BALTIMORE (AP) _ Nelson Cruz hit his 26th home run, Steve Pearce and Caleb
Joseph also went deep against rookie Nick Martinez and the Baltimore Orioles
breezed past the skidding Texas Rangers 8-3 Tuesday night.
Pearce and Cruz delivered solo shots in the first inning and Joseph connected
with a man on in the second. It was the third homer in two nights for Pearce,
and Cruz hit his third in seven games on his 34th birthday.
Signed as a free agent to a one-year contract, Cruz is closing in on his career
high of 33 home runs with Texas in 2009. He is already one homer short of
matching his total last year with the Rangers, a season cut short by a 50-game
suspension as part of the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal.