ARLINGTON, Texas _ Down two in the eighth inning and staring at the best bullpen arms the Arizona Diamondbacks could offer, the Texas Rangers' hitters faced their tallest task of the young season.
They needed to score three times and had only six outs to it in if they wanted to avoid a fourth straight loss. The Rangers had played almost five full games and had scored only eight times.
What? You were worried?
Joey Gallo connected for a two-run homer to tie the game, and Elvis Andrus collected a two-out two-run go-ahead single as the Rangers scored five times in the eighth en route to a 7-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak ahead of their first road trip of the shortened 60-game season this weekend. The surge came after the bullpen had blown a 2-0 lead after six and with the offense still not clicking the first seven innings.
"I think it was more the mentality that our players had prior to the game," manager Chris Woodward said. "I feel like we've been in a good spot. We had a really good conversation with the hitters today. They led it, and a lot of their comments led me to believe they know what's at stake."
Todd Frazier connected for his first Rangers home run and doubled twice, and Lance Lynn tossed six scoreless innings for his second straight start to open the season. He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out eight.
Arizona led 4-2 in the eighth, when Rougned Odor drew a leadoff walk against in a tough lefty-vs.-lefty matchup with Chad Chaffin. Gallo was next, and delivered an opposite-field homer to tie the game.
"Most of the time I'm trying to go the other way. Obviously, it's easier said that done," Gallo said. "I knew I had to fight right there and I wanted to at least move the guy to second base or put something in play, and I ended up squaring the ball up."
Frazier followed with a double, and four batters later the bases were loaded with two outs for Andrus. He sent a line drive past shortstop to score two more, and Nick Solak followed with another RBI single.
