Cliff Lee won his first game as a member of the Texas Rangers with 8 1/3 steady innings for a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.
Lee (9-4), who went the distance in his first two starts that resulted in Texas losses, allowed two runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He was relieved after getting the first out of the ninth by closer Neftali Feliz, who recorded the final two outs for the save.
Michael Young homered and Josh Hamilton and Bengie Molina each drove in a run in support of Lee, who out-dueled Angels ace Jered Weaver.
After the Angels tied the game in the fifth with an RBI double from Maicer Izturis, the Rangers answered and took the lead for good with two runs in the sixth when Hamilton had an RBI double and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Molina.
Weaver (9-6) allowed three runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings. It was his third loss in four starts.
Mike Napoli pulled to the Angels within one run in the seventh with a solo homer.
LA Angels | Texas | |
Jered Weaver | Player | Cliff Lee |
Loss | W/L | Win |
6.0 | IP | 8.1 |
5 | Strikeouts | 4 |
7 | Hits | 5 |
4.50 | ERA | 2.16 |
LA Angels | Texas | |
Mike Napoli | Player | Nelson Cruz |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
1 | HR | 0 |
5 | TB | 3 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |