Baltimore, MD – Brandon Snyder belted a three-run blast and knocked in six runs as the Rangers pounded out 19 hits to beat the Orioles, 14-3, in the opener of a four-game set at Camden Yards on Monday.
Matt Harrison (4-2) allowed three runs on six hits and a walk over seven frames. Michael Young and Josh Hamilton each smacked two-run homers while Nelson Cruz finished with three hits and three runs scored to help the Rangers earn their second win in three tries.
Brian Matusz (1-4) surrendered seven runs on 10 hits and two walks over five- plus innings of work. Wilson Betemit crushed a two-run homer and Robert Andino added a solo blast, but the O's saw their five-game win streak come to an end.
"He never really got into a good rhythm," said Baltimore manager Buck Showalter about Matusz. "That's a good right-handed hitting lineup and they squared up a lot of balls off him."
Adrian Beltre worked a four-pitch walk to start the second and Cruz followed two batters later with a double the other way to put runners on second and third with one out.
Mike Napoli then flew out to shallow left, but Snyder picked him up with a liner into center field, plating Beltre and Cruz for a 2-0 lead.
Ian Kinsler started the third with a single and Elvis Andrus followed with a double before Hamilton walked to load the bases with no outs. A sacrifice fly from Young two batters later scored Kinsler before Matusz fanned Cruz to end the threat with minimal damage.
In the sixth, Young, Cruz and Napoli smacked consecutive singles to start the frame, with Napoli's plating Young for a 4-0 lead. Snyder then launched a three-run blast over the wall in right-center field, extending the margin to 7-0 with no outs in the sixth and marking the end of Matusz's day.
"He had a big two-RBI hit, and we needed it," said Texas manager Ron Washington about Snyder. "Then he came up with a three-run bomb, and that gave us a cushion."
Andino got the O's on the board in the sixth with a solo shot and Betemit tacked on a two-run blast in the seventh to make it a 7-3 game.
But Texas blew the game open in the ninth as Young and Hamilton each launched two-run blasts and Andrus added a run-scoring double in a seven-run inning that found the Rangers holding a 14-3 lead.
Game Notes
Harrison improved to 4-0 lifetime against the Orioles...Texas has now won six straight against the O's after taking the final five in 2011...Baltimore's Matt Wieters extended his hit streak to eight games with a single in the seventh.
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