After his near-catch in the first inning, when he reached over his head in deep center to get the ball in his glove before it popped out when he tumbled to the ground, Hamilton went 5-for-5 with two long home runs. He also drove in five runs for the Texas Rangers in their wild 16-8 victory over the Houston Astros in the Lone Star Series opener Friday night.

"My single favorite part? After I caught that ball, landed and dropped it, 5-for-5 felt good," Hamilton said with a smile, working his shoulder for emphasis. "I've been hurting ever since."

Hamilton's second homer, a three-run shot off the facade of the second deck of seats in right, gave Texas an 8-2 lead in the fourth.

After Houston rallied to tie it, Ian Kinsler drew a two-out walk in the seventh, stole second base and came home on Michael Young's single, scoring on a close play that led to the ejection of Astros manager Cecil Cooper after he came out to argue the call.

"Kinsler made a heck of a slide," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "And by the way, he was safe."

Kinsler slid in just ahead of the tag by catcher J.R. Towles after a throw from right fielder Hunter Pence. Cooper quickly emerged from the dugout to argue with plate umpire Angel Campos. Crew chief Angel Hernandez soon joined the discussion, and ejected Cooper.

Replays showed that Kinsler's foot slid across the edge of home plate just before Towles applied the tag.

Hamilton followed with a triple into the right-field corner off Wesley Wright (3-1) to make it 10-8 and increase his major league-leading RBI total to 49. Hamilton's five hits and five RBIs were both career highs, as were the 13 total bases that fell one short of Jose Canseco's franchise record set in 1994.

"It was a great night. That's why you play the game, right there," Hamilton said.