Texas MLB Capsules: Moehler pitches 6 strong innings, Astros win 7-1

SAN DIEGO - Brian Moehler tried to remember the last time he was at the plate and three runs scored.

"Not very often, I guess," the Houston Astros right-hander said.

Moehler pitched six strong innings and hit a grounder that led to the Astros completing a six-run inning in a 7-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.

Moehler and two relievers held San Diego to five hits. San Diego has lost 11 of its last 16 home games, and seven of eight against the Astros dating to last season.

Moehler (5-4) struck out eight and held San Diego to four hits in winning his third straight decision. His only mistake was allowing Eliezer Alfonzo's homer with two outs in the second.

Walter Silva retired the first 10 Astros batters before the game got out of hand in the fourth. Houston scored three runs on five singles and a walk before three more scored on third baseman Chase Headley's two-base throwing error on Moehler's grounder with two outs.

Silva retired Michael Bourn on a soft liner to first to open the fourth, then allowed singles to Miguel Tejada, Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Geoff Blum that gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.

After Ivan Rodriguez flied out, Darin Erstad walked to load the bases and Kaz Matsui singled in a run. Moehler hit a grounder to Headley, who hesitated and stutter-stepped. His throw to first skipped past Adrian Gonzalez, clearing the bases and allowing Moehler to take second.

"When I first fielded the ball, my first instinct was stop and go to the bag," Headley said. "I turned around and looked and I didn't think I had enough time. I rushed the throw over there trying to finish the play and made a bad throw.

"The right play would have been to just keep coming through and make the throw to first."

It was Headley's third start at third this year. He's made 58 in left field.

"I saw him field the ball, it was in between hops, and I saw him like take a step to third, and at that point I kind of took off running," Moehler said. "I didn't know what was going to happen. I saw the throw coming into first, and it was going to be kind of bang-bang there."

San Diego was two-hit by Roy Oswalt on Monday night in a 3-1 Astros win.

Moehler walked four. After Alfonzo's first homer of the season, only four Padres got as far as second base.

"I'm more upset with the walks than anything else," Moehler said. "I don't like throwing a lot of pitches out. Too many walks, and strikeouts just come with the territory. To me, a couple of strikeouts and maybe no walks would have been better."

Moehler "wasn't real sharp but he managed to hold on," manager Cecil Cooper said. "Keep your team in the game and give yourself a chance. He did that again tonight. The starters continue to do that. If we can put some runs up, we've had a chance to win. Brian did a good job of kind of keeping them at bay."

Silva (0-2) had his second straight short outing. He lasted only four innings, allowing five hits and six runs, three earned. On Friday, he went only 2 1-3 innings in a 12-2 loss at Texas, allowing seven hits and nine runs, eight earned.

NOTES: Tony Gwynn Jr. had two hits for San Diego. ... The Padres say Friday night's game against Manny Ramirez and the Los Angeles Dodgers is a sellout. That's the night Ramirez will return from his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. ... Gonzalez was back in the starting lineup after straining his right knee while sliding into third base in the fourth inning on Tuesday night and coming out as a precaution. He said he convinced manager Bud Black that he was OK. ... Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to Thursday afternoon's game. The former Dallas Cowboys star is among the partnership led by Jeff Moorad that purchased about 35 percent of the Padres from John Moores earlier this year and has up to five years to buy the rest.

Astros claim INF Duran off waivers

SAN DIEGO - The Houston Astros have claimed infielder German Duran off waivers from the Texas Rangers.

Duran, who had an appendectomy on June 11 and was placed on the disabled list, was claimed by the Astros on Wednesday. He is scheduled to be examined in Houston on Thursday by team physician Jim Muntz.

Once he is cleared for baseball activities, the Astros said he will be sent to their minor-league facility at Kissimmee, Fla., to begin working out.

Blalock's blast gives Rangers 9-7 victory

ARLINGTON - Hank Blalock's second homer of the game, a two-run shot with two outs in the ninth inning, gave Texas a 9-7 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday night and moved the Rangers within one-half game of the Angels in the AL West.

Juan Rivera's three-run homer with two outs in the top of the ninth off Frank Francisco (2-1) tied the game at 7-all as the Angels erased a six-run deficit.

Michael Young singled off Justin Speier (3-2) leading off the Texas ninth. David Murphy dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Young to second and Marlon Byrd struck out.

