ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ― Mitch Moreland will be the guy at first base for Texas if Prince Fielder’s neck problem keeps him out for any length of time.
His bat was a big boost a few hours after a players-only meeting for a slumping team trying to halt a slide down the AL West standings.
Moreland hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, Alex Rios had a two-run triple and the Rangers avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-2 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
“I’d like to see him do that more often, then he can get more playing time,” manager Ron Washington said after Moreland doubled in his final at-bat. “Mitch is a big part and today he stepped up huge for us.”
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Texas Rangers outfielder Choo Shin-soo bats in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. The Korean went 2 for 3 with a double. ( AFP-Yonhap) |
Washington expects Fielder to play in the next game Tuesday night against Seattle after he had an injection designed to ease the pain and pressure of a disk problem in his neck that he says goes back to last season.
If the outlook on Fielder changes, Moreland says his approach won’t.
“We’ve had to deal with adversity all year,” said Moreland, whose second homer of the season was a line drive just over the wall in right field off R.A. Dickey (4-4) to break a 2-all tie. “You come in every day ready to play.”
The Rangers, who snapped a four-game losing streak and stayed seven games behind Oakland in fourth place in the AL West, had gone 23 innings without an extra-base hit when Rios drove one off the right-center wall in the fourth.
Juan Francisco and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Blue Jays, who had won a franchise-record six straight in Texas, including a four-game sweep in their only visit last year.
“Great teams find a way to sweep series,” Dickey said. “We’re definitely going in the right direction, but there’s more there that we need to do. Today was a game we probably should have won.”
The Rangers were in position to add to the lead Moreland gave them in the seventh when Toronto manager John Gibbons got the Blue Jays out of the jam with a challenge after three previous visits with umpires ended without a video review.
Diamondbacks sink Dodgers 5-3
PHOENIX (AP) ― Finally, the Arizona Diamondbacks won a series at home.
Cody Ross hit his first home run of the year, Eric Chavez went deep for the second consecutive day and the Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Sunday for their first series win at Chase Field all season.
After setting a team record for runs Saturday night in an 18-5 rout, the Diamondbacks broke a 3-all tie with Chavez’s two-run shot off Dan Haren (5-2) in the fifth inning.
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Ryu Hyun-jin is scheduled to start Wednesday for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the New York Mets at Citi Field, manager Don Mattingly said. The left-hander has been on the disabled list since April 28 because of shoulder inflammation. The Korean threw a four-inning simulated game on Friday. (AP-Yonhap) |
“We kind of went in there with a little momentum,” manager Kirk Gibson said. “Last night’s game was good for us. The thing about last night’s game is, unless you play good (today), it doesn’t really mean anything.”
Ross, batting .163 entering the game after coming back from major hip surgery, also doubled for Arizona, which has won two straight over the Dodgers after losing eight of the first nine meetings this season.
“I felt something in BP the other day where I was, ‘All right, I can start driving the ball,’” Ross said.
Chris Owings singled three times and stole two bases for the Diamondbacks. The rookie is 9 for 11 against Haren.
Hanley Ramirez and Adrian Gonzalez homered for the Dodgers, who have lost three of four.
“Obviously, you don’t want to keep losing series. If you lose series you are not going to go anywhere,” Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly said.
“I am really worried about day to day. Till we can grind out wins, we are in trouble.”
Josh Collmenter (2-2) went 5 1/3 innings to get the win. Addison Reed threw a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.
Collmenter was lifted after 84 pitches, allowing two runs and four hits.
“If you can beat division rivals at home, that’s big,” Collmenter said. “Especially the way we’ve been able to play halfway decent on the road, if we can match that at home I think we can get our record where we want it to be.”
Oakland 13, Cleveland 3
Washington 6, NY Mets 3
Philadelphia 8, Cincinnati 3
Kansas City 8, Baltimore 6
Seattle 6, Minnesota 2
Houston 8, Chicago White Sox 2
Atlanta 6, St. Louis 5
Chicago Cubs 4, Milwaukee 2
LA Angels 6, Tampa Bay 2
San Francisco 4, Miami 1
Colorado 8, San Diego 6
NY Yankees 4, Pittsburgh 3 Gm. 1
Pittsburgh 5, NY Yankees 3 Gm. 2
Detroit 6, Boston 2
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