Rios Hits For Cycle As Rangers Rout Astros
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) -- After scoring just four runs in a weekend series in Kansas City, the Rangers offense needed a spark in Arlington.
Alex Rios provided that spark -- and much, much more.
Rios became just the seventh player in Rangers' history to hit for the cycle, Derek Holland threw a complete game shutout, and the Texas Rangers rolled the Houston Astros 12-0.
Rios completed the feat with an RBI triple in the sixth inning off of reliever David Martinez to push the Rangers lead to 10-0. The 32-year-old finished the game 4-for-4 with three RBIs.
"It's just a good night at the plate, but the most important thing is that we won tonight," said Rios following the game.
Rios began his evening with a two-run double in the first and reached on an infield single in the third. The center fielder collected his 18th homerun of the season in the 4th inning, a solo shot to center field.
Derek Holland (10-9) was equally spectacular on the mound, going the distance for his second complete game shutout of the season.
Holland recorded eight strikeouts, while allowing just five hits on the night. The left-hander ended a streak of eight winless starts dating back to Aug. 4.
"I've just been working on location. As I talked about before, I always got beat by making the mistake of hitting it right down the middle. I've been working on that just trying to improve," said Holland.
Leonys Martin added three RBIs for the Rangers, who trail the idle Cleveland Indians by one game for the final Wild Card spot. Tampa Bay won on Monday to maintain their two game lead.
Texas scored in five of the first six innings, a day after being shutout for the 11th time this season. Martin's homerun was the first by a Texas hitter at home since Sept. 1, a drought spanning 229 at bats.
"It's something we've been looking for," said manager Ron Washington following the game. "We'll know how confident [the offense] is tomorrow. I'm very happy that we were able to go out and put some runs on the board."
Texas has a nine game win streak against Houston and is 15-2 against the Astros this season, tying the team record for the most wins against a single opponent in a season (SEA, 2011).
Yu Darvish (13-9) opposes Brad Peacock (5-5) in the second of a three game series Tuesday night in Arlington.
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