After 3 Rangers HRs, Beltre's milestone beats Reds

CINCINNATI -- Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré's 2,900th Major League hit was a game-winner on a night Yu Darvish's first career homer stole the show.
Beltre's two-out double in the eighth inning Wednesday drove home Ian Desmond with the go-ahead run, and the Rangers held on for a 6-5 victory over the Reds at Great American Park.
"That was a great one to win," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "We needed a feel-good win going home. I'm not saying it was the greatest played game, but an incredible effort by all our guys." The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak and now have a 6 1/2-game lead in the American League West with 35 to play. Despite the loss, the Reds finished 6-4 on their 10-game homestand.
Desmond started the rally when he was hit by a pitch from right-handed reliever Blake Wood, and he stole second. Carlos Beltrán flied out to center, but Beltre snapped an 0-for-10 skid with a double to right-center.

Darvish hit his first Major League home run, but otherwise struggled in six innings. He allowed five runs and couldn't hold leads of 3-0 or 5-2. Darvish left with the game tied at 5 after six innings, having walked five batters.
Reds starter Tim Adleman didn't walk anybody, but gave up three home runs -- to Nomar Mazara, as well as Darvish and Desmond, who went back-to-back in the fifth inning. Overall, Adleman gave up five runs (four earned) with five hits over five innings.

"It's a couple of runs I could have kept off the board," Adleman said. "If I do, we probably win the game 5-4 or 5-3. It's frustrating to know that you put your team in a tough spot. If you just make a couple of more pitches, maybe the results are completely different."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Darvish goes deep: The exit velocity of Darvish's first career homer was 107 mph, according to Statcast™, and the estimated distance was 410 feet. It was the first home run by a Rangers pitcher since Bobby Witt against the Dodgers on June 30, 1997. That was the first home run ever by an American League pitcher in Interleague Play. More >

Schebler's hustle: Down two in the sixth, Scott Schebler grounded a one-out pitch to Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, who was playing in shallow right field on the shift. Schebler ran hard out of the box and beat Odor's throw by a step. He would score on a Ramón Cabrera ground-rule double, which was part of a two-run rally that tied the game.

Missed DP leads to HR: Mazara hit a three-run home run in the second inning after the Reds failed to turn a double play. With Odor on first, Jonathan Lucroy hit a hard grounder that first baseman Joey Votto snagged on his knees going to his right. Votto tried to throw to second, but this throw was well off the mark. That allowed Odor to slide in safely. Lucroy also reached safely as shortstop José Peraza's return throw was late. Mazara followed with a home run, his 15th of the season, but just the second in August.

"It's a defensive mistake," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Votto's error. "It's not his first, it won't be his last. If he plays long enough, everyone's going to have those moments where you make a mistake. And it happens and it happens frequently, unfortunately, in this game."
"It was good to see Mazara's power show up tonight," Banister said. "This ballpark, you're going to give up some home runs."
Billy does it again: A day after running 123 feet to make a sensational grab on the warning track, Billy Hamilton ended the fourth inning with a diving catch in right-center -- traveling 63.4 feet with a top speed of 19.2 mph, according to Statcast™. The following inning, after pinch-hitter Tony Renda broke up Darvish's no-hitter, Hamilton hit a high chopper to shortstop Elvis Andrus that drew a wide throw as Andrus tried to get Hamilton, advancing Renda to third and Hamilton to second. Renda came around to score the next at-bat on a groundout by Peraza.

"The plays that are pretty extraordinary are starting to become routine with him," Adleman said of Hamilton. "So it's great to have him out there." More >
QUOTABLE
"I'm a pitcher. Are all the questions going to be about my hitting?" -- Darvish
"It's a big blow when you give up a two-out home run when you're a pitch away from getting out of it and giving your team a chance right there. I followed it up with another bad pitch with two strikes, and it turned into another run. I'm definitely disappointed." -- Adleman, on surrendering back-to-back homers to Darvish and Desmond
WHAT'S NEXT
Rangers: The Rangers return to Arlington and open a four-game series against the Indians at 7:05 p.m. CT on Thursday. Left-hander Cole Hamels will be looking for his first career victory against the Indians.
Reds: The Reds have an off-day on Thursday before beginning a three-game series against the D-backs on Friday. Brandon Finnegan takes the mound for the 9:40 p.m. ET start, coming off a seven-inning shutout performance against the Dodgers in which he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
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