In what is becoming a nightly occurrence, Young turned a game around Friday with a ninth-inning home run. This one came with a man on base and two outs and provided the margin in a 5-4 win over Baltimore. This homer followed the one he hit Wednesday in Toronto to send a game to extra innings. And that one followed the one he hit Sunday in Arlington for a walk-off win over Kansas City.

"It's the weirdest thing," said left fielder Marlon Byrd. "It's like we expect him to do stuff like that. He comes up and the game is on the line and we are sitting in the dugout going, 'OK, he's going to do it again.' And when it happens, we get excited, but we're not surprised."

Said Young: "I just feel locked in on those at-bats. I think I'm getting good results because I'm not thinking about results. I'm thinking about getting a good pitch to hit and hitting it. I'm trying not to get too cute."

Young has always been among the AL's most productive hitters in clutch situations. He entered the game with a .335 career average with runners in scoring position, which ranked sixth among all active major leaguers.

RANGERS 5, ORIOLES 4: After 3B Michael Young gave the Rangers a lead with a two-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning Friday, RHP Frank Francisco continued his rise as one of baseball's elite closers with a six-pitch, 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth. Francisco has now converted all eight save chances he's been given since taking over as the team's closer late last August. He has not allowed an earned run in 19 innings of work since becoming the closer. He's also 2-0. Francisco got a little bit of help from LF Marlon Byrd, who sprinted towards the line from the gap in left center and made the catch as he was about to crash into the wall.