Texas Two-Step

Rangers take final two games of the series against the Mariners after an embarrassing game one loss. Micheal Young (above) hit a grand slam Wednesday, leading the Rangers to a 11-6 win. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

After a dreadful week at the plate, the Texas Rangers (63-45) broke out in a big way the last two games against the Seattle Mariners (40-69). David Murphy led the charge, hitting two home runs and knocking in five RBI on Wednesday and Thursday.

Maybe the Rangers' offense was just due, or maybe it was the fact that Texas received news late Wednesday night that they finally have a competent owner for the first time in the last 15 years. Either way, after scoring a total of 11 runs in the previous four games combined, Texas busted out the whooping stick - knocking in 17 runs on 26 games - against Seattle.

"Ever since Nolan's been part of our franchise, we've gone nowhere but up," Murphy said, once he finally got official word. "He's not just a native Texan, a guy who is obviously very, very respected and admired in the state of Texas, but nationally he is one of the best pitchers ever. He's one of the most respected players ever.

"Of course we want a guy like that as our owner. In the end, we wanted the best group to represent us. Obviously, how could you not want a group with Nolan Ryan in it?"

Tommy Hunter provided the punch on the mound in Thursday's game, shutting out the Mariners for 6 1-3 innings for his ninth victory in 11 starts. Hunter outdueled Mariners' Ace Felix Hernandez and lowered his ERA for the season to 3.01 in the process.

Texas is now 10 games ahead of the L.A. Angels and 8.5 ahead of the Oakland A's for the first in the American League West division. The Rangers next stop on the road trip is in Oakland, as Texas tries to pull even further away from the rest of the division.

Cliff Lee (9-5, 2.51 ERA) will get the nod for Texas while Dallas Braden (6-7, 3.63), who through a perfect game earlier this season, takes the mound for Oakland. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 p.m.

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