Rangers sweep Royals for best start since 2013

KANSAS CITY -- The Rangers had smiles on their faces as they packed their bags for a happy plane ride home on Wednesday afternoon.

With a 12-3 victory over the Royals that completed a sweep of the three-game series, Texas could reflect on the franchise’s best extended road trip in nearly five years. The 5-1 jaunt through Houston and Kansas City was the club’s best six-game road mark since June 2018, when the Rangers went 5-1 against the Royals and Twins.

The Rangers managed the feat despite two starting pitchers (Jon Gray and Jacob deGrom) having to leave their outings early because of physical issues, while shortstop Corey Seager is on the mend from a left hamstring injury.

Texas (12-6) is off to its best 18-game start since 2013, when the Rangers had an identical record. Impressive, to be sure, and manager Bruce Bochy and his players think the best is yet to come.

“Just a terrific series and road trip,” Bochy said. “It’s a good one to go home on. It was fun watching these guys.”

The offensive work of Leody Taveras was just one of the pleasant developments in the road trip finale. Slowed by an oblique injury in the spring that limited his Cactus League game activity, Taveras came through with a 3-for-5 performance that included a couple of extra-base hits.

In the second inning, Taveras drilled a two-run double to right that gave Texas a 3-0 cushion. He added an RBI triple in the fourth.

“He looked a little more patient,” Bochy said. “Really, he was on time and catching it out front. He’s strong and gifted.”

The Rangers were up 6-3 in the seventh when Ezequiel Duran landed the big knockout blow -- a three-run double to left-center. Duran is in the shortstop mix with Seager out, but he was in the lineup as the designated hitter on Wednesday.

Then, there was the reliable Marcus Semien, who went 3-for-5 after hitting a homer in each of his previous three games.

“It’s a big road trip for us and definitely a confidence booster,” Semien said. “Everybody is working hard to get hot, and our bullpen is deep. This will be big for us moving forward. I’m sure it will make it tough on [Bochy] to figure out who’s in the lineup, but that’s a good problem to have.”

Starter Martín Pérez was solid for the fourth start in a row, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings. The bullpen took it from there to lock down the Royals the rest of the way.

Whether it involved pitching or offensive production, the Rangers had quality depth on their week-long trip.

“Our long guys [in the bullpen] came through and so did our role players,” Bochy said. “That’s how you have success over a long season.”