Adrian Beltre and Prince Fielder teamed up again in a tense Texas showdown, and this time the Rangers overtook the Houston Astros for first place in the American League West.
Beltre’s fourth hit on Tuesday put the Rangers in a position to win in the bottom of the ninth inning a night after Fielder pulled them within a half-game of the Astros with a tiebreaking two-run home run with Beltre aboard in the eighth.
Mitch Moreland’s sacrifice fly finished the 6-5 victory on Tuesday night.
Photo: AP
Eight games back and in third place in the division after losing on Aug. 1, the Rangers have gone 27-14 since. They have won five straight over the Astros, who had been in first place since July 28. Texas won the first two of the four-game series.
Fielder opened the ninth with a single to left off Oliver Perez (0-2), and pinch-runner Drew Stubbs went to third on a single from Beltre, who drove in two runs with a single in the first and a tying double in the fourth.
Moreland sent a 1-0 pitch from Will Harris to Colby Rasmus in shallow center field, but Rasmus’ throw was off target and bounced, allowing Stubbs to score easily.
Texas closer Shawn Tolleson (6-3) pitched a scoreless ninth as the Rangers (77-67) moved into sole possession of first place for the first time this year, at a season-high 10 games over .500.
The Rangers are four games ahead of the Los Angles Angels, who edged Seattle 4-3 in the AL West. Oakland thrashed the Chicago White Sox 17-6, with Josh Reddick hitting a homer and driving in four runs during a 10-run fourth inning.
Nick Franklin hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL wild-card leading Yankees 6-3.
Hobbled Alex Rodriguez and Greg Bird homered for the Yankees, who remain three games behind AL East-leading Toronto, who lost 3-2 at Atlanta.
Andrelton Simmons’ tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning ended a 12-game home losing streak for the Braves.
Toronto began the night with a three-game lead over the New York Yankees, but the Blue Jays, despite holding the majors’ best record since the All-Star break, have lost two straight.
The Braves ended their longest home skid in franchise history.
At Pittsburgh, Jon Lester limited the Pirates to five hits while picking up his first complete game of the season as the Chicago Cubs earned a doubleheader split with a 2-1 win.
The Pirates took the first game 5-4 when Pedro Florimon scored on Starling Marte’s sacrifice fly in the eighth, but they could not complete the sweep as the Cubs pulled back within four games of Pittsburgh for the top spot in the National League wild-card race.
Lester (10-10) walked one and struck out nine while picking up his 12th career complete game.
In other games, it was:
‧ Tiger 5, Twins 4
‧ Royals 2, Indians 0
‧ Marlins 9, Mets 3
‧ Cardinals 3, Brewers 1
‧ Diamondbacks 6, Padres 4
‧ Reds 9, Giants 8
‧ Rockies 5, Dodgers 4
‧ Orioles 6, Red Sox 5
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