Yu know it: Rangers rally to take 4 from Royals

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers completed a four-game sweep of the Royals with a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Park. The Rangers have won 10 straight over the Royals dating to last season, their longest winning streak ever against Kansas City.
Rangers starter Yu Darvish allowed just two runs in eight innings to get the victory, giving up five hits and a walk while striking out eight. It was his first time pitching eight innings in a game since June 28, 2014. The runs came on back-to-back homers by Mike Moustakas and Jorge Bonifacio. The Royals scored just five runs in 40 innings over four games and they have crossed home plate just nine times in their last seven games.
"It was an amazing series," shortstop Elvis Andrus said. "It was a great series for the team and it means a lot. The way we played in this series is the way we want to look like as a team. What makes it exciting is offensively we are not where we want to be. Our pitching was good this series and our offense will catch up."

Joey Gallo led the way for the Rangers' offense with his sixth home run and Robinson Chirinos hit his third in the last three games. Royals starters entered the game with a 2.29 ERA, but starter Jason Hammel lasted just three-plus innings, allowing three runs. Two came across in the fourth inning without a hit being involved. It's the shortest outing by a Royals starter this season.
"I was just trying to make the perfect pitch over and over and over again, and that's really hard to do that," said Hammel, who was yanked after his 84th pitch. "That's why the pitch count got up there, and of course, the quick hook. [With] a bullpen that's already taxed, you've got to get deeper in the ballgame."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Gallo goes deep opposite way: Gallo's sixth-inning home run came off left-hander Scott Alexander. Gallo entered the game 3-for-17 with one home run and nine strikeouts against lefties. He went first-pitch to the opposite field, launching one at 111 mph for a projected distance of 439 feet, according to Statcast™.

"It was a 3-2 game," Gallo said. "Obviously that's huge and Chirinos adding on in the eighth is huge. We felt the way Darvish was pitching, one run was going to be good enough. But obviously it's nice to put an extra run on the board."
Welcome to the show: After going 0-for-3 in his Major League debut on Friday night, Bonifacio collected a couple of milestones on Sunday. He singled in the first inning for his first hit in the Majors, then followed up in the third with his first homer, a shot to left. Bonifacio, 23, hit .314 with three homers and 12 RBIs in 51 at-bats for Triple-A Omaha early this season.

"It was a fastball away and I recognized that pitch, and I went for it," Bonifacio said of his first homer. "Off the bat, it felt like I got that one. In my second game, to hit a homer and my first base hit -- I'm not going to forget this day."
QUOTABLE
"It doesn't mean you have to hit homers. If you get hits the RBIs count, too." -- Andrus, who had an RBI single in his first game as cleanup hitter

OVERTURNED CALL KEYS RALLY
The Rangers' two-run fourth started with Ryan Rua drawing a walk and Gallo getting hit by a pitch.Chirinos then worked the count 2-2 and Hammel came inside with a pitch that hit something. Home-plate umpire Eric Cooper ruled a foul ball and the Rangers challenged the call. Replays showed the pitch hit Chirinos in the forearm and the call was overturned, loading the bases. Hammel walked Jurickson Profar to force in one run and Carlos Gómez's grounder that forced Chirinos at second brought home another run.

"There is some feel-good, being able to put runs on the board without putting the ball in play," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "You don't argue with it, you don't complain, you just take it."
WHAT'S NEXT
Royals:Jason Vargas, the American League leader in ERA (0.44) will start for the Royals in the opener of a three-game road series against the White Sox on Monday at 7:10 p.m. CT. He'll face Miguel González, who is 1-5 with a 4.36 ERA in eight career starts against the Royals.
Rangers: Left-hander Martín Pérez will start against the Twins in the opener of a three-game series at 7:05 p.m. CT on Monday at Globe Life Park. Perez is 0-1 with a 2.77 ERA in two career starts against the Twins.
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