Napoli’s walk-off homer powers Rangers

Maybe this is the game that gets the Texas Rangers’ offense going.

Maybe it’s the one that gets Mike Napoli going.

There can’t be one without the other.

Napoli awakened the Rangers’ sleep-walking offense Thursday night with a solo homer in the eighth inning, then brought them racing out of the dugout in the ninth with a three-run walk-off homer that sent the Rangers to a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.

His heroics kept a nice start by Martin Perez from being wasted and possibly gave the Rangers the jump-start they need.

Rougned Odor tied the game with an opposite-field single just ahead of Napoli’s fourth career walk-off homer. The win was the Rangers’ third straight and second in a row to open an eight-game homestand.

“He gave up seven hits, but they were all singles,” manager Jeff Banister said. “I really felt like Martin seemed to be in control of what he really wanted to do. I like the fact that the walks were limited and he kept the ball on the ground.”

As has been the case of late, the Rangers offered him little run support.

He entered the start, his eighth of the season, having received eight runs of support in his past five outings. True to form, Rangers bats went silent while Perez was once again giving them a chance to win.

They didn’t score many runs while Perez was in the game. They didn’t score any runs.

Good thing he didn’t pitch nine innings.

The Rangers’ bats showed life after Perez departed, with Napoli connecting on the first pitch of the eighth for his sixth homer of the season. It came off Clayton Richards, who to that point had allowed only three singles as the latest left-hander to mystify the Rangers’ offense.

They stranded Carlos Gomez at third with one out in the eighth, and were down to their final two outs after Shin-Soo Choo flied out to start the ninth against Brandon Maurer.

Elvis Andrus, though, lined a single to center and aggressively went to third as Lucroy’s blooper fell just in front of Manuel Margot’s dive in center field. Odor slapped the next pitch through the left side of the infield to bring in Andrus.

Napoli’s game-winner traveled 448 feet and landed in the club level above the Jack Daniel’s Club in left field.

“Before the game we were on the bench, I told him, ‘You’re going to have a big game today, I can feel it.’ ” Lucroy said. “I just felt it, and it ended up working out.

“I just have confidence in him. The guy can hit. Sooner or later the guy is going to break out. He’s really good.”

“Just the at-bats and the work he has been putting in, the timing has gotten much better,” Banister said. “It looks like he’s getting that foot down in time and the barrel in a good position.”

The Padres scored a run in the first and in the seventh against Perez, who left with the bases loaded. One of three runners Tony Barnette inherited scored.

Sam Dyson pitched a scoreless ninth inning, with an assist from Lucroy as he threw out Erick Aybar trying to steal second, for his first win of the season.

This story was originally published May 11, 2017 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Napoli’s walk-off homer powers Rangers."