Rangers strive for clutch hitting in rubber game vs. Padres

For most of the season, hitting with runners in scoring position has been dreadful for the Texas Rangers. They entered their game against the San Diego Padres on Saturday with a .220 average in that situation, second-worst in Major League Baseball.

For at least one night, it became a strength, however. The Rangers were 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position during a 7-4 win that evened the series heading into the rubber game on Sunday in San Diego.

That included a pair of RBI singles from Kyle Higashioka, who also homered with Jake Burger aboard in the third to put the Rangers ahead for good. He finished the game 3-for-3 with five RBIs.

That performance came a game after they went 1-for-12 in the clutch situation during a 3-2, 10-inning defeat in the series opener, causing manager Bruce Bochy to express his frustration after the game.

"You've got to get a hit with runners in scoring position," he said. "We had the right guys up there at times. And it's got to be a case of somebody coming through to punch a run across."

Clutch hitting on Saturday helped Texas score in five different innings and allowed it to build a 6-2 lead through six innings. The bottom third of the lineup tallied six of the Rangers' 11 hits, scored three runs and drove in six.

Jack Leiter (4-5, 4.29) will hope for similar support in his first career outing against San Diego. Leiter last pitched on June 29, allowing one run on seven hits over six innings with six strikeouts but didn't figure into the decision of his team's 6-4, 12-inning loss to the Seattle Mariners.

Who will oppose Leiter wasn't known Sunday morning. It won't be Yu Darvish, who threw 30 pitches Saturday during a bullpen session after pitching four innings Tuesday during a simulated game. Signs point toward a Darvish return as early as next week from an elbow problem that cropped up in spring training.

Left-hander Kyle Hart (2-2, 6.66) could be called up from Triple-A El Paso to make his seventh start of the season for the Padres. Hart was the No. 5 starter to begin the season but was sent to Triple-A after five inconsistent starts. He made a sixth start on May 28 against Miami but couldn't hold on to a 6-1 fifth-inning lead and returned to El Paso after the game, a 10-8 Marlins win.

San Diego collected 10 hits Saturday night, four from Luis Arraez, and could have easily had five more were it not for terrific Rangers defense. Left fielder Wyatt Langford erased three possible hits with excellent catches. Third baseman Josh Smith denied Arraez a fifth hit with a leaping grab of a third inning liner.

"I thought our at-bats were good overall," Padres manager Mike Shildt said.

Arraez, a reigning three-time batting champion with three different teams, has six hits in the series to increase his average to .290. With Will Smith of the Los Angeles Dodgers leading the league with a .332 average, the odds seem steep that Arraez will make it four straight batting titles -- but don't try to convince Shildt otherwise.

"I'll be way more surprised if he doesn't win another batting title," he said of Arraez.

--Field Level Media