Blalock, who homered in the fourth, hit the first pitch into the grassy area beyond the fence in center field.

Texas improved to 5-1 against Los Angeles this season. The teams meet again for a three-game set next week in Los Angeles.

The Angels scored three runs in both the seventh and ninth to tie the game.

Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter walked with one out in the ninth. After Vladimir Guerrero fouled out to first, Rivera drove a 2-0 pitch into the Rangers bullpen in right to tie the score at 7.

Francisco pitched the ninth in a save situation for the first time since coming off the disabled list June 20.

Texas starter Kevin Millwood, who went 4-1 with a 1.30 ERA in June, gave up four runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Angels starter Jered Weaver allowed seven runs, the most he's given up this season, and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. The right-hander, who had won five of his last six starts, saw his ERA climb from 2.65 to 3.10.

The Rangers scored five runs in the sixth to take a 7-1 lead.

Julio Borbon batted for Nelson Cruz, who left the game with a stiff lower back, and drove a single to center to put Texas on top 3-1.

Texas added runs on a wild pitch and Chris Davis' grounder. Young and Murphy capped the sixth with consecutive RBI singles that gave the Rangers a six-run lead.

Chone Figgins had an RBI triple and Hunter had a two-run double that made it 7-4. Darren O'Day relieved Millwood and walked Guerrero.

Guerrero was caught stealing second, one of four times an Angels runner was thrown out on the bases, and Rivera popped out to center to end the seventh.

NOTES: Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he's still planning on activating RHP Ervin Santana for a weekend start against Baltimore, with Friday night the probable target date. Santana has been out since June 12 with right forearm stiffness. ... Byrd was 6 of 12 with three home runs and six RBIs in the series. ... The Nick Adenhart Memorial Fund made a $5,000 donation to Halfway, Md., Little League on Wednesday. It was the first donation from the charitable fund named for the Angels pitcher who was killed in a car accident April 9.

-- David Jimenez

Hamilton goes 1 for 7 in Triple-A rehab start

DES MOINES, Iowa - When the Texas Rangers sent Josh Hamilton to Triple-A Oklahoma City for rehabilitation, they didn't envision their All-Star slugger getting two games' worth of at-bats in one night.

That's essentially what Hamilton got Wednesday, when he went 1 for 7 and struck out twice as the designated hitter for the Redhawks in a 1-0 victory over Iowa that went 14 innings.

Hamilton was expected to play center field, but the Rangers decided to play it safe and use him as the DH. Hamilton, who led off the game by striking out, singled up the middle in the 10th and struck out to end the 14th.

"My first at-bat I was a little anxious, you know, just being out there. And then after that, you could see the progression of at-bats getting better and that's what you want to see," Hamilton said.

Hamilton will likely play in the field for the RedHawks on Thursday and possibly Friday as well. He said he's hoping to rejoin Texas for Saturday's home game against Tampa Bay.

Hamilton has been on the disabled list since May 31 with a slight abdominal tear. He has played in 35 games for the Rangers this season, batting .240 with six homers and 24 RBIs.

"I'm ready about four days ago," Hamilton said before Wednesday's game. "Right now, everything is fixed. Everything is better. I'm just going through the soreness as far as getting into game shape. It almost feels a little bit like spring training again."

Hamilton, now three weeks removed from surgery, went 1 for 4 with a stolen base as the DH for Double-A Frisco on Monday night. On Tuesday, he shagged fly balls and took batting practice before joining the Redhawks in Des Moines, where they are playing a three-game series against Iowa.

"I guess with the day off yesterday, they don't want me to jump right into the field. They want to give me another day swinging the bat and running around the bases," Hamilton said.

The real test for Hamilton will be when he plays the field. Both of his trips to the disabled list this season followed injuries sustained crashing into walls.

Hamilton got hurt making a catch on May 17, less than a week after he was activated from the DL after straining a rib cage muscle when he smashed into another wall.

Though Hamilton said he won't think about his recent bad luck in the outfield once he gets back up to Texas, he acknowledged that he'll be more cautious moving forward.

"I told my wife that I would, unless it was going to the playoffs or in the World Series, I wouldn't actually run smack into the wall again," Hamilton said. "It depends on what the situation calls for."

-- Luke Meredith

Rangers' Davis striking out at a record pace

ARLINGTON - Chris Davis takes a pitch over the middle of the plate, then glances back at the umpire for the inevitable call of "Strike three!"

