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Thursday, Apr 12, 2012 9:15 PM UTC

Young’s 4 RBIs lead Rangers over Mariners 5-3

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Topics: From the Wires,

Young's 4 RBIs lead Rangers over Mariners 5-3Texas Rangers' Derek Holland delivers to the Seattle Mariners in the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 12, 2012, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)(Credit: AP)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Michael Young hit a two-run homer and had four RBIs to back Derek Holland, leading the Texas Rangers over the Seattle Mariners 5-3 Thursday.

Young put Texas ahead with an RBI single. Then with the Rangers leading 1-0 in the fifth inning for the third straight game, Young hit an opposite-field homer into the first row in right for a 3-0 lead against Jason Vargas (1-1). Young added a run-scoring single in the eighth off Erasmo Ramirez.

Holland (1-0) allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings, struck out eight and walked none. He extended a scoreless streak by Texas starters to 22 2-3 innings before Alex Liddi’s RBI single in the sixth. Kyle Seager added a 438-foot homer into the right-field upper deck in the seventh.

Ian Kinsler had three hits for Texas, including a two-out RBI double in the seventh that gave the Rangers a 4-2 cushion with closer Joe Nathan unavailable after pitching on consecutive days.

Already at 102 pitches after seven innings in his second start of the season, Holland struck out Brendan Ryan starting the eighth, then allowed Chone Figgins’ double and was replaced by Koji Uehara

After walking two batters as the Chicago White Sox rallied in his first start, Holland had much sharper control. Following Ichiro Suzuki’s two-out single in the first, the only runner he allowed in a span of 14 batters was on a throwing error by Kinsler at second — the first error by the Texas infield this year after 108 clean chances.

Mike Adams filled in for Nathan, giving up Miguel Olivo’s two-out RBI double in the ninth before retiring Michael Saunders on a grounder for his second save with the Rangers and the fourth of his career.

Vargas allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

Mike Napoli went 0 for 3, dropping his average to .077. The Rangers’ Nos. 3-6 hitters combined to go 0 for 14 against Vargas and Ramirez.

Vargas allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

NOTES: Nathan entered Thursday as one of two relievers with two losses this season. The other was Boston’s Mark Melancon. Nathan allowed four of the first five runs surrendered by the Texas bullpen. The only other Rangers reliever to lose twice within the first six games was Frank Francisco in 2010. He was replaced as closer by Neftali Feliz, who saved 72 games in Texas’ back-to-back World Series seasons. … Kinsler hit three homers in the Rangers’ first six games for the second straight season. Nelson Cruz did it in 2010-11. … Seattle’s bullpen has given up eight homers in eight games after leading the AL with just 32 allowed last season.

More Schuyler Dixon.

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