Quartet of blasts leads Rangers to victory

ARLINGTON -- Nomar Mazara, Ronald Guzmán and Adrián Beltré had been mired in home runs droughts, but the trio went deep off Twins starter José Berríos to help the Rangers secure a 7-4 win Saturday night at Globe Life Park.
Mazara hit his 18th homer of the season in the second inning. The ball had an exit velocity of 103 mph and an estimated distance of 436 feet, according to Statcast™. It was the second consecutive night Mazara hit a home run after hitting just two in his previous 42 games.

"Felt like Mazara was really close when you look at the swings, the contact and how he was swinging the bat in batting practice the last couple of days," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "It was nice to see."
Later in the inning, Guzman gave the Rangers the lead for good with a three-run shot to the second deck of right-center field. Per Statcast™, his home run had an exit velocity of 106 mph and an estimated distance of 415 feet. It was Guzman's first home run in 13 games, and his first extra-base hit since Aug. 13, against the D-backs.
"I don't know man, hitting is hard," Guzman said with a wide smile. "I'm not sure what it was. Just trying to find a rhythm, trying to find the feeling again. It's how the season goes -- too many games. You can't think too much. You've got to try and enjoy the game."
Beltre padded the lead with a solo shot in the fourth, his first homer since Aug. 10. He now has 3,143 career hits, moving him past Robin Yount for 17th all-time.

Rougned Odor added a solo shot in the seventh, his 18th of the season. Odor has homered in three of the last seven games and has 12 in 38 games since the All-Star break.
"I mean, Rougned, since the All-Star break, has been the player that everybody knows who he is," Mazara said. "He worked his butt off early in the year, and now it's paying off. He's back with his timing and stuff like that, and you can see it out there. He's been really good -- not even just hitting, but defense-wise, he's doing a pretty good job."

Banister said recently that he wanted to see more out of the middle of the order to take some pressure off the rest of the lineup, and it had a strong showing Saturday. The Rangers hit four or more home runs in a game for the eighth time this season.
"It was nice to see Odor, Beltre and Nomar in that set, even more down the lower tier in Guzman with a big blow early on against their guy," Banister said. "Like how these guys continue to take their at-bats.

"They are grinding through. We talked about grinding through on Berrios, trying to stay away from the strikeout as much as we could, grind the two-strike at-bats out and that's what happened."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Right-handed reliever Connor Sadzeck made his Major League debut when he entered in the sixth inning with two outs and two on and the Rangers leading, 6-3. Sadzeck threw four pitches, and the first three were fastballs all at 99 mph. He struck out Mitch Garver on a 79 mph slider to end the inning. Garver was the only batter Sadzeck faced.

"I think yesterday helped a little bit, getting [warmed up] in the bullpen," Sadzeck said. "Getting the blood pumping and the heart racing a little bit. I had a little bit of that today, but I felt a little more calm out there and stayed within myself and tried to get strike one. That was the big thing."

SOUND SMART
Closer José Leclerc retired the side in order in the ninth for his eighth save. He has retired the last 10 batters he has faced and opponents have just two hits in their last 40 at-bats against him while striking out 23 times.

YOU GOTTA SEE THIS
With one out in the fourth inning, Shin-Soo Choo made a reaching grab on a fly ball hit by Max Kepler. Choo made the running catch as he neared the left-field wall.

HE SAID IT
"A lot of homegrown talent out there tonight and a lot of homegrown talent that really did a number of things and it was exciting to watch. That's what excites this coaching staff, myself, to watch all these guys that have come up together and signed together fairly close, to go out and perform." -- Banister
UP NEXT
Left-hander Yohander Méndez will make his second big league start in the series finale against the Twins at 2:05 p.m. CT on Sunday at Globe Life Park. Mendez was sent down to the Minors in June after violating team rules. He allowed six runs and lasted just three innings against the Rockies on June 15. Left-hander Gabriel Moya (3-0, 4.73 ERA) will start for Minnesota.