Alcides Escobar had three hits and had his hand in five runs, scoring twice with driving home three, as the Royals beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Thursday for a split of the four-game series.
After going 8-for-16 in the series, Escobar is hitting .318 for the season. He led off the finale with a single and scored when Alex Gordon’s had a shattered-bat grounder to reach on a fielder’s choice. Escobar added a two-run single to make it 3-0 in the fourth, then had an RBI single before Homer’s seventh homer of the season in the sixth.
Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (3-2) gave up two runs over five innings to win his second consecutive start. He struck out one and didn’t walk a batter, but twice hit Prince Fielder with pitches.
Greg Holland worked the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances, even after consecutive two-out walks.