Andrus Snaps Homerless Streak

As soon as the ball left Elvis Andrus' bat on Saturday night in Houston, the Texas Rangers shortstop knew exactly where it was going.

On the way to first base, Andrus executed a bat flip worthy of a Perfect-10. By the time he crossed home plate after depositing the ball into the left field seats, Andrus was met by a group of congratulating teammates who were happy to see something that doesn't happen very often — an Andrus homer.

It had been nearly a full calendar year since Andrus last homered — Sept. 4, 2012, to be exact — and 452 at-bats in 2013 without a homer, which was the longest homerless streak in the big leagues this year.

"The situation was amazing," Andrus told ESPNDallas.com. "Trying to play every inning, trying to help the team as much as you can. It was huge, beside the homer, it was huge to be able to tie the game and give us the opportunity to win the game like we did."

Andrus' homer started the comeback against the Astros to help the Rangers not only continue their winning streak but pull into sole possession of first place since the beginning of July after Oakland lost earlier in the day to Toronto.

Andrus and his pal Adrian Beltre shared a moment as Andrus was returning to the dugout with a little "patty-cake" like dance and it seemed to recharge the Rangers' dugout in what eventually ended in the 5-4 Rangers win.

Ron Washington said the homer did more than just give them positive vibes that night, as Andrus has been on a tear since the all-star break after getting off to an awful start over the season's first half, when it appeared he was in store for his worst season as a big-leaguer.

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"That was one of the biggest hits of the season," Washington said.

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