Rangers Beat Orioles 13-4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- Endy Chavez was met at the dugout steps by his excited manager after a long home run that put the Texas Rangers ahead to stay.
Chavez still had another big hit left.
After pulling a pitch down the right-field line for a two-run homer in the second, Chavez sliced a two-run double into the left-field corner an inning later for his first four-RBI game in more than eight years. The Rangers won 13-4 over the Baltimore Orioles and former manager Buck Showalter on Monday night.
"(Chavez) came up and he's blown everybody away," said David Murphy, who drove in a pair of runs with three hits.
Chavez, who had been out of the majors for nearly two years before joining the Rangers in mid-May, snapped a 6-for-39 slide with his 383-foot homer that broke a 2-all tie and put Texas ahead to stay. His only other four-RBI game came June 10, 2003, while playing for Montreal at Seattle.
"Chavez, he's going to make contact. He caught a curve ball and got us a big double," manager Ron Washington said. "That's nice when you put extra guys in and they can supply you with some offense."
Murphy, like Chavez, isn't an everyday player in an outfield that includes sluggers Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz.
Adrian Beltre also homered for the Rangers, who had 18 hits. Michael Young had a single, double and an RBI triple.
Young also had a deep flyout in the sixth before being pinch-hit for in the eighth when Mike Napoli doubled after coming off the disabled list earlier Monday.
Washington said he wasn't aware that Young was only a homer shy of hitting for the cycle. The manager thought Young had two doubles in the game, though Young said nothing to him about being taken out of the game.
"I screwed that one up, my card had two doubles," Washington said. "Michael is a class act."
Colby Lewis (8-7) won his third straight decision over his last four starts, allowing three runs on a pair of homers over seven innings. The right-hander struck out four and walked three on the ninth anniversary of his first major league victory.
Orioles starter Chris Jakubauskas (2-2) gave up six runs and seven hits while facing only 13 batters.
The right-hander was done after he walked Hamilton to start the third and Beltre followed with his 16th homer, a shot that just cleared the 14-foot wall in left for a 6-2 lead.
"He didn't have good command. He had too many pitches up in the zone," Showalter said. "We didn't put up too much opposition."
Showalter, who still has a house in the Dallas area where both of his children attend college, managed a game at Rangers Ballpark for the first time since he was fired in Texas after the 2006 season. His four years with the Rangers included a memorable 2004 season when they were in playoff contention until the final week of the regular season.
Just like the Yankees and Diamondbacks did after Showalter managed them, the Rangers made it to the World Series after he was gone. New York and Arizona won the World Series the very next season after he left, while Texas finally won its first AL pennant last year before losing the World Series in five games to San Francisco.
Mark Reynolds homered twice for Baltimore, giving him six in his last five games and 20 for the season. He also had a two-homer game Saturday in Atlanta.
Reynolds put the Orioles up 2-0 with a 407-foot blast in the second after Vladimir Guerrero was hit by a pitch. J.J. Hardy hit a solo shot in the seventh off Lewis before Reynolds went deep against reliever Darren O'Day in the eighth.
The 33-year-old Chavez had been out of the majors since 2009, when he tore the ACL in his right knee while playing for Seattle, before the Rangers purchased his contract May 14 from Triple-A Round Rock to replace injured center fielder Julio Borbon. Chavez signed a minor league deal with Texas before the 2010 season. He is hitting .319 in his 28 games, including a 12-game stretch when he was 21 of 40.
Alfredo Simon, who had been a candidate to start Tuesday night in an unfilled spot, took over after the early exit by Jakubauskas and gave up six runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Orioles likely will call up right-hander Mitch Atkins from Triple-A Norfolk to make his first start in the majors.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
