Rangers recap: Moreland comes up big with game-winning double

Mitch Moreland’s one-out double in the 10th inning scored Elvis Andrus from first base as the Rangers beat the Padres 4-3 to take two of three in the series at Petco Park. With the win, Texas pulls to within two games of the Houston Astros in the American League West.

Pitching: The Padres scored twice in the fourth to take a 2-1 lead against Cole Hamels. San Diego added another run in the sixth to take a 3-2 lead. Hamels struck out eight and allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk over seven innings. Keone Kela pitched a perfect eighth and Sam Dyson was perfect in the ninth and 10th to earn the win. In the 10th, the Padres posed a threat after Dyson walked Yangervis Solarte to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt moved him to second. But Andrus fielded a grounder and caught Solarte off the bag at second. He threw to Rougned Odor to get him for the second out. Dyson ended the game when his foot deflected a Matt Kemp grounder over to Andrus who made the toss to second for the final out.

Hitting: With two outs in the first, Prince Fielder walked and scored on Adrian Beltre’s double to right. Matt Kemp bobbled the pickup in right field, which all not only allowed Fielder to score but Beltre to move to third standing up. In the fifth, Chris Gimenez tied it at 2-2 with a solo homer. Delino DeShields followed with a double and made it to third on another bobble in the outfield. But Fielder and Beltre were retired by Ian Kennedy to keep it tied. After falling behind 3-2 in the sixth, Texas tied it with a run in the eighth. Shin-Soo Choo led off with a walk and moved to third on Fielder’s single. Beltre drove in Choo with a sacrifice fly to center. The Rangers stranded Ryan Strausborger, who was pinch-hitting for Fielder, at third when Rougned Odor and pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland struck out on either side of Andrus’ walk. In the ninth, Texas had the bases loaded with one out but failed to push the go-ahead run across. Pinch-hitter Mike Napoli struck out looking and Beltre struck out on a check-swing against Padres’ reliever Craig Kimbrel. In the 10th, Andrus singled with one out before Moreland doubled to the right-field corner, scoring Andrus from first with the go-ahead run.

Notable: Josh Hamilton had a pinch-hit single to right in the ninth, his first at-bat since August 15 ... Joey Gallo struck out twice on the first six pitches he saw, first swinging, then looking, and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts ... Kennedy tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts in seven innings ... The win, coupled with the Astros’ home loss to Seattle, moved the Rangers within two games of the division leaders.

This story was originally published September 3, 2015 at 12:48 AM with the headline "Rangers recap: Moreland comes up big with game-winning double."