Thursday, September 04, 2014
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Vargas, Royals complete sweep of Rangers

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[September 04, 2014]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Left-hander Jason Vargas provided the good arm, left fielder Alex Gordon provided the biceps power swing, and spare part Terrance Gore provided the fast feet.

Vargas threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings, and Gordon hit a two-run homer as the Kansas City Royals defeated the last-place Texas Rangers 4-1 Wednesday night to sweep the three-game series.

The victory, coupled with Detroit's loss at Cleveland, pushed the Royals 1 1/2 games in front of the Tigers in the American League Central.

Vargas, who gave up 21 hits and seven runs in 12 innings while losing his previous two starts, limited the Rangers to six hits. He walked none and struck out five before leaving after 102 pitches.

"He was sharp tonight, had his good command, spotted his fastball well, his changeup was really working for him, off-speed stuff was good," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Just pitched a great game."

Vargas (11-7) has a 2.66 ERA since missing nearly a month after an appendectomy in early July.

"I'm glad about the arm strength I was able to retain," Vargas said. "We've had some good success since we've come back. It can go either way, so I definitely like the position we're in right now."

Gordon homered with second baseman Omar Infante aboard in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead.

The Royals added two more in the seventh and chased Rangers right-hander Nick Tepesch, a local product.



Designated hitter Billy Butler doubled home catcher Salvador Perez with the first run of the inning.

Gore, who might be the fastest man in baseball and was just called up from the minors, ran for Butler and stole third, then scampered home on catcher Tomas Telis' throwing error. It was Gore's first major league steal.

"That's what I'm here for -- to cause havoc," Gore said.

The Rangers got their lone run in the eighth when first baseman Ryan Rua's two-out single scored shortstop Elvis Andrus, who led off the inning with a walk.

Greg Holland worked a 1-2-3 ninth to collect his American League-best 42nd save in 44 opportunities.

Tepesch (4-9), who has only one victory in 11 starts since June 27, was charged with four runs, three earned, on six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

The Rangers stranded nine runners and went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

"They scored four. We had a chance to score seven or eight. We got one run," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "We put ourselves in position but just couldn't get the hit. It wasn't just one part of the lineup. It was up and down. It was almost everybody had an opportunity. Rua finally came through.

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"It looked like a lot of the pitches we swung at we actually didn't give ourselves a chance to drive in runs. If we had been a little more patient and had gotten better pitches to do something with, we would have had better results. They can pitch, but we still created opportunities for ourselves. We just didn't cash them in."

The Royals jumped on top in the fourth inning when Gordon drove a 3-1 Tepesch pitch over the center field fence for his team-leading 19th home run of the season. Infante singled just before Gordon's blast.

"I've been doing a couple extra (biceps) curls here and there in the weight room, and that might be it, but other than that, no," Gordon said of his home run spree, which included nine in August. "Sometimes they come and sometimes they don't."

Yost said, "He's an MVP in my book."

Tepesch, who led Blue Springs High in suburban Kansas City to the Missouri state championship in 2007 with a 9-0 record, was making his first pro start at Kauffman Stadium. The Rangers drafted Tepesch in the 14th round in 2010 out of the University of Missouri.

"I played here a few times in college and high school but never got to pitch here," Tepesch said. "It's nice having family so close that they can come and watch. I'd come to maybe two, three or four games a year as a kid. But once I started playing baseball a lot, that kind of took away from that. I definitely grew up a Royals fan, but now it's just another team to beat."

NOTES: Rangers RHP Yu Darvish, who is on the disabled list due to elbow inflammation, will be re-examined Thursday when the club returns home. ... Rangers RHP Scott Baker will not start Thursday against the Mariners. He was pushed back to Friday because of a stiff neck. LHP Robbie Ross will start the series opener. ... Royals INF Christian Colon, who broke his right middle finger Tuesday, is still available to pinch-run or bunt as a pinch hitter, manager Ned Yost said. Colon, however, cannot throw. ... The Royals are off Thursday before opening a six-game trip Friday against the New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis has allowed two extra-base hits all season, both doubles, in 61 2/3 innings.

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