ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Splitting a four-game series felt pretty good to the Texas Rangers. "You can see how everythings starting to fall on track," said Elvis Andrus, who drove in three runs in the 8-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday night. "Everybodys feeling better, relaxed out there. Our pitchings doing great ... thats what were looking for." The split left the Rangers tied with the Rays for the ALs top wild-card spot. The Rangers won the season series with the Rays 4-3, earning home-field advantage should the teams finish in a tie for the two wild-card spots. They each have 10 games left. The Cleveland Indians pulled within a half-game of the leaders by beating Houston 2-1 in 11 innings. Andrus said Thursdays game was a must-win for Texas, which carried a seven-game losing streak into the series. "Yesterday (a 4-3 loss in 12 innings) was a tough loss, so to come back today and win the way we did, that was huge," he said. Yu Darvish won for the first time in seven starts since Aug. 12, surviving a 40-pitch first inning in which he hit a batter and walked three, falling behind 2-0. Darvish (13-9) made it through five innings despite walking six, throwing 109 pitches. "When he had to make a pitch, he made a pitch," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Sometimes you have to figure out ways to get things done when youre not at your very best or even at your minimal, and he did that tonight." Mitch Moreland, Andrus and Alex Rios homered off Matt Moore in the third inning to put the Rangers ahead to stay. Andrus drove in two runs with an infield single in the fourth, stretching the lead to 6-2. Craig Gentry had four of the Rangers 16 hits and three of their five stolen bases, the most against the Rays this season. "The way we ran the bases tonight, the at-bats we put together, when we start doing that throughout the lineup, thats when we play good baseball," Washington said. "In the four games here, we played good baseball and we won two games." Andrus homer was his second of the series and fourth of the season, all since Aug. 4. Moreland, the only left-handed hitter in the Texas lineup, hit his 23nd long ball and Rios his 17th. Geovany Soto added his eighth home run, off Cesar Ramos in the ninth. The Rangers were down 2-1 when Moreland led off the third with long drive to left-centre. Following Ian Kinslers fly out to the warning track in left, Andrus and Rios hit consecutive home runs to left. "That was a big inning for us all the way around," Moreland said. "We hit two more after that, so three home runs in one inning definitely swung the momentum in our favour. "Darvish had to fight tonight. He kept us there and we made the most of it." Moore (15-4) gave up six runs, five earned, while striking out six in four innings. He served up three homers in a game for the first time this season after giving up only four in his 16 preceding starts. "Theres someone responsible for the damage and Im that person," Moore said. "Going into today I had a chance to keep us on top of the leader board as far as the wild card goes. Its frustrating tonight, but were back at them tomorrow." NOTES: Tim Beckham, the Rays first overall draft pick in 2008, singled as a pinch-hitter in his major league debut. ... Texas OF Nelson Cruz (suspension) has started playing games with the Rangers instructional league team in Arizona. ... Tampa Bay sent Class-A LHP Matthew Spann to Washington as the player to be named in an Aug. 23 trade in which the Rays obtained OF David DeJesus. ... Rays rookie OF Wil Myers got his first haircut since spring training, which garnered a lot of attention in the clubhouse. "He told me he paid $14 for it, and thats $14 too much," pitcher David Price said. . . . Rays RHP Jesse Crain (right shoulder strain) threw 26 pitches in an instructional league game. The Rays expect to activate him soon. Cheap Vans Shoes Shop . -- The Chiefs have signed seven players to reserve/future contracts, including running back Joe McKnight, a former fourth-round pick of the New York Jets. Cheap Vans Shoes China . They signed their first kicker. Ottawa inked Nick Setta, a 32-year-old native of Lockport, Illinois, to a contract. http://www.vansoutletstore.com/ . Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. Cheap Vans Shoes For Sale . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire. Vans Shoes Outlet USA . -- J.R. Sweezy was the one part of the Seattle Seahawks offensive line that had avoided injuries or having to change positions this season.SUNRISE, Fla. - Gerard Gallant needed no sales pitch from the Florida Panthers. Hes aware that they have not won a playoff series in nearly two decades, that they missed the playoffs by a mile last season and that they change coaches on an all-too-regular basis. None of that deterred him, either. "You look at their roster, you look at their team, you look at their core players," Gallant said. "I think its a great opportunity and Im looking forward to working with this hockey club." He now has that chance, after being introduced as the 13th coach in Panthers history and the teams eighth bench boss since 2003. Gallant hasnt been an NHL head coach since 2006, but has plenty of experience as an assistant and a very successful stint as the head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His best player there was current Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau, whos considered a key part of Floridas plan to turn things around. "Of course I was excited to hear that news," Huberdeau said of his reaction to Gallants hiring. "Gerard has been a great coach for me. He taught me a lot of stuff when I was in juniors and its because of him that Im in the NHL right now." When Gallant and Huberdeau were paired in juniors, their team won just about every night, or so it seemed. No ones expecting that in Florida, but some parallels will exist from that team and now, Gallant said. "Jonathans a great kid," Gallant said. "I knew the kid for tthree years and we worked well together.dddddddddddd Were going to have 23 players who are going to work hard and compete." Panthers general manager Dale Tallon called the search exhaustive, and the team was linked to plenty of other candidates throughout the two-month process, most notably the likes of Peter Laviolette, Barry Trotz and Dan Bylsma. When he met with Gallant, Tallon expected him to be in a downtrodden mood — the first interview was two days after the Montreal Canadiens, with whom Gallant was an assistant coach the past two seasons, were eliminated from this years playoffs. Instead, Gallant was high-energy, eager, excited. Tallon was impressed. "Ive never heard a negative word said about Gerard Gallant in any capacity in hockey," Tallon said. Its the start of a hectic time for Florida, which holds the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft — one they could trade away — and is expected to be a busy player when free agency begins July 1. And Gallant knows very well how quickly things can turn around. When he was hired in Montreal, the Canadiens were coming off a season where they finished with the fewest points in the East. With Gallant on the staff, the Canadiens won a division title in 2012-13, and topped the 100-point mark in the standings last season. The Panthers would enjoy nothing more than him being part of a similar turnaround in Florida. "The league is so close," Gallant said. "The teams are so close together now." ' ' '
