Young hopes to remain hot, as Rangers battle Royals

Chris Young will try to win his fourth straight decision tonight when he takes the mound for the Rangers. Young is 3-0 with a 1.80 earned run average in his last five outings. He pitched well last Sunday against the Minnesota Twins, but wound up with a no decision. Young allowed just three hits over seven shutout innings in a game that Texas won, 2-1. This will be the first-ever appearance against the Royals for the 26-year-old Young. The Royals will counter with young righthander Zack Greinke, who will try to avoid his 17th loss of the season. Greinke is winless (0-5) with an 8.29 ERA in his last seven starts. He was pounded by the New York Yankees in 10-3 loss last Sunday, allowing seven runs and 10 hits in just 4 2/3 innings. The 21-year old has three career starts against Texas and is 1-2 with a 6.46 ERA. In Thursday's opener, Rod Barajas smacked two home runs and ended with four RBI to lead the Rangers past the Royals, 5-4. Alfonso Soriano went 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Rangers, who have won five of their last six contests. Barajas' first homer of the game was his 15th of the year, giving the Rangers a major league record nine players with at least 15 home runs in a season. Kenny Rogers (12-7) earned the victory for Texas, allowing four runs -- three earned -- in seven-plus innings. It was the first win since July 16 at Oakland for Rogers, who was 0-3 in his previous six starts. Joe McEwing, Terrence Long, Angel Berroa and Matt Diaz each had two hits and an RBI for the Royals, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. J.P. Howell (1-5) was dealt the loss after yielding four runs in six innings. He struck out seven batters and walked two in the setback. The Rangers, who took five of nine from the Royals last season, hold a commanding 6-1 advantage over Kansas City in 2005.

Source: http://www.wtev.com/