ARLINGTON, Texas — Fast break is not a phrase associated with baseball, but maybe it should be with the Texas Rangers.
Texas may be the only team in the majors with the ability to run a fast-break offense. All the Rangers need is a little spark and as good as their hitters are, they can turn a close game into a blowout.
They showed that again Saturday night by breaking open a 3-1 game with a four-run seventh inning to ease to a 7-2 victory over Tampa Bay. Texas, which has the best record in baseball at 16-5, continues to be the only team in the majors without consecutive losses this season.
The seventh inning helped keep that streak intact Saturday as Texas, which had just eight hits against the Rays, put together three of them in the seventh and also took advantage of an error and an intentional walk to bust the game open.
"The first couple of innings sometimes we don't know how a pitcher is coming," said Adrian Beltre, who keyed the seventh with a three-run homer. "(Jeff) Niemann today was throwing a little cutter that we hadn't seen before. We were a little confused the first couple of innings. The last couple of innings we were able to put together better at-bats against him and when the bullpen came in, we were able to attack them."
Texas doesn't need a lot of help from teams but the Rays gave it to them in the seventh. With runners on the corners and one out, Tampa Bay catcher Jose Molina tried to pick Mitch Moreland off third and his throw hit Moreland, allowing him to score. Blake Badenhop then struck out Elvis Andrus before intentionally walking Josh Hamilton.
It's the third time Hamilton has been intentionally walked on the homestand to get to Beltre and for the second time, Beltre helped the move backfire. Saturday it was a three-run homer that just cleared the wall in right that broke the game open on a night in which the Rangers set a club record with their fifth-consecutive sellout.
"You try to do that always when the defense gives you an extra out or a break, you try to capitalize on the situation," said Beltre, who homered on his bobblehead night. "We did tonight and it was huge. We were able to give our pitching staff a little more breathing room."
Colby Lewis (3-0) was the beneficiary of the extra support even though he didn't need much. While Lewis didn't have the pinpoint accuracy he's had in his first four starts, he was still sharp enough to limit Tampa Bay to just one run over six innings.
Lewis, who came into the game with just one walk this season, walked three for the first time since Sept. 3, 2011. But the walks didn't come back to hurt Lewis and the Rangers never trailed.
Josh Hamilton's two-run single in the first gave the Rangers a lead they would never relinquish. Lewis allowed a Matt Joyce homer in the second but Texas got that run back for him in the sixth on an error before busting it open in the seventh.
"Tonight was a perfect example," said Lewis, who allowed just three hits and struck out five in registering his fifth quality start in five outings. "It's happened multiple times even through the short month of April. You can't really walk one guy and expect to get somebody easier in the lineup, especially now we've got Mitchy (Moreland) coming around in the eighth and ninth hole. It's definitely rough on opposing pitchers and I don't want to pitch against these guys any time soon."
The Rangers had even more chances in an 8-4 loss Friday night to the Rays but couldn't take advantage of them. That wasn't the case Saturday as Texas made the most of its limited chances.
"We had opportunities (Friday) and we didn't take advantage of it," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "But today was a different day than last night. We had different challenges. So we had to be ready for the challenges that were presented to us today and take away from what we could yesterday and just get better at it. And we did."
Hamilton, Beltre and Moreland each had two hits for the Rangers.
Not only did the Rangers get the offense they needed, they were also sharp on defense. David Murphy made pair of nice catches in the top of the seventh when the game was still in question. Elvis Andrus also started a double play in the sixth on a grounder up the middle by Evan Longoria in which Andrus flipped the ball to Michael Young at second with his glove.
