Derek Holland pitched six scoreless innings in his first start of the season and five players homered for the Texas Rangers in Wednesday’s 10-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Holland (1-0), who started in place of Matt Harrison after being called up from Triple-A earlier in the day, allowed only five hits with a walk while striking out seven batters.
Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Max Ramirez, Michael Young and Justin Smoak all left the yard to provide the run support.
Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez (3-3) surrendered most of the damage in allowing four runs on nine hits - three of which were homers - in just four innings.
Ian Kinsler had an RBI double in the fourth and Texas added three runs in the fifth when Hamilton belted his two-run blast and Vladimir Guerrero followed with a solo shot.
In the sixth, the Rangers cushioned their lead with solo home runs from Ramirez and Young. Smoak then ripped a two-run home run in the seventh to give Texas a 9-0 lead.
Oakland avoided the shutout when Eric Patterson hit a solo home run in the eighth inning.
Oakland | Texas | |
Gio Gonzalez | Player | Derek Holland |
Loss | W/L | Win |
4.0 | IP | 6.0 |
3 | Strikeouts | 7 |
9 | Hits | 5 |
9.00 | ERA | 0.00 |
Oakland | Texas | |
Landon Powell | Player | Max Ramirez |
2 | Hits | 3 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 6 |
.500 | Avg | .750 |