ARLINGTON (Interstat) — The Chicago Cubs continued their torrid start to the season, overwhelming the Texas Rangers 7-1 on Friday night at Globe Life Park behind a three-run seventh inning and a dominant pitching performance that limited Texas to two hits.

The Cubs, who improved to 27-12, jumped ahead in the first inning and never trailed, scoring in four separate innings. Seiya Suzuki homered for the second time in as many games, and Michael Busch delivered the decisive blow with a bases-clearing double in the seventh. Javier Assad earned the win, his third against one loss, while Texas left-hander Kumar Rocker took the loss, falling to 1-4.

Chicago struck first in the top of the first. With one out, Michael Conforto laced a ground-rule double down the left-field line. After Alex Bregman struck out, Ian Happ singled to left, scoring Conforto for a 1-0 lead. The Cubs added to their advantage in the fourth. Ian Happ drew a walk, and Suzuki followed by crushing a 1-0 pitch from Rocker to center field for a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, making it 3-0.

Rocker was replaced by Cal Quantrill after the home run, and Quantrill escaped further damage that inning. The Rangers managed only one baserunner through the first four innings against Cubs starter Ben Brown, who worked four scoreless innings, striking out three and walking one.

Texas broke through in the fifth against Assad, who entered the game in relief of Brown. Evan Carter walked, and Andrew McCutchen also walked. After Jake Burger popped out, Justin Foscue lined a single to left, scoring Carter to cut the lead to 3-1. But Assad induced a popout from Danny Jansen and a lineout from Brandon Nimmo to end the threat.

The Cubs answered in the sixth. Michael Busch walked, moved to second on a strikeout, and scored on a ground-rule double to left by Pete Crow-Armstrong, extending the lead to 4-1.

The game’s defining moment came in the seventh inning, when the Cubs sent nine men to the plate and broke the game open. Nico Hoerner reached on a fielding error by second baseman Justin Foscue, then Conforto walked. Bregman singled to load the bases with no outs. Happ grounded into a force out at home, but the bases remained loaded. Suzuki then grounded into another force at the plate, leaving the bases full with two outs. Busch stepped in and laced a double to left field off reliever Tyler Alexander, clearing the bases and giving the Cubs a 7-1 lead. The double was Busch’s eighth of the season.

The Rangers’ bullpen held the Cubs scoreless over the final two innings, but the damage was done. Texas managed only one hit after the fifth inning, a single by Ezequiel Duran in the sixth, and never threatened against a Cubs bullpen that included Ethan Roberts, who worked a perfect eighth, and Assad, who finished the game with five innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Corey Seager, Josh Jung and the rest of the Texas lineup struggled to generate any sustained offense. The Rangers, now 17-21, had won the previous night in New York but could not piece together rallies against a Cubs staff that has allowed three runs or fewer in eight of its last 10 games.

The Cubs have now won seven straight games and 10 of their last 11. Their recent surge included a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds and a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks at home. Friday’s victory extended their road winning streak to five games.

Texas, meanwhile, has lost three of its last four and continues to struggle at home, where the Rangers are now 8-11. The Rangers managed only two hits in the game, matching a season low. Foscue had the only RBI for Texas, while McCutchen and Carter each drew walks.

Attendance was 32,394, and the game lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes.

The Cubs and Rangers will play the second game of the three-game series on Saturday afternoon. Chicago left-hander Justin Steele is scheduled to start against Texas right-hander Jon Gray. The Cubs then travel to Atlanta for a three-game set starting Tuesday, while Texas returns home to host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Chicago Cubs 8, Texas Rangers 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected the Cubs with a 57.00 percent probability to win. Chicago had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5 runs. The total score of 8 went over the over-under line of 8.5.