ARLINGTON, Texas – Ryan Dempster pitched eight innings, his longest outing in more than two months and his best since being traded to Texas, and the AL West-leading Rangers beat the surprising Baltimore Orioles 5-1 on Monday night.

Dempster (2-1 in Texas, 7-6 overall) retired the last 11 batters he faced. The right-hander acquired from the Chicago Cubs on July 31 gave up one run and four hits.

David Murphy had two RBI singles for the Rangers, who opened a 10-game homestand. All nine Texas starters had a hit.

Miguel Gonzalez (5-3), who had won his previous three decisions, gave up four runs in five innings.

The Orioles have still won 11 of their last 16 games.

Joe Nathan struck out the side in the ninth.

Dempster was pitching on extra rest after missing the weekend series in his native Canada for personal reasons. While he wasn’t with the Rangers for the three games in Toronto and missed his scheduled start Saturday, he threw a bullpen session over the weekend.

In his 16 starts for the Cubs before the trade, Dempster had a 2.25 ERA and pitched eight innings twice. The last time was June 10 at Minnesota.

After giving up eight runs twice, Dempster had an 8.31 ERA in his first three starts for Texas.

After giving up eight runs twice, Dempster had an 8.31 ERA in his first three starts for Texas.

Dempster needed only three pitches to get the first two Baltimore batters out before Nate McLouth doubled and scored on Adam Jones’ soft single.

That was the only run the Orioles got. Only two runners reached second base against Dempster after that.

RAYS 5, ROYALS 1: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Jeremy Hellickson pitched seven strong innings for his first home win in three months to lead Tampa Bay.

Hellickson (8-8) gave up one run and six hits in ending a stretch of seven consecutive home winless starts, dating back to a 2-1 victory over Boston on May 16.

Tampa Bay was coming off an 8-2 road trip that concluded with a four-game sweep over the Los Angeles Angels.

The Rays went ahead 4-1 in the fourth on Jose Labaton’s RBI single and a run-scoring double from Desmond Jennings off Will Smith (4-5).