Texas Rangers’ May Shower Of Runs And Mariners’ Late Lightning Vs. Angels Leaves Locals Up By 5.5

D-tails: Rangers 14, A’s 1
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ARLINGTON - The home runs were far, farther, farthest. The manager was bear-hugged in the dugout – after an out. A starter who looked like he might not last the first inning equaled his career mark for wins in a season before the second month ends.

May will end Sunday, when the Rangers look to sweep Oakland following a 14-1 win over the A’s on Saturday night before the third official sellout of 2009 at Rangers Ballpark. Ron Washington called the game “refreshing.”

The Rangers have gone 20-8 in May despite run producing taking a rare back seat to pitching and fielding. Their 1978 club is the only previous one to win 20 times in a month, going 21-10 that September. Combined with Seattle rallying with three in the ninth and one in the 10th to stun the Angels, the Rangers lead the AL West by 5.5 games – their largest lead since ending the 1999 season eight up.

“We have four months to improve as a club,” said 3B Michael Young, one of three Rangers with three hits. “We’re looking forward to it.”

At 30-19, the Rangers haven’t been this far north of .500 since ending the 2004 season at 89-73. They are dominating their division at 13-2. The best in the AL’s other divisions, the five-teamers, are the Red Sox at 16-8 and the Tigers at 11-9.

“That’s what the Angels did; that’s what the A’s did when they were winning,” CF Marlon Byrd said. “That’s how you get to the playoffs.”

Byrd had a difficult time deciding whether he had a better night at the plate (3-for-4 with a 432-foot homer) or in center (making a diving grab to rob 1B Bobby Crosby of a hit in the fifth inning).

“I don’t think you can slump on defense,” Byrd said. “I take a lot of pride in that because it’s really a learning process.”

1B Hank Blalock began the middle-inning home run parade with a 417-footer leading off the fourth, followed immediately by Byrd’s blast. In the fifth, RF Nelson Cruz hit his seventh in 11 games, measured at 445 – more than halfway up Greene’s Hill.

The 14th and final run came courtesy of a sacrifice fly by C Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the eighth. He returned to the dugout and announced to Washington, “That’s a four-hole hitter.” To which Washington said something to the effect of a scarcastic “Right.” And Saltalamacchia then picked up his manager from behind.

RHP Brandon McCarthy improved to 5-2 after “struggling all over the place” in the first inning, when he walked the bases loaded and later gave up a ground-rule double to Kurt Suzuki. That gave the A’s a 1-0 lead that lasted into the third. By then, McCarthy was mowing down 10 straight and only gave up two more hits, both singles. Six days after a 124-pitch effort for his first major league complete game, he was lifted after six innings and 87 pitches because the Rangers led by nine by then.

Saltalamacchia said of him: “It’s tough for a guy that tall [6-7] to have his mechanics in order at all times. The first inning, his mechanics weren’t there. He came back in and regrouped. That’s what a big-league guy does.”

Blalock came in hitting .163 against left-handers, but Washington put him at first against Oakland lefty Brett Anderson to give struggling Chris Davis a day off. Blalock singled and homered off Anderson. As for who will start at first on Sunday afternoon against lefty Dallas Braden, Washington said he’ll decide in the morning.

So the Rangers will try to tie team history on Sunday. Maybe only with this franchise can a lofty achievement carry a precarious legacy. Those ’78 Rangers went 21-10 in September and had one game to play on Oct. 1. Manager Billy Hunter,  expected with a veteran team to finally beat out the Royals, was about to finish second again. The Rangers did so without him, fired after that 21st September win.