ARLINGTON, Texas _ Inside his dugout, as the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers bullpen prepared to protect a lead in Wednesday's eighth inning, Kenley Jansen extended his arms in front of his chest and unfurled his tongue. It was a dead-on impression of Yasiel Puig, delivered in a location where Jansen is rarely found. Puig and a few others cackled at the imitation before returning to watching the game.
Jansen had time to tease Puig about a disastrous slide _ which involved Puig crashing to earth and swallowing dirt at third base _ because he did not pitch in a 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers. A day after permitting two runs in his fourth consecutive shaky appearance, Jansen was not available on Wednesday.
Scott Alexander handled the eighth inning. The ninth belonged to Kenta Maeda. He did not fare much better than Jansen on Tuesday. Maeda surrendered an RBI double to Adrian Beltre and put the tying run on base before escaping with his second career save.
The offense consisted of three solo home runs, one by Cody Bellinger, one by Manny Machado and one by Yasmani Grandal. Alex Wood delivered seven scoreless innings. He pitched into the seventh for the first time since June 27.
The victory gave the Dodgers (72-61) five in row, three against San Diego and two against Texas, heading into a four-game series with Arizona this weekend at Dodger Stadium. The team has steadied itself after getting swept by St. Louis last week and stumbling downward in the standings.
Bellinger powered the Dodgers into a lead in the third. On the mound for Texas was left-handed pitcher Mike Minor. Bellinger entered the game with only five home runs against left-handers on the season. He added No. 6 on Wednesday.
Minor attacked Bellinger with a first-pitch fastball. Bellinger belted the 94-mph pitch onto the berm beyond center field.
Machado added a similar strike in the fourth. He punished Minor for another belt-high, first-pitch fastball. It was Machado's fourth home run in his past seven games.
Wood protected the lead by producing a flurry of groundouts. He had stepped into trouble by permitting a pair of singles in the second inning, but escaped when he induced Rangers first baseman Ronald Guzman to hit into a double play. That started a streak of 10 consecutive batters retired for Wood.
Texas put a runner aboard to start the sixth. Rangers outfielder Carlos Tocci hit a grounder in between Machado and shortstop Chris Taylor. Machado let Taylor make the play behind him. Taylor bounced the throw past Bellinger at first base. Tocci took second on the error.
Wood defused the threat. He had some help from his hosts. Texas outfielder Shin-Soo Choo tried to bunt. Choo popped up for one out. Wood struck out second baseman Rougned Odor with a curveball. After shortstop Elvis Andrus walked, Wood retired outfielder Nomar Mazara on a grounder.
