ARLINGTON, Texas _ Clayton Richard is a man of precision and resilience.
Command, putting the ball where it is supposed to be, repeating that over and over _ that is how he has pitched in 255 major-league games, thrown almost 1,200 innings and at the age of 34 entered Wednesday's game having won four straight starts.
On a night in which Rangers starter Mike Minor _ a left-hander who spent last season in the Kansas City Royals' bullpen and didn't pitch in the majors the two years before that _ would not allow a Padres baserunner until there was one out in the seventh inning, Richard simply did what he could to survive.
What he did to get through seven innings, with the Padres bullpen in need of a break, was about as intrepid as it gets on a baseball diamond.
Because he was decidedly un-sharp in a 5-2 loss.
The left-hander tied a career high by hitting three batters _ all in the first three innings. The last time he hit three batters in a game was June 25, 2009, when he was with the Chicago White Sox. He did not hit a single batter in the other 148 innings he threw that season.
Richard (7-7) was also tagged for five doubles, one off a career high set in 2012 while pitching for the Padres in Colorado.
It was clear manager Andy Green was going with Richard as long as his veteran could give him Wednesday. No one was even up in the Padres bullpen until Richard was in trouble in the seventh.
The Rangers had at least one runner in scoring position in every inning against Richard.
He survived two hit batters in a scoreless first inning and a two-out double in the second before the combination of the two helped the Rangers break through what had seemed a brimming dam and take a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
After getting two quick outs, Richard was touched for successive doubles by Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre, hit Rougned Odor and gave up a single to Jurickson Profar.
They added a run in the fifth on a walk and two singles. Their fourth run off Richard came in the seventh when a fly ball to the no-man's land in shallow right field fell untouched between three Padres and allowed Profar to score.
The Padres, meanwhile did not have a hit until Eric Hosmer's single with one out in the seventh. The third out of that half-inning was a leaping catch by Rangers center fielder Delino DeShields on a ball hit by Hunter Renfroe that probably was leaving the park.
That might have mattered, since the Padres would take advantage of Minor leaving the game at that point.
They scored their first run when Christian Villanueva doubled, Jose Pirela singled and Austin Hedges doubled off Rangers reliever Chris Martin.
Jose Leclerc relieved Martin and walked Travis Jankowski to load the bases with one out. After Manuel Margot flied out to right field, Leclerc walked Hosmer on four pitches to make it 4-2 before Wil Myers struck out.
Ryan Rua's solo home run off reliever Jose Castillo made it 5-2.
