Rangers Win Fourth Straight, Cruz To 13-7 Win

Nelson Cruz (above) knocked in a three-run home run and was a triple away from the cycle as his four RBI paced the Rangers to their fourth straight victory. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

With Scott Feldman (W, 2-4) battling through six innings and allowing four runs on 12 hits, the Texas Rangers (24-18) needed their offense to step it up. They certainly did that Thursday night as Texas scored 13 runs and cranked out 20 hits, going six games above .500 for the first time this season.

"There's not a letup in that lineup right now," Manager Ron Washington said.

Eight of the 10 Rangers' who stepped up to the plate had at least two hits as Texas has now scored 10 or more runs in three of it's last nine games. Nelson Cruz, who went 4 for 5 for the game with three runs along with four batted in, came off of his game winning sac fly in Wednesday's game with another impressive performance since coming off of the disabled list.

"Every at-bat I take, I feel much better at the plate," Cruz said.

Vladimir Guerrero (two-run home run in the second inning) and Matt Treanor (three-run in the eighth) also went deep for Texas as seven players knocked in at least one run.

Texas has taken care of business on this home-stand, all the way to the best home-record in baseball at 17-7. The Rangers have also won 10 of their last 14 games overall and have a four-game lead in the American League West over the Oakland A's.

The Chicago Cubs come to town for a three-game set as the Rangers begin Inter-League play on Friday night. Colby Lewis (3-2, 3.68 ERA) gets the start for Texas, while Ted Lilly (1-3, 4.65) takes the mound for the Cubs with a 7:05 p.m. scheduled start.

(Portions of this article were taken from The Associated Press)