Murphy is easy to root for

ARLINGTON, Tex. -- It's hard not to root for a guy like Texas outfielder David Murphy. He does everything the right way. He plays the game hard. He's a good teammate. He never complains. And as plenty of Texas fans can tell you, he's a native Texan. All those things would probably mean very little though if Murphy didn't produce at the plate. For the last two Septembers, that hasn't been an issue. That trend continued again Tuesday night as Murphy clobbered two home runs and had four hits as the Rangers pounded Cleveland 10-4. The victory dropped the magic number for the Rangers in the American League West to 12. Murphy has been a big reason that number has continued to drop. He was the team's player of the month last September and may already have the award sewn up this year. He's already had two four-hit games this month and has four home runs, 12 RBIs and 11 runs scored. It's hard to believe it's the same Murphy who was hitting .233 in early July. "Early in the season, I try so hard and want to play so well so badly I just get outside myself as a player," Murphy said. "Right now my approach is solid because I'm not trying to do too much. I'm trying to hit line drives up the middle and if they make a mistake and leave a ball up, it might go in the gap or occasionally hit a home run. I feel like early in the season I was swinging for the fences." Murphy's not swinging for the fences now, but he's finding them. He gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the second with a solo homer off Justin Masterson. Cleveland tied the game in the fourth, but Murphy blasted another shot off Masterson in the third. Murphy became the first player to hit two homers in a game off Masterson (11-10). His spark was contagious as after the Indians tied the game in the top of the fifth, the Rangers scored two in the bottom of the frame and took the lead for good, breaking things open with four runs in the sixth. Murphy's playing time opened up with the hamstring injury to Nelson Cruz. Cruz is active now, but manager Ron Washington has no intentions of taking Murphy out of the lineup. Over his last 16 games, Murphy's hitting .424 with six homers and 20 RBI. His average is now .274. "When Nelson comes back it's not going to affect the way David is playing," Washington said. "We're in good shape. He's going to continue to play if he swings the bat the way he's swinging. How am I going to pull him out of the lineup? I'm just happy Davis is finally putting it together. We've been needing him and he's finally put it together. He's a class act." Murphy didn't do it alone Tuesday. Left-hander Matt Harrison (12-9) kept the Cleveland offense in check long enough for Texas hitters other than Murphy to get going. Everyone eventually joined in, as the Rangers pounded out 14 hits with Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre hitting homers too. The Rangers have had at least 12 hits in each of the last six games, a new club record. Not surprisingly, Murphy has had 11 hits in that span. That also makes his easy to root for.