KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The Texas Rangers salvaged what had the makings of becoming a disastrous road trip.
After being swept by four games in Houston and losing the opener to the Kansas City Royals, the Rangers responded by taking the final two games in KC to go 3-6 on the nine-game trip.
Thursday afternoon saw the Rangers put together their best offensive game, jumping out to a lead and pouncing on a position player pitching late for the Royals in a 16-1 rout at Kauffman Stadium. The Rangers posted season highs in runs (16), the most in a road game since Aug. 5, 2014 at the Chicago White Sox, and hits (21), the most hits since April 17, 2012 at Boston.
"It was a tough road trip obviously with the series in Houston, but we fought and we didn't give in," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "We came here and lost the first one, tough way to lose the first one, but fought the last two games. We're glad to be going home."
Especially with good vibes.
Danny Santana, Willie Calhoun and Joey Gallo each had four hits, just the fifth time that's happened in club history (since 1972), and Lance Lynn turned in a much-needed outing by a starter for a reeling Rangers rotation.
The game got so out of hand the Royals used a position player, Chris Owings, to record the final five outs. The Rangers didn't take it easy on Owings, though, as Hunter Pence and Rougned Odor each took him deep in the ninth inning.
"We've earned that, don't take any of those for granted," Woodward said of seeing a position player on the mound. "Every at-bat, whether it's the ball boy throwing or it's Max Scherzer throwing, it's a really hard thing to get hits in the big leagues.
"If you're facing a position player, don't take it for granted. Get your swings in, make sure you swing at strikes, don't make a mockery of it."
The Rangers broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning, taking advantage of multiple Royals miscues.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa opened by drawing a walk, Santana singled and Calhoun delivered a two-run single. Nomar Mazara then reached when the Royals lost a popup in the sun.
Royals starter Homer Bailey struck out Pence, but then issued consecutive walks. Bailey jumped out to 0-2 counts on Gallo and Logan Forsythe, but responded by throwing four straight balls each time.
The walk to Forsythe brought in a run, and then the Rangers took advantage of an error by Royals first baseman Ryan O'Hearn to score two more runs on what should have been a groundout by Odor.
By the end of it, a 1-1 tie game had turned into a 6-1 Rangers lead.
"I thought those at-bats in that inning set the tone for the rest of the game," Woodward said. "Just staying stubborn."
Lynn kept the momentum on the Rangers side with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth, part of a stretch in which he retired 11 of 13 batters.
Lynn pitched around a one-out walk and single in the sixth inning, and a leadoff single in the seventh inning. He allowed one run on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts in the winning effort.
Asked what was working, Lynn said: "A little bit of everything. Fastballs up. Fastballs down. Fastballs in. Fastballs out. Cut it. Change-up. Some curveballs here and there. Typical pitching."
Lynn's life was made easier, too, when the offensive piled up runs in bunches.
As Lynn put it, "It's way easier (to pitch with a lead). It's that simple."
After the five-run fifth, the Rangers scored three more runs in the sixth and another in the seventh on a solo home run by Calhoun. Calhoun homered on Wednesday night as he made his season debut.
The scoring barrage continued with a two-run blast by Odor in the eighth inning, and solo shots by Pence and Odor in the ninth.
Gallo also went deep in the game, as his solo shot in the fourth inning tied it at 1-1. It was Gallo's 13th home run of the season.
In all, the Rangers' entire lineup recorded hits. Calhoun, for the second straight day, received credit for providing a "spark."
"That's what I wanted to do when I got called back up," Calhoun said. "I wanted to help the team win in any way, so just being able to help them is good."
