ARLINGTON, Texas-Martin Perez finally got a win after another strong May start and rookie Nomar Mazara homered in his home park for the first time, leading the Texas Rangers to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night.
Perez (2-4) was winless for the month despite a 2.59 ERA in four starts coming in, and the left-hander dropped that number to 2.08 with six strikeouts in six shutout innings.
Mazara pulled his seventh homer into the upper deck in right field off Jhoulys Chacin (0-1) in the sixth inning. Mazara had three hits and reached base all four times.
The 21-year-old's two-run shot put Texas ahead 3-0 after Perez escaped the top of the sixth by getting through the middle of the order after putting runners at first and third with no outs.
After Shane Robinson was thrown out at home trying to score on a hard grounder to Mitch Moreland at first base, Perez struck out Mike Trout and walked Albert Pujols to load the bases.
The 25-year-old Perez gestured empathically after finishing the 31-pitch inning with a strikeout of Johnny Giavotella, who had a 12-game hitting streak snapped.
The Rangers lost the shutout bid when 30-year-old rookie reliever Matt Bush gave up his first run in his sixth outing on a run-scoring groundout by Pujols in the eighth.
Sam Dyson struck out two in a perfect ninth for his third save in three chances since becoming the closer and fifth overall this season.
Rougned Odor went 0 for 4 in the leadoff spot for Texas on the day his appeal was heard in New York for an eight-game suspension for punching Toronto slugger Jose Bautista during a brawl on May 15.