Back-to-back-to-back homers, Holland propel Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas -- On Wednesday it looked like the Texas Rangers had the old band back together for their series finale against Seattle.
There was Derek Holland pitching into the seventh inning in his first start since April 10. And then there were the offensive contributions of three of the stars of the Rangers playoff teams of the past sparking a huge inning as the Rangers bombed away late to beat the Mariners 7-2.
Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli and Elvis Andrus hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to break open a one-run game and spark the Rangers to a 5-1 homestand. The win moved the Rangers back to three games over .500 and gave some fans flashbacks to the 2011 team when all four players were big contributors.
"It was a big inning for us," said Moreland, who had three RBI on the day. "We had two big innings today and that happened to be a good one late in the ballgame. It gave us a little extra cushion there and I was glad I was able to get a decent pitch and get us started. You've got to tip your hat to everybody today."
The back-to-back-to-back homer barrage marked just the eighth time the Rangers have done that in franchise history and the first time it's happened since May 26, 2012. Moreland delivered the final blow in that one.
The homers came in a four-pitch span off Seattle left-hander Joe Beimel. Beimel hit Shin-Soo Choo to open the inning and then Moreland beat him on a 0-2 pitch, as the Rangers hit all three homers in a four-pitch span.
"It's fun," said Napoli, whose first homer since his return to the Rangers went an estimated 446-feet. "We're in a tight ballgame and Mitch came up with a big home run that put us up three home runs. To have an inning like that late in the game is good for us."
Andrus' homer that capped it was his sixth of the season, which matched his season high that was set in his rookie year of 2009.
The big seventh helped break open a 3-2 game and put Holland in line for his first win of the year. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.
Holland worked out a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning by allowing just one run after the Mariners opened the inning with three-straight singles. He stayed in line for the win after Delino DeShields threw out Jesus Montero, who tried to score from second on a single by Ketel Marte.
That played kept the score 3-2. It didn't stay that way for long because of the seventh.
And now in addition to the offense the Rangers have a confident Holland back.
"It gets me going," Holland said of having success in his return. "I felt like I had pushed really hard to get here, and these guys gave me an opportunity to get back out and join the team. I wanted to make sure I backed up my word, and I felt like I did a good job of doing that today."
As good as the offense was at blowing the game open, getting a healthy Holland back may be more important to the team's playoff chances this year.
His 93-pitch outing pleased his manager.
"You watch the intensity of how he goes about his work in the bullpen -- this is a guy that's been on a mission since the last time we saw him," Jeff Banister said. "I feel like the concentration level, intent, and complete conviction in all his pitches was a veteran guy who's been out there and done it. He knows what he wants to do. It's not surprising to us. It's nice to see."
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