then as the Rangers won yet another series.

"Adrian got on base, Nelson got him to third and it kind of snowballed from there," said A.J. Pierzynski, who singled and walked in the fourth. "Adrian had another good at-bat later, and it culminated with Nelson hitting a big home run. It was big."

Beltre smiled when asked if he had ever hit a broken-bat blast like Cruz did.

"I'm not that strong," he said.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Nelson Cruz broke his bat on a three-run homer to cap a nine-run fourth inning, guiding the Texas Rangers to a series victory against the Los Angeles Angels with a 11-3 win on Wednesday night.

Floodgates, opened: The Rangers chased rookie left-hander Michael Roth -- a ninth-round selection in last year's draft making his first career start -- in the fourth, sending 13 batters to the plate on the strength of five walks. Cruz delivered the dagger, lifting the first pitch he saw from David Carpenter over the wall in left-center field. Before beginning his trip around the bases, Cruz smiled toward the dugout and gestured that his bat had cracked.

A long frame: The nine runs in the fourth were the most scored by Texas in an inning since Aug. 22, 2012 against Baltimore, the most runs in a road game inning since Aug. 22, 2007, and the most plate appearances in an inning since April of last year.

Ace comes through: For the fourth time this season, Yu Darvish followed a Rangers loss with a win. The right-hander had been 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA pitching in games after a Rangers loss, and surely improved those numbers with six shutout innings Wednesday. Texas is still the only team in baseball that hasn't lost two straight games.

How Yu did it: Darvish had a pitch clocked as high as 98 mph and as low as 61 to keep Angels hitters off balance yet again. He struck out 11, reaching double-digit punchouts for the 11th time in his career and improving his career record against the Halos to 5-1, including 3-1 at Angel Stadium.

Berkman gets his second: Lance Berkman homered for the first time since April 7 and registered his first multihit game since April 9. Before the game, manager Ron Washington said this weekend's weather conditions in Minnesota would determine whether the switch-hitting Berkman, 37, gets a day off, but the designated hitter appears to be finding his groove.

Up next: Nick Tepesch (1-1, 3.07 ERA) looks to bounce back from last week's abrupt ending. Twins right-hander Vance Worley (0-2, 7.11 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound in the opener of the four-game set. First pitch is 7:10 p.m. CT on Fox Sports Southwest, ESPN-FM 103.3 and 1540 AM.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Mike Trout kept the game tied with his glove in the ninth inning and Howie Kendrick delivered the walk-off home run in the 11th, as the Texas Rangers fell, 5-4, to the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.

Bad luck: Adrian Beltre would have been the hero if not for Trout's leaping catch with two outs in the ninth. With Ian Kinsler representing the go-ahead run at third, Beltre hit the ball hard, but it stayed up long enough for Trout to chase it down at the warning track near the bullpen gate in left field. The Rangers were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Struggles through seven: Aside from Nelson Cruz's three-run shot in the sixth, the Rangers didn't muster much against Angels left-hander Jason Vargas, who was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA coming into the game. Vargas went a season-high seven innings, as Texas struggled to come through in clutch situations.

More from less: Mitch Moreland, who had three hits in Monday's opener, had two more Tuesday batting in the No. 9 spot. The multi-hit performance was significant given the fact that he had been 1-for-19 (.053) against left-handers entering the night.

Staying up: Rangers starting pitcher Alexi Ogando and manager Ron Washington agreed that poor pitch location was the cause of his troubles in Chicago last week, and the same issue appeared to affect him early when Kendrick jumped on a high fastball for a homer to the deepest part of the park, increasing the Halos' lead to four. It was Ogando's biggest mistake of the night, as he rebounded from last week's poor outing.

Baker flashes leather: Jeff Baker was in the starting lineup Tuesday for his bat, but he never got to use it. The left fielder robbed Josh Hamilton of extras bases with a sliding catch near the foul line in the first inning, but crashed into the padded wall at full speed and exited with a bruised left knee. David Murphy, who had been 1-for-19 in his career against Vargas, replaced him.

Up next: Yu Darvish (3-1, 2.03 ERA) looks for his second victory against Los Angeles this season. Angels right-hander Jerome Williams (1-0, 3.18 ERA) is expected to make the spot start in place of Tommy Hanson, who is on the bereavement list. First pitch is 9:05 p.m. CT on ESPN 103.3-FM.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- This is the damage the Rangers' offense can do when it's in sync.

From Leonys Martin's first career home run to Nelson Cruz's fifth career grand slam. From Mitch Moreland's go-ahead two-run home run in the fourth inning to Adrian Beltre's two-run shot in the sixth.