Whether he's taking a third strike or going down swinging, strikeouts have become all too common for Davis, the young Texas Rangers first baseman who is on pace to shatter the major league record of 204 set by Arizona's Mark Reynolds last season.

"He's going to strike out, we know that. But the rate at which he's striking out now is obviously too high," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "Coming up through the system, we felt like Chris was a good hitter and wasn't just an all-or-nothing slugger."

Davis had 110 strikeouts in 73 games through Tuesday, an average of 1½ per game and on pace for more than 240 this season. His 100th strikeout came in his 219th at-bat - faster than any player ever by 16 at-bats.

Adding to the whiffing frustration is that Davis was hitting only .202, fourth-lowest in the majors among qualifying players. His paltry .259 on-base percentage was better only than Jimmy Rollins (.250), the 2007 NL MVP, though Davis did have 15 home runs.

"When it's going bad for me, I strike out a lot," Davis said. "I strike out regardless, even when I'm going good. It's just something that I've always done. ... I'm still learning about myself and my swing, still learning about the game."

Davis matched a team record when he struck out in 21 consecutive games from April 21 through May 13. The day after that streak, he hit a game-winning two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against Seattle.

There were multiple strikeouts in five consecutive games in late May, but he also hit two homers against the New York Yankees in one of those games.

Davis, in fact, has struck out in 63 of the 71 games in which he has an at-bat and his strikeout average of .445 is more than twice as high as his batting average. But manager Ron Washington keeps putting Davis in the lineup almost every day.

"Ultimately, his defense at first and what we think he can be for us in the future, we've decided to ride it out," Daniels said. "Some nights have been tougher to watch than others."

Davis hasn't carried his offensive struggles into the field, where the 23-year-old Texas native has excelled at a position he was switched to in the minors just last year. He has only two errors in 671 total chances (.997 fielding percentage) and tops AL first basemen with 638 putouts and 65 double plays.

"If I go up there and strike out, my mindset is I'm going to take a hit away from somebody when I get out there on defense," he said. "And to be honest with you, I think that has a lot to with me staying up here and staying in the lineup."

No question about that.

"It's hard to get a guy off the field when he plays great defense just because he's struggling offensively," Washington said. "Especially when you have confidence that with one swing of the bat, he can make a big difference."

Davis made his major league debut midway through last season and hit .285 with 17 homers and 88 strikeouts in 80 games. He struck out 288 times with 74 homers in 277 minor league games.

In Arizona, Reynolds again leads the National League with 103 strikeouts through Tuesdasy, but his 1.3-per-game average is about the same as last year when he became the first player with more than 200 Ks in a season. He was hitting .274 with 21 homers.

That could keep the way clear for Davis to set a dubious record, though he tries not to think about that possibility.

"They said, ‘We're going go stick with you and let you figure it out up here,'" Davis said. "That meant a lot to me, kind of gave me some confidence. ... So go ahead and keep grinding."

-- Stephen Hawkins

Fracisco back in Rangers' closer role

ARLINGTON - Frank Francisco is back in the role he prefers: closer.

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington made the move before his club played the Los Angeles Angels Wednesday night.

Francisco has spent two stints on the DL this season, and has been used mostly as a setup man since he was activated on June 20.

"This is where I feel comfortable," Francisco said.

Francisco was on the 15-day disabled list from May 7-21 with right biceps tendinitis and was back on the DL from June 4-20 with right shoulder tendinitis.

C.J. Wilson, who handled the bulk of the save situations while Francisco recovered from the shoulder problem, will be used as a left-handed setup man. Wilson was 7-for-8 in save opportunities.

"C.J. will close games when Frankie isn't available," Washington said.

Washington used Francisco to get the final two outs in a non-save situation in Tuesday night's 9-5 win over the Angels, and he felt Francisco was ready to resume closing.

Francisco converted 17 straight save opportunities dating back to last season before a blown save last Thursday in Arizona, a game the Rangers ended up winning in 12 innings, 9-8.

Francisco said his arm feels fine and that he won't have a problem closing on consecutive days.

"I've gone back-to-back already and felt good," Francisco said.

Washington said he probably wouldn't use Francisco on three consecutive days unless the right-hander had a particularly low pitch count in one of the outings.