Arlington, TX (Sports Network) - Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam, one of five Texas home runs, to lead the Rangers in an 11-9 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the middle of a three-game set.
Milton Bradley, David Murphy and Gerald Laird all hit two-run homers for the Rangers, who have alternated wins and losses for the past six games, while Brandon Boggs added a solo shot.
Kevin Millwood (2-2) got the win, despite yielding five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings of work.
John Buck and David DeJesus both hit two-run homers for the Royals, who have dropped two of their last three. Tony Pena had a double and Joey Gathright a triple in defeat.
Brian Bannister (3-3) absorbed the loss after he was rocked for seven runs on seven hits in just three innings of work.
The Royals got a run in the eighth. DeJesus grounded into a force out that allowed Pena to touch home, and the run cut Texas' lead to 11-7.
Buck made it a game in the ninth by crushing a two-run homer, which scored Billy Butler and brought the Royals within 11-9. However, Kansas City was unable to pull any closer and Texas prevailed.
The clubs will play the rubber match on Thursday afternoon.
Texas got on the board in the home first, as Michael Young reached base on a single and Bradley followed with his third homer of the season.
The Rangers broke the game wide open in the second inning, as Boggs hit his first homer of the year. Then, German Duran, Ian Kinsler and Young all got on to load the bases before Hamilton smacked a grand slam to center field for a 7-0 cushion.
The Royals started chipping away at their deficit in the third. Gathright legged out a triple to center field and scored on a Mark Grudzielanek single.
But Bradley led off the fifth with a single, and Murphy brought him home with a home run to right that boosted the Rangers' lead to 9-1.
Kansas City rallied in the seventh. Buck led off with a walk after getting hit by a pitch and a Pena double put them both in scoring position. Gathright followed with an RBI single and Esteban German knocked in a run via a groundout. DeJesus cleared the bases with a two-run homer into the seats in right, which made it 9-5. Millwood was given the hook after the shot in favor of Frank Francisco, who gave up a single to Mark Teahen, walked Butler and yielded an RBI single to Alex Gordon, bringing the Royals within three.
The Rangers added some insurance in the bottom of the seventh. Chris Shelton reached base on a walk, and Laird hit his two-run shot to make it 11-6.
Game Notes: Kansas City lost four of six games with the Rangers in Arlington last season and is 5-9 as the visitor in this series since 2005..The Texas Rangers appointed Dale Petroskey as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Community Development on Wednesday. The 52-year-old also served as president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum from July 1999 to March 2008. He also served as an executive with the National Geographic Society from 1988 to 1999. Before that, Petroskey was in The White House as an Assistant Press Secretary to Ronald Reagan from 1985 to 1987..Attendance was 17,705.