The Rangers finally started hitting home runs with runners on base in Sunday's 11-3 throttling of the Seattle Mariners. Let the rest of the American League be put on notice: The Rangers can still slug it with the best of them.

"We're dangerous all the way one through nine," Cruz, who belted his grand slam in the fifth inning, said. "I'm glad it was there for the whole team. It was a good series."

The Rangers scored 23 runs in three wins against Seattle, earning their first sweep since last June. They reached a season high in runs with 11 on Sunday, a drastic improvement after scoring four runs or less in the seven games that preceded Friday's series opener against the Mariners. The Rangers were the only team in baseball that hadn't score eight runs in a game.

Have the bats finally awoken in Texas?

"We'll get consistent," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Everyone will realize if we're consistent or not."

This weekend was a good start. Sunday was a great start as far as home runs go.

Martin's home run was a solo shot to tie the score at one in the third inning. That made it 15 of 19 home runs with no one on base for the Rangers. Moreland's fourth-inning homer changed that trend.

Fighting through a 1-for-20 slump, Moreland kept his approach -- grind out at-bats. Put a good swing on the ball. He got a sinker that didn't sink on a 2-1 pitch from Aaron Harang. Moreland crushed it 422 feet to center field. The two-run homer gave the Rangers a 3-1 lead.

"I got up there and missed a pitch early in the at-bat," Moreland said of a first-pitch sinker that he fouled off. "I got another one in the zone over the plate. I'm just trying to grind out at-bats."

Cruz said he's been trying to stay patient with his at-bats as his average has dropped from .458 to .277 in the past 11 games. He had two RBIs in 12 games before his grand slam.

Cruz took advantage of a 2-0 count against Harang and ripped a fastball seven or eight rows up in the center-field stands for the Rangers' first grand slam since last August (by Moreland). Another sign that the Rangers offense is starting to percolate.

"This game was an indication of that," Moreland said. "We definitely took a step forward. Nellie's swing today was a big blow."

Beltre added a two-run home run in the sixth inning, his third of the season. Beltre came into Sunday's game batting .222, but it appears he is starting to drive the ball. Three of his past four hits have gone for extra bases.

Martin had the most memorable home run of the day. He also had a triple in the fifth inning and scored on Ian Kinsler's single. Martin didn't have an extra-base hit before Sunday.

"I just made a connection," Martin said. "I didn't know it was a home run until it went in the stands. It was exciting. I'm not going to forget that for the rest of my life."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers finished off their first three-game sweep of the season with a 11-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners at Rangers Ballpark. The Rangers, who moved into first place in the American League West, have won five series and split two this season.

Grimm has career day: Rookie right-hander Justin Grimm could easily have had six shutout innings Sunday. He settled for one earned run allowed and a career-high nine strikeouts. Grimm used a curveball and 4-seam fastball to dice up the Mariners. He did his best work in the top of the fifth, after the offense had given him a 3-1 lead. The inning started poorly with a leadoff single by Mariners No. 9 hitter Brendan Ryan and a double by Endy Chavez that was misplayed in center field by Leonys Martin. But Grimm kept the tying run at second base with the Mariners' 2-3-4 hitters coming up, striking out the side.

Offense revs up: The Rangers scored a season-high 11 runs. They produced their season high in runs twice in the series, first matching their season-best total in their 7-0 victory on Friday and then with Friday's first double-digit total in 18 games this season.

Martin's first HR: Martin belted his first home run of the season, a 377-foot solo shot to right-center field to tie the game at 1-1 in the third inning. Martin also had a triple as he had his second two-hit game of the season. The Rangers now have three RBIs from their center fielders, all in this series against the Mariners.

Moreland breaks through: First baseman Mitch Moreland snapped out of a 1-for-20 stretch with a two-run home run to straight-away center field to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth. Moreland's third homer of the season came with two outs and after Nelson Cruz had reached on a single.

Cruz slams door: Cruz swatted the fifth grand slam of his career to give the Rangers an 8-2 lead in the fifth and basically put the game out of reach. Cruz has hit all of his grand slams at Rangers Ballpark. It was the Ranger's first slam since Aug. 22, 2011 by Moreland.

Making most of HRs: The Rangers had hit 15 of their 19 home runs with no one on base after Martin's solo shot in the third inning. Their next three long balls came with runners on. Moreland had a two-run shot, Cruz had a grand slam and Adrian Beltre had a two-run homer.

