Andrus was eyeing Padres pitcher Kevin Quackenbush before he jetted home to give the Rangers an 8-4 lead in the top of the seventh inning.
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With two runs already in during the sixth, the Rangers intentionally walked rookie catcher Austin Hedges to get to Ross, who was batting eighth.
Elvis Andrus knew he was going to pull off a straight steal of home.
“It was a tough night, for sure”, Kemp said. That’s my job, to drive in runs and make things happen. “Heads up by our guys to proceed to run on the play”. Kelley exited moments later while throwing a warmup pitch with a strained right forearm.
“It goes back to fastball command”, Kennedy said.
“He threw the ball well”, Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “We run till the play is completed”. “Keep playing our style of baseball, keep the momentum and we’ll be in a good spot”. At Triple-A, he threw one scoreless inning for the Rangers at Round Rock, and posted posted a 5.23 ERA in 43 innings at El Paso (Padres). They were able to load the bases against Padres closer Craig Kimbrel with only one out, but strikeouts from Mike Napoli and Adrian Beltre prevented any runs from scoring. The Rangers are seven games above.500 for the first time since the end of the 2013 season.2. Then Prince Fielder singled to right field and the reliable Kelley was brought in to finish out the inning. But on the slide, Beltre’s foot knocked the ball out of Norris’ glove and to the backstop, allowing Odor to also score.
Andrus made it more than halfway to home before Quackenbush finally reacted to what was happening. He was about three-fourths of the way to the plate before Quackenbush delivered the pitch, which was low and away. The 36-year-old has earned wins in six of his last eight starts and will set a career high with his next victory. Kemp is now tied with Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutcheon for third in the NL with 85 RBIs.
According to STATS Inc., the last Ranger with a straight steal of home was Scarborough Green on May 26, 2000 versus Minnesota. The Rangers activated OF Josh Hamilton (knee) and C Carlos Corporan (thumb) from the DL.
Wil Myers starts a rehab assignment in Single-A Lake Elsinore this week. San Diego first baseman Yonder Alonso exited the game with a back injury and is day-to-day.
While the offense struggled to capitalize, Cole Hamels kept the club in the game by continuing to do what he has done since returning from a groin strain that forced him to miss a start: Pile up quality innings.
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The game would be tied soon thereafter, when the Rangers’ Chris Gimenez homered off of Padres’ starting pitcher Ian Kennedy in the fifth.
