Jonathan Lucroy hit his first homer with Texas, Ian Desmond drove in two runs and the Rangers beat Wade Miley and the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 Thursday night to avoid a three-game sweep.
Texas received contributions from all three players it acquired before Monday's non-waiver trade deadline. Lucroy homered in the second inning, Carlos Beltran singled in a run in the fifth and Jeremy Jeffress pitched a scoreless seventh.
Shin-Soo Choo came off the disabled list to get two hits and scored a run for the Rangers, who took back from Baltimore the distinction of owning the best record in the AL.
Texas won the season series 4-3 and would have home-field advantage in the postseason if the teams finish with the same regular-season record and meet in the playoffs.
Mark Trumbo hit his major-league leading 31st homer for the Orioles, who fell to 39-17 at home. Pedro Alvarez and Hyun-Soo Kim also hit solo shots.
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