ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers closest competitors in the AL West right now are the Houston Astros, and Texas hasnt let it be much of a competition.Adrian Beltre and Nomar Mazara each homered, Derek Holland pitched his third straight quality start since coming off the disabled list and the Rangers beat the Astros 12-4 on Saturday for their seventh straight victory.AL West-leading Texas is 13-2 against the second-place Astros this season and 37-19 against the division.After trailing 1-0, the Rangers got their major league-high 42nd come-from-behind win. Theyve won eight of nine and scored at least 10 runs in each of their past three games.Its just the consistency of being able to fill (the lineup) out and the type of hitters we have, manager Jeff Banister said.Holland (7-6) pitched six innings, allowing two runs, six hits and three walks.Evan Gattis had three hits for Houston, including a solo homer.Ian Desmond stole home as part of a double steal in the seventh inning.Beltre and Robinson Chirinos each had three hits. Chirinos was playing as a replacement for catcher Jonathan Lucroy, scratched because of flu-like symptoms.We had to replace a catcher today, Banister said, and he was about as big as anybody in the lineup.Mazara, Desmond, Mitch Moreland, Carlos Beltran and Rougned Odor each drove in two runs.Mazara hit his two-run homer in the fifth, when the Rangers chased starter Joe Musgrove. Musgrove (2-3) allowed five runs and eight hits over 4 1/3 innings.Thats a really good lineup with the power they have in the meat of their lineup, Musgrove said. Ive got to do a better job of getting the 7-8-9 hitters out.Right-hander Brady Rodgers made his big league debut for Houston in the eighth and allowed five runs while getting two outs.Houston led early after Teoscar Hernandez drove in a run with the last of three singles in the second inning.Half an inning later, Beltre hit his 26th homer into the visitors bullpen in left-center field, and then Texas went ahead 3-1 on Morelands two-out, two-run double in the fourth.Holland had two strikeouts, both by Jason Castro. The first ended the second inning with two runners on base.Holland has won his last two starts and is 5-1 at home this season. He is 5-2 with a 2.52 ERA in 10 starts with five or more days of rest.That is a team thats competing to get in the playoffs as well, Holland said. Its not like it was an easy task. The main thing was not letting my emotions get the best of me. They got the run early on me. I had to make sure it was all it could be.Houstons Jake Marisnick hit a two-run homer against Dario Alvarez in the ninth.FANCY FIRSTGold medal-winning Olympic gymnast Madison Kocian threw out the first pitch before the game. The Dallas native performed a front walkover before picking up the ball and delivering a perfect strike.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: 1B Marwin Gonzalez remained out. He hasnt played since experiencing discomfort in his right hamstring on Wednesday. Ill use him if I need to, manager A.J. Hinch said, but Im going to try to stay away from him as long as possible until he feels better.Rangers: Banister said Lucroy could play Sunday.UP NEXTAstros: RHP Collin McHugh (9-10, 4.80) is scheduled to start the series finale on Sunday. Hes 4-1 in his career against Texas. The loss came on June 9, when the Rangers knocked McHugh out in the fourth inning.Rangers: RHP Yu Darvish (5-3. 3.01) will start on Sunday. Hes 3-0 in his last five starts, all Texas victories. Nike Shoes Wholesale China . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Cheap Nike Shoes China Free Shipping . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. http://www.discountshoesnike.com/ . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Discount Nike Shoes Website . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Cheap Nike Shoes Wholesale China . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Our story does not begin with the trade this past weekend that sent Sam Bradford from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Minnesota Vikings. Nor does it begin last Tuesday, when Teddy Bridgewater tore up his knee in practice and broke the hearts of a fan base anticipating its first playoff victory since Brett Favre was in town. Our story actually begins in mid-July, when the Football Outsiders staff was hard at work cranking out our annual almanac.As I was writing the Vikings chapter, I was struck by Shaun Hills career passing numbers, which were surprisingly good for a guy who has never started more than 10 games in a season. I knew his rate stats would be better than those of some starting quarterbacks, and I went looking for a starter with similar figures. The result of that search was the following table, which originally ran in Football Outsiders Almanac on Aug. 1:The salary figures include the money Hill earned while on NFL practice squads, but not his lucrative stinnt with the Amsterdam Admirals.dddddddddddd. Most of the other numbers are self-explanatory with the exception of DVOA, Football Outsiders exclusive metric that analyzes every play of the season and accounts not only for yardage, but also for first downs, field position, scoring margin, quality of opponent and many other factors. (More information is available here.) Regardless, all the data points to the same conclusion: When given the opportunity to play, Hills performance has closely matched that of Bradfords, and in some measurements exceeded it.Fast-forward five weeks, and Bradford and Hill are now teammates, and what had seemed like a fairly random comparison in July suddenly seems a lot more relevant -- and now warrants further exploration. Is it really fair to say that Shaun Hill has been a better NFL quarterback than Sam Bradford? ' ' '