David Murphy and Hank Blalock homered to pace a suddenly resurgent Texas Rangers offense and Kevin Millwood won his fifth straight decision at home in a 12-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.
Murphy's three-run homer, a towering 404-foot shot into the second deck in right field, put Texas up 6-1 against Walter Silva (0-1), who gave up nine runs in 2 1-3 innings. It was Murphy's third homer in eight games.
Before winning 9-8 in 12 innings at Arizona on Thursday night, when Murphy's solo homer was the difference, the AL West-leading Rangers had scored two runs or less in four consecutive games. They had gone 21 straight games without scoring more than six runs, their longest such streak since 1990.
Blalock homered leading off the fourth for a 10-1 lead. Rangers rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus had four hits, including a bunt single and an RBI triple.
Millwood (8-5) allowed two runs over six innings, throwing 113 pitches in a game that started when it was 100 degrees.
The only loss at home by the right-hander was April 18, a 2-0 complete game against Kansas City and Zack Greinke. Millwood is 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA in nine home starts, allowing more than three runs only once.