Andrus ends drought: Shortstop Elvis Andrus was hitless in his previous 13 at-bats before he lined a solid single into right field in the first inning. Andrus was 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Up next: The Rangers begin a seven-game road trip in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. Sizzling left-hander Derek Holland (1-1, 1.64 ERA) will start the opener against Angels right-hander Joe Blanton (0-3, 8.59). Game time is 9:05 p.m. CT on FSSW and on ESPN-FM 103.3 and 1540-AM.

CHICAGO -- On top of Alexi Ogando's struggles, the Texas Rangers' offense was once again an issue.

After a 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, the Rangers now have scored 55 runs on the season. Their 3.67 runs per game puts them 12th in the AL.

“It’s just a matter of time,” manager Ron Washington said. “We have some guys in the lineup that we’re depending on that are just not swinging the bat the way they’re capable of. You just gotta keep getting them at-bats and it’ll finally fall into place. Right now we just got to continue to do the things we can in the game. Our pitching has been keeping us around. This is the first day our starting pitcher didn’t really keep us in the ballgame.”

Washington added that getting Lance Berkman back will be a boost to the bats as they return to American League play. Berkman, who didn’t play in the Cubs series because of the lack of DH, is posting a robust .389/.500/.611 line on the season and is one of the few Rangers who has avoided any early season adversity.

Ian Kinsler, who went 2-for-4 on Thursday with a home run, admitted that it’s time for the bats to get going to give the Rangers' normally dominant staff a boost on their rare off days.

“You can’t rely on your pitchers every day. You have to be able to put up runs and give those guys a little bit of a cushion early, and we haven’t been able to do that lately,” Kinsler said. “We have to get off the blocks a little bit better offensively early in the game and give our guys a little bit of a cushion. They’ve been throwing the ball really well, and I think that can only help.”

Kinsler said the bad weather can make it a little more difficult for the offense, and Wrigley Field’s lack of modern player facilities didn’t help, either. However, Kinsler refused to use it as an excuse and was just happy to be heading back to Texas, where better weather surely awaits.

Kinsler and Nelson Cruz were the only Rangers to record a hit on the day, combining to go 4-for-7 with two home runs and two singles. The rest of the team went 0-for-21 with eight strikeouts and one walk against Cubs pitching.

Catcher A.J. Pierzynski didn’t seem concerned with the Rangers' lack of offense, saying it was more about bad luck then a bad approach.

“I mean, in the first inning Ian gets on to lead off the game and we hit into a double play,” Pierzynski said. “In the second inning, Nellie gets on, we have a hit-and-run on, I hit a liner and we would’ve had first and third and Villanueva sticks his glove out and catches it. The other inning (Kinsler) hits a rocket for a double play. It was just one of those days where it seemed like things weren’t meant to go our way. But that’s baseball, that’s the way things work. There’s no hanging your head because there’ s no time for it, no one feels sorry for you so you gotta be ready to go tomorrow.

The Rangers left no men on base for the only the eighth time in club history, as all three base runners they had on the day were erased on double plays. It was the first time the Rangers had done that since July 7, 2007 against the Baltimore Orioles.

CHICAGO -- The Texas Rangers (9-6) fell 6-2 to the Chicago Cubs (5-9) to split what ended up being a two-game series after Wednesday's rainout. The Cubs got to Alexi Ogando early, with Anthony Rizzo and Alfonso Soriano delivering back-to-back home runs in a four-run third inning. Cubs starter Carlos Villanueva was strong for his third consecutive start, holding the Rangers to only two runs. Yu Darvish is scheduled to get the start Friday for the Rangers when they return home to open up a three-game set with the Seattle Mariners.

Inefficient Ogando: Ogando has struggled with high pitch counts early on in the season and Thursday was no exception. Ogando was able to work through his issues with minimal issues in his previous outings, but he couldn't find the same magic against the Cubs. He walked Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro in his first two plate on eight straight pitches. Castro came into the game with no walks in 58 plate appearances. The real damage was done on back-to back-home runs by Rizzo and Soriano in a four-run third. Ogando gave up multiple runs in an outing for the first time this season.

Bats struggle: Entering the day, the Rangers were 12th in the AL in runs scored, and they did little to improve their standing. Outside of a combined 4-for-7 from Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler (each had a single and a solo home run), the offense went a 0-for-21 with a walk against Cubs pitching.

Up next: The Rangers head back to Arlington for a three-game home stand against the Seattle Mariners. Yu Darvish heads to the mound on six days rest to face Joe Saunders at 7:05 p.m. Friday night on TXA-21 and ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM.