Rangers walk it off again against Royals

Elvis Andrus drove in Rougned Odor from second base in the bottom of the ninth to give the Rangers their second walk-off win over the Royals in the past three games Saturday night at Globe Life Park. The 2-1 win was set up by Odor’s lead-off single and steal of second base. Andrus doubled to the left-field corner on a 2-2 pitch and Odor scored easily.

How Rangers pitchers fared: Nick Martinez held the Royals with out a hit for  5 1/3 innings and allowed one run over seven in his first start for the Rangers this season. Martinez, who replaced scheduled starter A.J. Griffin, who was placed on the disabled list Friday, allowed a run in the fifth on three singles. He struck out three and walked one.

Alex Claudio pitched a scoreless eighth and Matt Bush pitched a scoreless ninth.

How Rangers hitters fared: Mike Napoli homered to the opposite field in the second inning against Royals’ starter Ian Kennedy to give Texas a 1-0 lead. Kennedy, however, stayed toe to toe with Martinez, holding the Rangers to four hits through seven innings. He left with the game tied 1-1. Carlos Gomez had two of the Rangers four hits through seven innings.

Gomez collected his third single with one out in the eighth and reached third on a wild pitch. But he was stranded when Napoli grounded out to third.

Rougned Odor led off the ninth with a single off left-hander Travis Wood. Right-hander Peter Moylan replaced Wood to face Elvis Andrus and Jonathan Lucroy.

Notables: The last time Martinez went at least seven innings in a major league start was June 14, 2015 against the Twins ... 41,446 was the announced attendance.

This story was originally published April 22, 2017 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Rangers walk it off again against Royals."