Rangers Blank Royals - 3-0

C.J. Wilson (above) continues to dominate the second half of the season as he shut down the Royals, pitching into the eighth inning for his 14th win of the season. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

The hottest pitcher since the All-Star break continued to impress Monday evening as the Texas Rangers (74-57) took care of business against the Kansas City Royals (55-76). C.J. Wilson (W, 14-5) gave the Rangers 7 2-3 innings of two-hit, shutout baseball. The lefty did have some control issues, walking four batters, but did strike out six. It's the fourth straight game Wilson has struck out at least six as the converted reliever has dominated in the last month and a half.

Since the All-Star game, Wilson hasn't lost a start (nine), has the most wins in the Majors (7), and sports a minuscule 1.99 earned run average during that span. Not to mention Texas is undefeated in all nine of those starts, it seems Wilson is no flash in the pan. He's become one of the best pitchers in the league.

On the other side, Royals' starter Kyle Davies (L, 6-9) was no slouch himself. Davies gave his team 8 1-3 innings, allowing three runs while scattering 10 hits on the night. Unfortunately for Davies, the guy pitching for the other team pitched just that much better and got the win.

"You've got to give credit to C.J.," Davies said. "He pitched a real good ballgame."

With the Oakland A's losing in New York, 11-5, to the Yankees, the Rangers regained a 8.5 game lead in the American League West division. The A's have three more games against N.Y. before traveling back home to take on the Angels for a three-game set.

Cliff Lee (10-8, 3.26 ERA) looks to shrug off a recent run of bad starts as he takes the mound for game two Tuesday night. Sean O'Sullivan (2-4, 4.96) will get the nod for K.C.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m.

News and Notes:

• Nelson Cruz returned to the lineup Monday, playing for the first time since Aug. 14. Cruz scored a run in his first game back, going 1 for 4 from the plate with a double on the night.

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