ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Nomar Mazara hit a sacrifice fly off St. Louis reliever Carlos Martinez to cap a two-run rally in the 10th inning, lifting the Texas Rangers over the Cardinals 5-4 on Sunday.
Both teams blew leads in the late innings.
Dexter Fowler‘s solo homer in the ninth off Texas reliever Chris Martin made it 3-all. The Cardinals then went ahead in the 10th when Harrison Bader doubled off Jeanmar Gomez (1-0) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Paul DeJong.
Rougned Odor opened the Texas 10th with a single off Jordan Hicks (1-2), Danny Santana walked and pinch-hitter Willie Calhoun had a tying single.
Martinez entered and intentionally walked Shin-Soo Choo to load the bases with no outs. After Logan Forsythe struck out, Mazara lofted a flyball that scored Santana.
Santana gave Texas a 3-2 lead in the eighth with a pinch-hit, leadoff home run. He had been held out of the starting lineup with an ankle injury after being hit by a fastball from Martinez in the ninth inning Saturday night. Martinez made his season debut in that game – the two-time All-Star had been out this year with shoulder trouble.
Paul DeJong drove in three runs for the Cardinals.
St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty gave up two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings. Choo led off the first with a home run.
Rangers starter Drew Smyly sought his first win since Sept. 13, 2016, having missed the next two major league seasons following Tommy John surgery. He pitched four innings, allowing two runs in the first.
José Leclerc, who has been everything from a closer to an opener for Texas this season, struck out five of the six batters he faced in the fifth and sixth innings. That matched a career high for Leclerc, who has 23 strikeouts in his last 12 1/3 innings.
Cardinals manager Mike Shildt was ejected by home plate umpire Jeremie Rehak during the top of the fourth inning after Fowler was called out on strikes.
SHORT HOPS
Choo’s home run landed in the upper deck in right field and was his third homer in his past four games and seventh of the season. The homer was the first run scored off Flaherty in the first or second inning in his 10 starts this season. . Yadier Molina had his third stolen base of the season on the back end of a double steal, tying his for the most by a major league catcher this year.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (3-1, 4.93 ERA) will make his fifth career start against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday and his first at home. Wacha is 3-1 with a 2.56 ERA against Kansas City.
Rangers: LHP Mike Minor (4-3, 2.61 ERA) will open a home series against the Seattle Mariners on Monday. Minor has five starts of seven or more innings pitched with two or fewer runs this season, already the most by a Ranger during the past two seasons.
