Teixeira, Lee lift Rangers past O's

Sep 1, 2006, 3:50 GMT

Arlington, TX - Mark Teixeira and Carlos Lee both homered to stake Texas to a large lead before the bullpen made things interesting in the ninth, as the Rangers held on to down Baltimore, 7-5, to cap a three-game set at Ameriquest Field.

Teixeira hit a two-run shot in the sixth frame and Lee hit a solo homer in the fifth to go along with a RBI double for the Rangers, who have won three of their last four.

Adam Eaton (4-4) picked up the victory, yielding two runs -- one earned -- on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts over five frames. Akinori Otsuka escaped the ninth to record his 29th save. Joaquin Benoit gave up three runs in the ninth to make things interesting.

Nick Markakis drove in three runs, including a solo homer, for Baltimore, which have lost two of three. Daniel Cabrera (7-9) was saddled with the loss after surrendering five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits with four walks and seven strikeouts in five innings.

Texas jumped in front with a three-spot in the bottom of the first. Gary Matthews Jr. led off with a solo shot, then back-to-back walks set the table for Lee, who drove a run-scoring double to left. Teixeira then scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 advantage.

Ian Kinsler doubled to kick off the bottom of the second and moved to third on Rod Barajas' infield single. Michael Young's soaring sacrifice fly to right scored Kinsler for a 4-0 edge.

Markakis' solo homer got Baltimore on the board in the top of the fourth. The Orioles tacked on another run in the frame after Miguel Tejada singled, moved to third when Matthews booted Jay Gibbons' fly ball and scored on David Newhan's groundout.

Lee's solo homer to center in the fifth gave Texas a 5-2 lead, then Teixeira's two-run shot in the sixth opened a five-run lead.

Melvin Mora's RBI single and Markakis' two-run single brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth. However, Otsuka got Tejada to ground out to end the game.

Game Notes

Lee's homer was his 32nd of the season.

Cabrera's 16-inning scoreless streak was snapped by Matthews' homer in the first inning. The Matthews homer was the first leadoff home run of the season for Texas.

Texas hosts Cleveland in a weekend set kicking off on Friday.

Baltimore visits Oakland for a three-game series starting Friday.

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