Resilient Rangers rally, win fifth straight
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ARLINGTON -- Adrián Beltré lined a two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Rangers once again rallied, this time for a 5-4 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday night at Globe Life Park.
The Rangers have won five straight, including three over the Rockies. In all three, including two at Coors Field, the Rangers trailed at some point in the eighth inning or later before coming back to win. Their 36 come-from-behind wins are the most in the Major Leagues.
Things got away from the Rockies in the eighth with left-hander Boone Logan on the mound. With one out, first baseman Mark Reynolds let Mitch Moreland's ground ball get past him for an error, and Logan hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch. Both runners moved up on Ian Desmond's grounder, and Carlos Beltrán was walked intentionally.
Newly named Rockies closer Adam Ottavino took over, and Beltre smashed his hit past shortstop Cristhian Adames to put the Rangers ahead. Beltre now has 1,537 RBIs, tied with Joe DiMaggio for 47th all-time.
• Beltre makes Rox pay for walk to Beltran
"It has been nice to be able to come back and find a way to pull it out," Beltre said. "We are playing better ball lately. We still have some improving to do, but this team is headed in the right direction."
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Meanwhile, the Rockies -- who just a week ago were surging in the National League Wild Card race -- have become the anti-Rangers. They've blown late leads against Texas each of the last three games, and have surrendered leads in the eighth and ninth innings in four of their last six outings. They're now five games out of the second Wild Card berth.
"I love the way we're playing -- we're just putting together eight innings, eight-plus innings a night," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "We've got to put together nine. But the guys keep fighting."
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The Rangers led, 3-1, going into the eighth with Keone Kela on the mound. Kela retired DJ LeMahieu on a liner to right, but walked Nolan Arenado and gave up a single to Reynolds.
Rangers manager Jeff Banister brought in left-handed reliever Jake Diekman to face David Dahl, a left-handed swinger. But Dahl ripped a triple down the right-field line to tie the score, and he ended up scoring on Ryan Raburn's sacrifice fly.
Rangers starter Martín Pérez allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings. He was denied his first victory since June 26 at Boston but still has a 2.46 ERA in 12 home starts. That's the second-lowest home ERA this season in the American League. Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa allowed three runs, including Jonathan Lucroy's solo shot in the fifth inning, in five innings. "[The Rangers] look for some pitches, and if you throw them, you're going to get hit," De La Rosa said. "Today I did a good job, but Lucroy was the only mistake I made all game."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Rangers pull double steal: For the second time in three games, the Rangers pulled off a double steal against the Rockies. This time it was Elvis Andrus on second and Choo on first with one out in the fourth. The pitch to Desmond went to the backstop, so both runners advanced easily. Desmond then sent Andrus home to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.
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#TheRealDahl in the record books: Dahl's two-run triple extended his hit streak to begin his career to 16 games -- which ties Juan Pierre's franchise record, set in 2000, and is one game shy of the Major League mark, by the Reds' Chuck Aleno in 1941.
"I try not to think about it," said Dahl. "I just want to come out and help the team out." More >
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Lucroy arrives with blast: Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy played his first home game at Globe Life Park, and celebrated with a home run in the fifth inning. It was his 17th of the season and fourth with the Rangers. It also gave the Rangers 19 home runs from their catchers, the most in the AL.
"Felt good, but it felt even better to get that win," Lucroy said. "After we gave up that lead there, Adrian had that big hit with some really good at-bats in front of him to get on base. I was honestly more jacked up about that than the homer. The homer was like, 'Yeah, great.' But that go-ahead single pretty much won the game for us. It was pretty cool."
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Coming apart late -- again: Rookie right-hander Carlos Estévez, recently removed from the closer role, pitched a scoreless seventh, but the game got away with two unearned runs in the eighth, with Reynolds' one-out error paving the way for Logan's loss. After Logan hit Choo, Jordan Lyles forced a Desmond groundout, and the Rockies walked Beltran, taking a chance that Ottavino -- who had held righty batters to a .115 average -- would retire Beltre. But Beltre connected on an 0-1 slider, and the Rockies have now blown leads in the eighth or ninth inning in four of their last six games.
"I wanted it," Ottavino said. "It didn't work out." More >
QUOTABLE
"It felt good. I've blown two, so to have one under my belt is good." -- Matt Bush, on his first save
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Rangers turned two double plays behind Perez, giving him 31 DPs this season, the most in the Major Leagues. It also ties the club record, set by C.J. Wilson in 2011.
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WHAT'S NEXT
Rockies: Texas native Chad Bettis will get the start in the finale of this four-game home-and-home series at 12:05 p.m. MT on Thursday at Globe Life Park. Bettis has thrown six consecutive quality starts, the longest such streak by a Rockies pitcher since Jhoulys Chacin threw seven straight in 2013
Rangers: Right-hander Lucas Harrell will make his third start with Rangers at 1:05 p.m. CT on Thursday. Opponents are hitting .195 with runners in scoring position against Harrell in his seven starts this season.
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