Arlington, TX – Adrian Beltre and Craig Gentry each hit a run homer, and Texas beat Seattle, 5-3, on a night the Rangers clinched the American League West title.
The victory, coupled with the Angels' 3-1 home loss to the Oakland Athletics Friday, secured the Rangers back-to-back division crowns for the first time since 1998-99.
Matt Harrison (14-9) won his fourth straight start after scattering three hits over six solid innings. The left-hander gave up all three runs in his final frame of work.
Neftali Feliz pitched around a two-out walk in the ninth to earn his 30th save of the season.
Seattle rookie Anthony Vasquez (1-5), a Texas native, surrendered the home runs by Beltre and Gentry as well as a solo blast from Josh Hamilton among seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Texas got on the board in the second when Beltre followed Michael Young's leadoff single with a smash to left field. Beltre's 29th home run upped his RBI total this year to 100, the second straight season he reached triple digits.
The Rangers loaded the bases later in the inning, but Vasquez escaped further damage with a double play.
Gentry recorded an inside-the-park home run after Hamilton went deep in the third. Nelson Cruz led off the fourth with a single and Gentry lofted a fly ball that split left fielder Mike Carp and center fielder Trayvon Robinson, who both dove on the play, and rolled on the way to the wall. Gentry raced around the bases for his first major league home run and a 5-0 Texas lead.
The Mariners got three runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Ichiro Suzuki and sacrifice flies from Dustin Ackley and Miguel Olivo.
Game Notes
The last Ranger to hit an inside-the-park home run was Cruz on September 4, 2006 at Oakland...Texas is 13-4 against Seattle this season.
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