ARLINGTON -- On Friday night in Texas, the Brewers amassed more runs, more hits -- and more victories -- than they did in a three-night stay in Los Angeles. The same Milwaukee offense that staggered through a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers found its footing in a 9-8 victory over the Rangers in the series opener at Globe Life Field.

The Brewers collected 14 hits Friday, including Carlos Santana’s go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning. With help from some slick defense, the Brewers held on for the win despite a vigorous Rangers rally that featured four runs in the ninth.

• Game Story: Frelick tracks down long drive as Brewers hold on ▶️

“It goes in the win column, and it doesn’t really matter how it looks,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We scored some runs today. And after we struggled in L.A. to score runs, that feels good. Offensively, we did a great job tonight.”

With Milwaukee down 4-3 in the seventh, Christian Yelich drew a leadoff walk, William Contreras singled and Santana ripped a liner into the seats in right field. Santana made sharp contact on an elevated fastball from Texas reliever Josh Sborz, pulling it a Statcast-projected 378 feet.

Santana’s dinger was exactly the kind of catalyst a flagging offense needed -- and exactly the kind of boost the Brewers were looking for when they acquired Santana from Pittsburgh at the Trade Deadline.

It was the 295th career home run for the 37-year-old Santana, 10th-most among switch-hitters in NL/AL history. Santana has not had huge success in a Brewers uniform, batting .162 in 18 games. But he has hit two timely homers on the current road trip.

“I’m working hard on my swing, my approach and trying not to swing at bad pitches,” Santana said.

In three losses at Dodger Stadium, the Brewers totaled three runs on 10 hits. They hadn’t scored in 18 consecutive innings before they broke through in the third against the Rangers. Yelich, Contreras and Mark Canha each doubled and scored.

Still, until Santana’s homer, the Brewers were in danger of wasting their relatively productive night at the plate. Starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff gave up four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. The fourth inning especially hurt Woodruff, as he walked Corey Seager on 12 pitches, then gave up a two-run homer by Nathaniel Lowe and a solo smash by Mitch Garver two batters later.

“I laid a good pitch in there for him to hit, and he did what a good big leaguer does,” Woodruff said of the Lowe homer. “The Garver one was a little bit more of just bad sequencing. I did something that I don’t normally do, so I was a little more upset about that one.”

Woodruff made his third start since a four-month stint on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He has a 4.32 ERA over 16 2/3 innings since returning.

“I’ll never make an excuse, but I’m at five outings on the year, and it’s still early for me,” Woodruff said. “I’m still making adjustments I would try to make early in the season.”

The Brewers got the game’s final two outs on difficult plays by third baseman Andruw Monasterio and center fielder Sal Frelick. Monasterio gloved a hard-hit ball at third base, ranging to his right quickly. Then Frelick chased down a towering Corey Seager fly to the left-center gap to seal the victory.

“Our defense kicks in, for sure,” Counsell said. “It’s something that has helped us out all year and will continue to be a really important part of this team. It’s not in the box score, and so it gets overlooked sometimes. But it matters a ton.”