DENVER -- A different team and a new season has made all the difference for Jordan Lyles. Matt Besler USA . Lyles pitched effectively into the ninth inning, Troy Tulowitzki homered twice, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Monday night. Nolan Arenado also homered to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. It is the longest in the majors this season. Lyles (4-0) stole the spotlight from his teammates with another outstanding performance. He came to the Rockies from Houston in the off-season, where he had a career ERA of 5.35 in 72 games and 65 starts. After Mondays gem hes carrying a 2.62 ERA in seven starts, three of which have come at hitter-friendly Coors Field. "The biggest thing is making better pitches when guys are in scoring position. I dont know the numbers but I can figure I wasnt too good in the past," he said. "Thats the biggest key." He also got plenty of offensive support. Tulowitzki, who was named the NL Player of the Month for April before the game, had his first multi-homer game of the season and the ninth of his career. He hit a two-run shot off Texas starter Martin Perez in the fifth and hit another two-run homer off reliever Shawn Tolleson to give Colorado a 7-1 lead in the seventh. Both homers came after Drew Stubbs had doubled. Tulowitzki had a chance for a third home run when he came to bat in the eighth but he walked. "If there was a good pitch to hit I was definitely going to offer," Tulowitzki said. "You do think about three home runs but its not like I was trying to go deep, I was trying to put together a good at-bat." It was more than enough for Lyles (4-0), who came within three outs of the second complete game of his career. He had struggled in six previous starts against Texas but held the Rangers in check a night after they had 14 hits and nine walks in a 14-3 win over the Angels. He worked out of trouble in the third and the Rangers first run came on a ground out to shortstop in the sixth. Texas had runners on first and second in the eighth but Lyles got Josh Wilson to ground into the third double play of the night to end the inning. "He was not the same guy we faced last year," Texas catcher Robinson Chirinos said. "Today he was keeping the ball down and getting ground balls." Manager Walt Weiss sent him out for the start of the ninth but Lyles left to a standing ovation after giving up a leadoff single to Adrian Beltre. He allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out five in his longest outing since throwing a complete game against Milwaukee on Sept. 30, 2012. "He threw a heck of a game and it was a way to try to reward him for what hes done and show confidence in him for what hes done," Weiss said. "I told him it was going to be a short leash sending him out there." Perez (4-2) struggled for the second consecutive start after hurling 26 straight scoreless innings. He allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings. In his past two games he has been touched for 13 runs in 9 2-3 innings. "When he made a mistake out over the plate, they made him pay for it," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Hes only human. Hes going to have some starts that dont go in his favour." Perez had not surrendered a home run for 46 innings dating back to last season when Arenado went deep on him in the second. After Carlos Gonzalez led off the second with a double to left, Arenado drilled a 93-mph fastball into the tunnel in left field to make it 2-0. It was Arenados sixth of the season and fourth during his streak. The hitting streak is the second-longest in Rockies history. Gonzalez made it 3-0 in the third when his ground out to first scored Brandon Barnes. Notes: Rockies manager Walt Weiss appealed an out call at first base in the second inning and the call was reversed upon review. ... Tulowitzki hit .364 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in April. The only other time Tulowitzki won the NL Player of the Month award was September 2010. ... The Rockies selected the contract of RHP Nick Masset from Triple A and optioned INF Ryan Wheeler to Colorado Springs. ... Texas will send Robbie Ross Jr. (1-2, 3.86) against Colorados Juan Nicasio (3-1, 4.19) on Tuesday. USA Soccer Jersey . - The Chicago Cubs say they have agreed to one-year contracts with pitchers Jason Hammel and James McDonald. Brad Guzan USA . Kingsbury, from Deux-Montagnes, Que., won gold with a score of 26.93, while Bilodeau, from Montreal, took silver with 26.54. Japans Sho Endo (25.24) placed third. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers showed what they can do when their minds are on basketball. Paul made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 32 points to help the Clippers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-105 Monday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal. The Clippers acknowledged that the racial comments by owner Donald Sterling that got him permanently banned from the league were a distraction during their first-round series against Golden State. Once they put the initial shock behind them, they beat the Warriors and carried their momentum into Game 1 against the Thunder. Los Angeles shot 55 per cent from the field and made 15 of 29 3-point attempts. Paul, who had never made more than five 3-pointers in a game, also had 10 assists. "When somebodys got it going like that, you just try to stay out of the way as much as possible, but also help keep that fire going," Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. Though Paul is a career 36 per cent 3-point shooter, he doesnt usually shoot them so often. Once he started hitting them, he became increasingly aggressive. He made 8 of 9 for the night. "I came over here early and got in a lot of shots, so I think that had a lot to do with it, too," Paul said. Oklahoma City didnt anticipate Paul taking on the scoring load for Los Angeles, but he took advantage of good screens and knocked down the shots. The Thunder felt they defended him relatively well. "I thought on a lot of those 3s, especially early in the game, we had a hand in his face and a hand in his shots," Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha said. "So we did a decent job, but those shots went in and that boosted their whole team." Griffin scored 23 points, Jamal Crawford had 17 and J.J. Redick added 12 for the Clippers. Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, Kevin Durant had 25 and Serge Ibaka added 12 for the Thunder, who suffered their worst home loss since moving to Oklahoma City. "We have to get more physical," Durant said. "Im not talking about hard fouls, Im talking about jamming the lane, fighting through screens and not letting guys run free. We just have to be more physical." Game 2 is Wednesday night in Oklahoma City. "We just understand that wwe dont go into Game 2 with a 17-point lead," Paul said. Kyle Beckerman USA Jersey. . "You know, youve just got to come back and be hungry and not be satisfied with one." Both teams were coming off Game 7 wins in the first round on Saturday night, but only the Thunder looked weary. Oklahoma City opened by taking a 16-10 lead, but the Clippers responded with a 24-6 run. Paul hit five 3-pointers in the first quarter, matching his career high for 3s in a playoff game in the first 12 minutes. The Clippers shot 67 per cent in the first quarter to take a 39-25 lead. Los Angeles extended its lead to 24 points in the second quarter and took a 69-52 halftime lead with Paul getting 22 points and six assists. Durant and Westbrook scored 16 points each in the first half, but the Thunder committed 11 turnovers before halftime. A quick 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper by Paul pushed the Clippers lead to 78-56 in the opening minutes of the third quarter. The Clippers reached 100 points with just over a minute left in the period and led 104-78 heading into the fourth quarter. The score that matters to the Thunder is 1-0. They were behind 2-1 and 3-2 against Memphis in the first round and rallied to win the series. "You know, weve been there before," Sefolosha said. "You know, its never easy, so at the same time its the first to four wins, and were down one. So its not the end of the world, weve just got to go back and see what we can do for the next game." NOTES: Sefolosha rejoined the starting lineup after sitting out the final two games against Memphis. Thunder coach Scott Brooks said before Mondays game that he started Caron Butler in Games 6 and 7 against Memphis because the team needed another offensive weapon. ... Griffin attended the University of Oklahoma. He got a mixed reaction during pregame introductions. ... The Clippers made 7 of 10 3-point attempts in the first quarter. ... Ibaka was issued a technical foul in the third quarter after getting his legs tangled up with Griffin. ... Clippers C DeAndre Jordan made just 1 of 8 free throw attempts. ... Durant was issued a technical foul for arguing with an official with 10:40 remaining in the fourth quarter. ... The Clippers committed just nine turnovers. ... Oklahoma City outrebounded the Clippers 47-31. ' ' '