Derek Holland tossed five shutout innings and Ian Kinsler belted a solo home run as the Texas Rangers earned an 8-1 triumph over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Jeff Francouer finished with three hits and an RBI and Nelson Cruz added a late two-run homer for Texas, which snapped a five-game losing skid, including the first two of this four-game set with Toronto.
Holland (3-3) got all the support he would need after the Rangers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first. The 23-year-old lefty notched his first win since May 22 in scattering three hits and striking out eight. He had gone 0-3 over his previous six starts.
Bengie Molina’s ground out in the sixth and subsequent RBI single in the eighth helped make it 5-0 in favor of Texas. Cruz then connected for his 17th blast in the ninth.
The Blue Jays, who were only able to muster five hits, finally broke through in the eighth when Jose Molina, Bengie’s brother, lifted a solo homer to left.
Toronto starter Marc Rzepczynski (1-4) was dealt the loss for the third straight time after allowing three runs on seven hits over five innings.
Texas | Toronto | |
Derek Holland | Player | Marc Rzepczynski |
Win | W/L | Loss |
5.0 | IP | 5.0 |
8 | Strikeouts | 2 |
3 | Hits | 7 |
0.00 | ERA | 5.40 |
Texas | Toronto | |
Jeff Francoeur | Player | Jose Molina |
3 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 1 |
3 | TB | 5 |
.750 | Avg | .667 |