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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ron Washington was in a grateful mood after his 500th win as manager of the Texas Rangers.
Josh Hamilton had five RBIs and Mitch Moreland doubled in the go-ahead run during a six-run eighth inning that carried Texas to a 10-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.
"I think you have to give a lot of credit to the organization, the players, the coaches and everyone," said Washington, in his sixth season as a manager — all with the Rangers. "We got there fast. I didn't get there alone.
"I just hope I can be here and win 500 more."
Adrian Beltre had three hits, including his fourth homer in two days, and scored the tiebreaking run on Moreland's drive to left-center.
Minnesota starter Scott Diamond was ejected in the third by plate umpire Wally Bell after throwing a pitch behind Hamilton's head. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire also was tossed after immediately protesting Bell's decision.
"Anytime in an umpire's judgment they go in the head area, we have to take care of business. I felt at the time that he had to be ejected for it," Bell said.
Rangers starter Roy Oswalt had hit slugger Joe Mauer in the back in the preceding half-inning.
"I'm not going to get into that," Gardenhire said. "Everybody saw that, so I don't have to say anything about it.
"I've never seen it happen like that before."
A pair of Twins errors led to five unearned runs in the eighth as the AL West leaders sent 11 batters to the plate to break a 4-all tie. Geovany Soto, Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus also had RBIs in the inning.
Moreland entered in the sixth to replace designated hitter Michael Young, who left to witness the birth of his third son.
Beltre is hitting .529 with four home runs, two doubles and six RBIs in his last four games. He homered three times Wednesday night, twice in a nine-run fourth inning, and had five RBIs during a 12-3 victory over Baltimore.
Jared Burton (1-1) took the loss after giving up six runs on three hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning.
Mike Adams (3-3) worked a scoreless eighth for the win. Joe Nathan entered in the ninth after Tanner Scheppers gave up two runs with two outs and converted his 22nd consecutive save opportunity and 25th of the season.
Minnesota left 14 runners on base.
Andrus' error on Denard Span's grounder to shortstop let in the first runs the Rangers' bullpen had given up in 18 innings.
Beltre hit a one-out double in the eighth and Nelson Cruz reached on third baseman Trevor Plouffe's error, setting the stage for Moreland's clutch hit.
David Murphy was intentionally walked to bring up Soto, who hit a grounder that shortstop Pedro Florimon bobbled for an error. Soto was credited with an RBI.
Kinsler drew a bases-loaded walk, Andrus knocked in a run with an infield single and Hamilton added a two-run single.
Oswalt started in place of Yu Darvish, skipped because of tightness in his right quadriceps. The right-hander gave up four runs and seven hits over 5 1-3 innings.
Diamond worked 2 1-3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks.
The Rangers took a 4-2 lead in the fifth on Beltre's 23rd home run and Hamilton's RBI single that scored Kinsler.
Oswalt was pulled after giving up successive hits to Matt Carson and Plouffe in the sixth.
Rangers reliever Michael Kirkman, who had retired 10 consecutive batters over his past three appearances, couldn't keep Oswalt's runners from scoring.
Carson came home on Florimon's groundout and Span tied it with a single.
Hamilton's double in the first scored Kinsler and Andrus to give Texas a 2-1 lead. The 2010 AL MVP is hitting .345 with 17 RBIs in the past 16 games.
"Down the stretch, he is our horse," Washington said. "So is Beltre, so is Moreland, so is Murphy. We've got a pretty good team."
NOTES: Span was back in the lineup after missing the previous nine games with a sore right shoulder sustained while diving for a ball in center field on Aug. 12 against Tampa Bay. ... Minnesota DH Josh Willingham was scratched because of a stiff neck. ... Washington said he doesn't expect catcher Mike Napoli back until Sept. 1. Napoli is on the disabled list with a strained left quadriceps.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — San Antonio police say two students have been accused of making a terrorist threat related to next week's start of school.
Classes begin Monday at Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio.
The San Antonio Express-News (bit.ly/Q76xpo) reports both teens were arrested Thursday night. Each faces a charge of making a terrorist threat related to their school.
Further details on the investigation of the male students, ages 17 and 18, were not immediately available. Police did not immediately return a message for comment.
A message left with the school for comment was not immediately returned Friday.
Online:
http://www.ahisd.net/campuses/ahhs/index.html
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A 45-year-old West Texas man has pleaded guilty in a child pornography case that police say involved six girls.
Lyle Shane Johnson of Lubbock pleaded guilty Thursday to six counts of production and attempted production of child pornography.
A federal judge in Lubbock did not immediately set a sentencing date for Johnson, who's been in custody since his June arrest. Johnson faces up to 30 years in prison on each count.
Authorities say Johnson since 2009 used six girls to produce images and videos of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors say Johnson at times photographed himself with at least one of the children.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rangers starting pitcher Scott Feldman worked out of a rough stretch in May and June when he lost six straight by reeling off six consecutive victories.
