ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers rallied again to go ahead against Colorado. This time, the Rockies had a late comeback of their own.
Carlos Gonzalez delivered a pinch-hit, bases-clearing double to cap a five-run rally in the eighth inning Thursday, and the Rockies held to win 12-9 on a steamy day in North Texas.
“These games have been back-and-forth the whole series. We’ve done it to them three times, they did it to us today,” Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland said. “They were up and we came back late on them, and they flipped the script on us.”
Texas had won five straight, including three against Colorado with the Rockies scoring the deciding runs in the eighth inning or later each game. After trailing 4-0 early Thursday, the Rangers had just taken the lead with a four-run seventh before Colorado had its big rally.
Lefty reliever Jake Diekman (3-2) walked Colorado’s No. 8 hitter with one out in the eighth, and then allowed consecutive singles to left-handed hitters before hard-throwing Matt Bush took over about 18 hours after recording his first major league save with a dominating ninth.
“Diek just lost a little feel for the strike zone. … A little bit erratic, little uncommon of Diek,” manager Jeff Banister said. “As far as Bush, looked like he was trying to nip the edges.”
After getting the second out of the inning on a sacrifice bunt, Bush’s consecutive walks included David Dahl with the bases loaded. Gonzalez, who hadn’t played since coming out early Monday with a nagging sprained left ankle, then lined a double to the wall in left-center.
“It was the perfect scenario for me. That’s what I work for, for moments like that,” said Gonzalez, a two-time All-Star. “I’m glad I got the job done, especially with all the tough losses against the Rangers.”
On a day when the temperature listed on the scoreboard reached 105 degrees, the game took 4 hours, 3 minutes to play. There were 402 combined pitches thrown by 10 pitchers, five for each team.
The Rangers had tied the game at 7 on back-to-back homers by Adrian Beltre and Moreland to start the seventh. Elvis Andrus had a tiebreaking RBI double after twice failing to get a bunt down before Ian Desmond’s grounder got another run in for a 9-7 lead.
“It was a gritty game by us, them, too,” Desmond said.
Rougned Odor had an RBI triple and a two-run homer for the Rangers. His 22nd homer in the fourth got Texas within 6-5.
Scott Oberg (1-1), the third of five Rockies pitcher, got the win despite allowing two runs in his inning. Adam Ottavino struck out the side in the ninth for his first save.
Charlie Blackmon homered, doubled and singled twice. The Colorado leadoff man crushed a 455-foot homer to center on the second pitch of the game and had an RBI double in the fourth.
WORKMAN EFFORT
Rangers starter Lucas Harrell didn’t give up another run in the first after the leadoff homer, getting out of a bases-loaded jam with consecutive strikeouts to end the frame before two more Ks to start the second. The right-hander gave up six runs and nine hits in six innings while throwing 118 pitches. He struck out eight and walked only one in his third start for Texas since being acquired in a trade with Atlanta.
SHORT HOPS
Dahl, the Rockies rookie, matched a modern-day major league record by extending his hitting streak to start his career to 17 games with a single in the first. … Beltre’s 18th homer of the season was the 431st of his career, tying him with Cal Ripken Jr. for 47th on the all-time list. … The announced attendance of 20,720 was the smallest for a Rangers home game this season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: LHP Derek Holland felt great after throwing 55 pitches in three innings of a rehab start for Triple-A Round Rock on Wednesday night. Holland, on the 60-day DL with shoulder inflammation and is eligible to return Aug. 20. He throws again Monday for Round Rock.
UP NEXT
Rangers: RHP Yu Darvish (2-3) is winless in five starts since returning from the DL a month ago, but is coming off seven scoreless innings in a no-decision at Houston on Sunday. The right-hander is 5-0 in five career starts against Detroit.