ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Michael Young and Gary Matthews Jr. homered, sending the Texas Rangers to a 9-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Hank Blalock added three hits and three RBIs for the Rangers, who built a big lead for winner John Wasdin.

Joe Mauer, Jason Kubel and Justin Morneau each hit a solo homer for Minnesota, which has lost three straight after an 11-game winning streak. Starting pitcher Carlos Silva left early with a strained knee.

Texas hit a club record and major league-leading 260 homers in 2005, four short of the big league standard, but started the night with only 91 long balls this season – 10th in the AL. The Rangers have started to show some power lately, scoring 18 runs in the past two games and getting 15 extra-base hits.

They scored eight times in the first three innings and Wasdin, a spot starter, was the beneficiary.

Wasdin (2-1) protected the big lead, giving up three runs, seven hits and three walks in five-plus innings to help Texas win for the third time in four games.

Wasdin started in place of Kevin Millwood, who won’t take the mound until after the All-Star break while he recovers from a strained right biceps. Millwood, who signed a five-year, $60 million contract as a free agent last December, is tied with Vicente Padilla for the team lead with eight victories.

Silva (4-9) departed with a strained right knee in the second inning after struggling in his second consecutive start. He gave up seven runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings to Milwaukee on July 1, and Texas knocked him around for five runs and six hits in 1 2-3 innings.

The Rangers jumped on Silva in the first inning when Matthews led off with a double and Young ripped a 420-foot homer for a 2-0 edge.

Texas left runners on second and third in the first, and when the Rangers loaded the bases with two outs in the second, Twins trainer Rick McWane and manager Ron Gardenhire went to the mound and removed Silva from the game.

The Twins said Silva caught his spikes on the mound in the first inning and twisted the knee, but he remained in the game and faced five batters in the second. He is day to day.

Mark Teixeira greeted reliever Willie Eyre with a two-run double in the second, and Blalock followed with a two-run single to extend Texas’ lead to 6-0.

After Morneau’s RBI double produced Minnesota’s first run in the third, Matthews’ ninth homer in the third off Eyre gave the Rangers an 8-1 advantage.

Mauer’s leadoff homer in the fifth and Kubel’s leadoff drive in the sixth pulled the Twins to 8-3, but Blalock’s run-scoring single in the sixth made it 9-3.

Morneau’s solo shot in the seventh off Ron Mahay reduced the deficit to 9-4.

Notes: Texas hadn’t scored a first-inning run in 14 games. … Wasdin improved to 6-1 in 19 career appearances against the Twins. … Minnesota RHP Pat Neshek made his major league debut after being called up from Triple-A Rochester on Thursday.

AP-ES-07-07-06 2333EDT