Houston Bullpen Stops Rangers Offense From Claiming Series Sweep

Michael Young gave Texas an early lead, teeing off for a solo homerun, his 9th of the season.

The contact-adverse Chris Davis dialed up his 13th homer of the year in the 2nd, another solo shot.

After adding one more in the bottom of the 4th thanks to a throwing error which scored Nelson Cruz from third, Texas' offense went cold. They never regained their stroke.

"That's what baseball is about -- momentum," Ian Kinsler said. "We tried to come back, tried to put some runs on the board, but we didn't."



Houston's bullpen combo of Wesley Wright, Alberto Arias, LaTroy Hawkins and Jose Valverde went a combined five innings, allowing no runs on only three hits, while striking out five.

Vicente Padilla got himself into a couple of jams, finishing his day after going six innings and allowing three earned runs. While Vicente looked good for stretches, he threw 62 total pitches in the 1st and 6th innings, forcing him from the game earlier than he would've liked.

"They came out and worked Padilla hard," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He still came out with a tie ballgame, but it felt like the momentum changed. We still came out of the sixth with a tie."

Reliever Jason Jennings was unable to hold the lead, surrendering a go-ahead homer to Hunter Pence in the top of the 8th, then allowed another run to score via an RBI triple by Michael Bourne.

The Rangers finished their homestand 4-5, losing 3 games in the process to the charging L.A. Angels. Texas has a 1 1/2 games in the AL West.