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Holland fans nine over 7 1/3 strong frames

ARLINGTON -- A haircut was all Derek Holland needed to get back on track.

The Rangers left-hander turned in his worst start of the month in a 6-5 loss to the Astros on May 19, allowing three home runs and failing to protect a 4-0 lead. But Holland, who gave himself a haircut the night before his last start, bounced back nicely. He allowed two runs on five hits while striking out nine and walking just one in a 14-3 win over the Blue Jays on Friday, improving to 4-3 on the year.

"The hair wasn't getting many wins. I tried something different," Holland said. "I'm not going to lie, when I came into the clubhouse, I got a nice roar from my teammates. They were really happy."

Holland, who said he has been battling a stomach bug since the team's trip to Seattle, will start against the Mariners in Wednesday's series finale. After going 2-2 with a 5.43 ERA in five April starts, Holland is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in May, with 26 strikeouts and eight walks this month.

"I feel I have been consistent," Holland said. "I've really only had one bad game. That was the Houston game. I had a big lead and let it slip away, that's inexcusable. Consistency is huge, and I feel I have been consistent. Now I want to get better every time out."

The Mariners will send Blake Beavan to the mound to face Holland in the series finale. An Irving native, Beavan attended many Rangers games as a child. He was selected by the Rangers in the first round of the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of high school and was dealt to the Mariners in 2010 as part of a trade that brought Cliff Lee to Texas.

"I'm still excited to pitch here, but it's not like the first time," Beavan said. "I'm really focusing on going out and putting up good quality innings and making good quality pitches and keeping our guys in the game. For myself, it's about trying to go deep into ballgames, which usually means you're doing something right."

In three starts against the Rangers, Beavan is 1-2 with a 1.71 ERA. He allowed just one run on six hits over 6 1/3 innings against the Rangers on April 10, but took the loss as Holland tossed seven scoreless innings for a 1-0 Texas win. Beavan got a no-decision in his last start, allowing three runs on five hits over seven innings in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Angels.

Mariners: Rookie sets team record
Rookie reliever Lucas Luetge has yet to allow an earned run in his first 18 career appearances, a club record. He is 1-0 with 13 strikeouts in 11 1/3 innings. The previous mark was set by Rod Scurry, who did not give up an earned run over eight innings in his first 14 big league appearances. Current Rangers reliever Mark Lowe started his Major League career with 13 straight scoreless appearances with the Mariners in 2006, not surrendering a run in 17 2/3 innings.

• In his past 76 games, Mariners first baseman Justin Smoak has not committed an error. That is the longest streak in the American League among first basemen. A Rangers first-round pick in 2008, Smoak tops Mark Teixeira, who hasn't committed an error in 62 straight games, Adrian Gonzalez (53), and Paul Konerko (47).

Rangers: Club ERA record in reach
The Rangers currently boast a 3.32 ERA, the best in the AL and fourth-best in the Major Leagues, behind only the Nationals, the Dodgers and the Pirates. The Angels, who will face the Rangers in a three-game series beginning Friday, have the AL's second-best team ERA.

The team record for lowest team ERA in a season is 3.31, which was done in 1983. The Rangers have had an ERA 3.32 or lower on four other occasions, in 1972, '76, '78 and '83. Their .287 batting average and +93 run differential lead the Major Leagues.

• Since blowing his only save of the year in a 4-3 loss to the Mariners on April 11, Joe Nathan has held opponents scoreless in 17 of his past 18 appearances. Opposing batters are hitting .194 against him during that span as Nathan has posted a 0.51 ERA, fourth-lowest in the Majors. Until a Michael Saunders single Tuesday, opposing batters had not recorded a hit in their past 21 at-bats against Nathan.

Worth noting
• The Angels announced Tuesday that Garrett Richards, who was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake, will replaced an injured Jered Weaver in their rotation and start against the Rangers on Sunday. Jerome Williams is slated to pitch in Friday's series opener and C.J. Wilson will start Saturday.

• The Mariners have held a lead in 17 of their 30 losses this year, the most by any team in the Major Leagues. Each of their past seven losses have been by three runs or fewer.

• Josh Hamilton hit his 21st homer of the season on Tuesday, but the Rangers hit fewer than two for the first time five games. The Rangers are 14-3 when hitting at least two home runs.

• In the 42 games that Adrian Beltre has started, 34 of them at third base and the other eight at designated hitter, the Rangers are 29-13 (.690). The Rangers are 2-6 in the games that Beltre hasn't started.

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