ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joc Pederson homered twice to drive in four runs and Ezequiel Duran and Jake Burger also went deep for the Texas Rangers in a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday. They took three of four in the series to stretch their AL West lead to 2 1/2 games.
All four homers came in the first three innings off George Kirby (8-9). The right-hander had been 9-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his previous 13 career starts against the Rangers.
Texas righty Kumar Rocker (4-8) struck out seven while allowing two runs over 6 2/3 innings. He had thrown one-hit ball over six scoreless innings six days earlier in a win against the Chicago White Sox.
The Rangers (54-52), the only AL West team with a winning record, had a half-game lead over the Mariners before winning the first two games of the series. Seattle (52-55) won 6-4 Sunday, when Texas lost for the first time this season when leading after six innings.
Pederson got Texas started with his fifth leadoff homer, and the 32nd of his career. The opposite-field liner to left-center extended his hitting streak to eight games.
After Randy Arozarena’s tying homer in the second, Pederson hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning. Pederson’s 19th homer, his 13th hit in a span of 29 at-bats, landed in the first row of seats just beyond the wall in right.
Duran led off the third with a second-deck shot to left for his 12th homer. Three batters later, Burger had a two-run homer, his 19th time going deep, for a 7-2 lead.
It was the third time in Kirby’s 132 starts over five seasons that he allowed four homers in a game. He struck out three without a walk in four innings.
Up next
The Mariners and Rangers both open road series against league leaders on Tuesday night. Texas is at American League-best Tampa Bay, and Seattle heads to Los Angeles to play the National League-leading Dodgers.
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