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HOUSTON -- Texas manager Ron Washington wasnt sure what to expect from a couple of reserves he started on Sunday to give his Nelson Cruz and Ian Kinsler a day off. The veteran manager was pleasantly surprised. Leonys Martin and rookie Leury Garcia combined to get five hits, score six runs and drive in two as the Rangers completed a three-game sweep by romping past the Houston Astros 12-7. Adrian Beltres three-run homer was one of his four hits, and David Murphy and Martin also homered for Texas. "The type of team that I have this year, guys have been getting opportunities to play a little more than I have in the past," Washington said. "So I think theyre more prepared and more ready to go up there when theres opportunity for them to play and do the job." He was particularly impressed with Garcia, who had three hits and scored four runs -- both career highs -- to become the first Texas rookie to record both since Jarrod Saltalamacchia in 2007. "Leury Garcia was the one guy today that I didnt expect to make a whole lot of contact because hes the one guy thats in that lineup who hasnt been doing a whole lot of playing," Washington said. "He had a good game: scored four runs, got three hits, stole a bag, played good defence. Thats what you like to have in extra guys." Garcia was excited to contribute. "It was awesome," he said. "I feel really good. I had a few days that I hadnt played but I was waiting for my time and I took advantage of it." The Rangers set a season high for runs, and did it quickly. Martin led off the fifth with a home run and Beltre connected later in the inning for a 12-1 lead. Beltre doubled twice and drove in four runs. He homered for the second straight day, hitting a drive that was originally called a double and changed to a homer after the umpires went to video review. Beltre connected off Edgar Gonzalez, signed by the Astros earlier in the day. Beltre has heated up lately with 12 of his 23 RBIs coming in the last 10 games. Hes raised his average from .214 to .260 in that span. "Outstanding. Certainly what we needed," Washington said of Beltres day. "Hes been swinging the bat well and that average is climbing and RBIs are starting to pile up. Hes my RBI guy, so Im very happy." Chris Carter hit a three-run homer for Houston, Brandon Barnes added a two-run shot and Jason Castro had a solo homer. The Astros have dropped 10 of 12. At 10-28, the Astros are off to their worst 38-game start, according to STATS, breaking their 12-26 mark from 1967 and 1975. Murphys two-run homer came in a four-run third. Beltre hit an RBI double as the Rangers added three in the fourth, and Texas broke it open in the fifth. Nick Tepesch (3-3) rebounded from two rough starts to allow four hits and one run in six innings, striking out a career-high eight. The Rangers jumped on starter Jordan Lyles (1-1) for 11 hits and a career-high eight runs in four innings. He also balked home a run. "I wasnt throwing the ball over the plate," he said. "I was missing by a little bit and missing by a lot, they hit me around pretty good, then I walked some guys, and they hit me around some more. The loss is definitely on my shoulders, and Ive got to do a better job of competing." Lyles was replaced by Gonzalez and he didnt fare much better, allowing six hits and four runs in four innings. Lance Berkman extended his hitting streak at Minute Maid Park to 18 games with an RBI double in the first inning to make it 1-0. Garcia singled to start the third, stole second base and advanced to third on an error by catcher Castro. Garcia scored on a groundout by Berkman. Beltre doubled and scored on a one-out single by Craig Gentry in the third. Murphy then launched a 91 mph fastball into the seats in right field to extend the lead to 5-0. Tepesch had allowed 11 runs and 14 hits in his last two games -- both losses -- but he was in control from the beginning on Sunday. Carlos Pena singled with one out in the first inning, and the Astros didnt get another hit until Castros homer with two outs in the fourth inning made it 8-1. Martin opened the fifth with a towering homer to right field before back-to-back singles by Andrus and Garcia. Beltre connected on his homer and feel to his knee at the end of the swing before hustling to his feet. It was initially ruled a double, but a video review showed the ball hit on the centre field wall above the yellow line and it was changed. Castro had an RBI single in the eighth before Carter hit his team-leading ninth homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field off Derek Lowe to cut the lead to 12-5. Barnes got Houston within 12-7 with a two-run homer in the ninth. 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There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season. Nico Rosberg eased Mercedes fears about its pace in Singapore by topping second practice, though teammate Lewis Hamiltons disjointed session ended prematurely with a hydraulics issue.It was in FP2 last year where Mercedes struggles first became apparent in a weekend which saw the team qualify nearly 1.5s off the pole and finish off the podium for the first time in the V6 era. The team came into the weekend hoping to have solved those issues and the evening session under the lights suggested progress has been made, with Rosbergs 1:44.152 a full 0.3s quicker than Kimi Raikkonen in the quickest Ferrari.Mercedes optimism will be tempered by Hamiltons session, however, with the reigning world champion aborting his first qualifying simulation and then enduring a messy series of laps of the ultra-soft tyres afterwards. He then returned to the pits, where the cover was taken off his engine, something Mercedes later confirmed was to investigate a hydraulic alert while on the circuit. The team decided the issue could not be resolved in the final 15 minutes and he did not return to the circuit. It means the world champion missed out on the long runs at the end of the session -- a significant blow in Singapore as FP2 is the only practice session which is considered relevant to the rest of the weekend as the full session takes place under floodlights.?Max Verstappen finished third as Red Bull struggled to live up to its favourites tag, though he and teammate Daniel Ricciardo both appeared to struggle to get the most out of their cars in the final sector. Sebastian Vettel could only manage fifth, though he clearly did not nail a perfect lap and finished 0.7s off teammate Raikkonen. Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg finished an impressive sixth for Force India, suggesting once aagain the team has made huge strides in development in recent months.dddddddddddd Hamilton finished seventh and only completed 20 laps.Carlos Sainz finished eighth for Toro Rosso at a circuit which could be the last chance for a strong result in 2016. Fernando Alonso finished ninth, two positions down on where McLaren expects to qualify tomorrow, though Friday practice is rarely an accurate predictor of every position on the grid. However, the Spaniard pulled up at Turn 16 at the end of the session with what he reported to be a gearbox issue, which could have ramifications for the Spaniard later in the weekend. Daniil Kvyat rounded off the top ten on a weekend he will hope ends his long and painful wait for points.Sergio Perez, who was complaining about issues during the session, had to settle for 11th ahead of Jenson Button and Esteban Gutierrez. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas took the next two spaces and, though Williams often makes a big step forward on Saturday it seems to have a lot of work to do to catch Force India overnight. Kevin Magnussen and Valtteri Bottas finished 16th and 17th, ahead of Felipe Nasr, who earned the wrath of Ricciardo late in the session for holding him up after exiting the pit lane.Romain Grosjean finished 19th but lost his rear wing early in the session, spinning out of the last corner and tapping the barrier. He finished ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein. Manors Esteban Ocon rounded off the timing screens a full three seconds down, though he was lucky to return his car to the garage in one piece after clouting the wall on two occasions at the end of his ultra-soft qualifying simulation. ' ' '