Rangers recap: Texas reclaims lead late to even series with Padres

The Rangers evened the series with the Padres after rallying for an 8-6 comeback victory Tuesday night at Petco Park. Elvis Andrus and Prince Fielder each had two RBI. Andrus’ bases-loaded single in the seventh broke the game open for Texas. The Rangers picked up a game on the American League West-leading Astros, who lost earlier in the night. Texas is three games behind Houston and has a one-game lead for the second wild-card spot.

Pitching: Yovani Gallardo gave up two runs on three consecutive two-out hits in the third but regrouped to go six innings for the Rangers. Matt Kemp’s two-run double to left pulled the Padres to within 3-2. In the fifth, again with two outs, Gallardo got into trouble. Brett Wallace, who replaced Yonder Alonso in the second inning because of a lower back injury, singled to left before Kemp’s two-run homer to center gave San Diego a 4-3 lead. Gallardo was charged with four runs on six hits and a walk in five innings.

Ross Ohlendorf, who joined the team from Triple A Round Rock earlier in the day, replaced Gallardo on the mound to start the sixth. With two outs, Cory Spangenberg tripled to the right-field corner before Ohlendorf retired pinch-hitter Melvin Upton, Jr., with a pop up.

With the bases loaded in the seventh, Andrus stopped Justin Upton’s grounder in the hole to his right and made the jump throw to first for the final out. Prince Fielder made the short-hop catch at first to end the inning. Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson combined to two pitch two scoreless innings. Shawn Tolleson pitched the ninth and loaded the bases with no outs before getting Justin Upton to strikeout looking. Jedd Gyorko singled in a run to make it 8-5. Another run scored on a sacrifice fly to right to make it 8-6. Tolleson was able to get Cory Spangenberg to fly out to center to end it.

Hitting: Fielder’s two-run blast to center field in the first inning gave Texas a quick 2-0 lead against former TCU pitcher Andrew Cashner. Shin-Soo Choo singled to set up Fielder’s 18th homer. In the third, Delino DeShields led off with a single to right and scored on Choo’s double to the left-center gap to make it 3-0. The Rangers tied it up with a run in the sixth. Adrian Beltre led off ewith a single, followed by Rougned Odor’s double to the right-center gap. Elvis Andrus drove in Beltre with a sacrifice fly to center. Texas squandered a chance to pull ahead. Mitch Moreland, pinch-hitting for catcher Chris Gimenez, popped out to second and Bobby Wilson, pinch-hitting for Gallardo and in the game to replace Gimenez, struck out to end the inning. In the seventh, the Rangers loaded the bases with two outs before Andrus singled to right, clearing the bases to make it 7-4. Beltre knocked the ball from catcher Derek Norris’ glove, which allowed Odor to score behind him. Andrus later stole home to make it 8-4.

Notable: Andrus’ steal of home is the first time a Rangers player has stolen home since Andrus did it on August 19, 2013 ... It’s the first straight steal of home for a Rangers players since Scarborough Green did it on May 26, 2000 ... Andrus is the all-time Rangers leader with four streals of home ... Fielder collected his 49th multi-hit game.

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 12:50 AM with the headline "Rangers recap: Texas reclaims lead late to even series with Padres."