Associated Press Sports
updated 11:01 p.m. ET May 30, 2012
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Justin Smoak hit two three-run homers against his former team and the Seattle Mariners used a pair of early eight-run innings to rout the Texas Rangers for the second straight game, winning 21-8 Wednesday night.
Smoak had three hits to go with his career high for RBIs as Seattle reached double digits in back-to-back games against the AL West leaders. Jesus Montero homered among his three hits and drove in four runs and Kyle Seager had four hits and two RBIs. Every Seattle starter had at least one hit in amassing 20 hits.
Dustin Ackley also had a three-run homer in support of former Rangers minor league prospect Blake Beavan (3-4).
Rangers starter Derek Holland (4-4) gave up eight hits, eight runs and two walks in 1 2-3 innings Seattle had lost five in a row before beating Texas 10-3 Tuesday night. They scored eight runs in the second and third innings en rout to scoring the second-most runs in club history, equaling a 21-9 victory against the Los Angeles Angels on Sept. 30, 2000.
Coincidentally, that was the same day the Rangers gave up the most runs in club history, a 23-2 loss at Oakland.
The Mariners started the game with only one player hitting better than .250 in the lineup. No matter, they sent 27 batters to the plate in the second and third innings, scoring 16 runs on 15 hits - tying their season high for a game - including three home runs.
And they did it without Ichiro Suzuki, who was held out by manager Eric Wedge to get some rest.
The 21 runs are the most scored in the majors this season, topping the Rangers and Rockies, who have each scored 18 runs.
Holland got off to a quick start, retiring the top of the first in order, including strikeouts of Chone Figgins and Kyle Seager, the best hitter by average in the Mariners lineup on Wednesday at .265.
The Mariners found their groove in the second, sending 13 batters to the plate. Ackley and Montero each homered and accounted for five RBIs, all with two outs, in the inning.
Miguel Olivo had two RBIs in the inning, and Seager had one.
Only Michael Saunders did not reach safely in the inning, though he made up for that with a double and a run scored to start the Mariners' encore, an eight-run third inning.
Montero had two more RBIs and Smoak added a three-run home run.
The Rangers needed 97 pitches to retire six hitters.
Holland, who was 6-1 in seven career starts against Seattle, including 4-0 with a 2.70 ERA since the start of last season, threw 41 pitches in the second inning before being relieved by Yoshinori Tateyama.
Tateyama retired the final out of the second, but recorded only one out in the third, giving up seven hits and six earned runs.
The Mariners added four more in the eighth. Ackley reached and scored on Seager's double, his fourth hit, and Montero walked for the second time before Smoak hit his second home run.
The Rangers tried to make a game of it, sending nine men to the plate in scoring five runs in the sixth. Texas added two in the seventh.
Outfielder Josh Hamilton, who was back in the lineup after missing the previous two games with a respiratory illness, was 2 for 4 with two doubles, one a run-scoring hit that increased his major league-leading RBI total to 57.
NOTES: Hamilton has hit safely in 40 of 47 games this season. Rangers manager Ron Washington gave shortstop Elvis Andrus the night off. Andrus acknowledged the time off was a mental break after he committed an error on Tuesday. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw out the ceremonial first pitch - high but across the plate - caught by Rangers reliever Mike Adams, a Cowboys season-ticket holder.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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