After a 5-3 loss to the Orioles on Tuesday in which he gave up five runs on seven hits over five innings, he's now dropped three in a row.
No reason to panic, his manager said, even after the Rangers' right-hander gave up two big run-scoring hits with two outs, including Nate McLouth's two-run home run, in the Orioles' decisive four-run fifth inning.
Manny Machado had a run-scoring triple and J.J. Hardy's two-out double plated another run for Baltimore in the inning, which was followed with two shutdown innings by Chris Tillman (6-2).
"I think if there's any pitch he'd want to take back in that inning, it would be the one to McLouth," manager Ron Washington said. "But other than that, there was no indication they were going to put four runs on the board, because both he and Tillman were pitching very well."
Tillman worked 6 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on six hits while striking out seven before giving way to the bullpen, which now has a 1.57 ERA in the last 18 games.
The Orioles' right-hander kept Rangers hitters off-balance with effective off-speed pitches and good command of his fastball.
That follows a performance two years ago in which Tillman held the Rangers to two runs on two hits and a walk over a career-high 7 1/3 innings.
Tillman has held the Rangers to a .203 average in three starts.
"It ain't easy," said Tillman, who improved to 6-2 on the season with a 3.71 ERA and 4-1 on the road.
"These guys have a great lineup and you have to respect that whether you're ahead or behind."
Jim Johnson worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his 38th save.
"Chris was good," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He had command of the breaking ball early, and threw the fastball on both sides of the plate."
The Rangers scored two on Geovany Soto's two-run homer in the seventh inning to close a 5-1 deficit to two and then put the tying run on base, but Pedro Strop struck out Josh Hamilton on a slider to end the threat.
David Murphy, 10 for 19 with a homer and three doubles and six RBI in his previous five games, went 1 for 4 on Tuesday, including a groundout with a runner on base to end the Rangers' half of the eighth.
"Pedy got a couple of big outs for us," Showalter said. The bullpen "has been a constant for us. We've been able to share the load and pass it around.
"We've got a lot of people we have confidence in."
Feldman struck out four and walked one while ending a string of good performances by Rangers pitching, which entered Tuesday having allowed two runs or less in three consecutive games and just four total in the three-game winning streak.
The starting rotation had posted a 2.96 ERA in the previous seven games.
"I thought he made a real good pitch to Hardy and he went down and poked it to right field," Washington said. "That's a part of baseball, I think Scott has been throwing the ball really well. That's just the way it went tonight."
The AL West-division leading Rangers lost a game to Los Angeles in the standings and lead the Angels by eight games. Oakland, which started the evening six back, were playing late at home against Minnesota.
The Orioles broke loose for four runs in the fifth. Machado's triple scored Omar Quintanilla and McLouth sent a Feldman pitch into the left-field seats for a two-run home run that made the score 5-1.
"All you're trying to do in that situation is limit the damage," Feldman said. "Even after giving up that hit to Hardy, we're still in the game. I just made a bad pitch to McLouth."
The Rangers' Ian Kinsler hit his 14th home run of the season to tie the game in the third on a 1-0 pitch.
Orioles took a first-inning lead by scoring an unearned run with two outs.
McLouth walked, stole second and advanced to third on an error when Geovany Soto's throw sailed into center field. He scored on Feldman's wild pitch.
Notes: Entering the game, three of the top 22 qualifiers in ERA as relievers in the AL were Orioles. Pedro Strop (2nd, 1.49), Darren O'Day (17th, 2.49) and Troy Patton (22nd, 2.58). . The Rangers' Adrian Beltre, hitting .235 in his previous 30 games, went 2 for 4 on Tuesday. . The Orioles have won 12 consecutive one-run games. The franchise has done that on three other occasions, 1964, 1970 and 1979. Baltimore went to the World Series in 1970 and '79 and won 97 games and finished two games back of eventual World Series champion New York Yankees in '64. . Rangers reliever Michael Kirkman extended a scoreless innings streak to seven in his last six games after holding the Orioles to no runs in two innings. Kirkman also has stranded 11 of the last 13 inherited runners, including three in a game three times.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
BRYAN, Texas (AP) — A deputy clerk in a Central Texas county has been charged with pocketing about $18,000 in marriage license fees.
Brazos County Clerk Karen McQueen says all marriage licenses issued by Jaime Hines are valid.
Hines was arrested Tuesday on a charge of theft by a public servant. She's free on $5,000 bond.
The $72 license must be paid in cash. An audit began after another employee noticed Hines allegedly issued a license but no receipt.
McQueen says Hines was put on administrative leave Aug. 11 but will now be fired. McQueen told WTAW radio that Hines told her she took the money for three years and "once she started, she just couldn't stop."
The process to balance such funds has now been changed.
Hines wasn't immediately available for comment.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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