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After the rain has fallen, Rangers sting Braves in 10th

Jun 19, 2011 - 2:52 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Adrian Beltre drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Rangers a 5-4 win over the Braves in an interleague contest interrupted by a two-hour, 16-minute rain delay.

Ian Kinsler doubled off of Scott Proctor (1-1) to start off the 10th. After Elvis Andrus grounded out, Josh Hamilton was intentionally walked to set the table for Beltre, who laced the ball into center to plate Kinsler.

Neftali Feliz came in to throw a perfect bottom half to close out the game for Texas, which has taken to first two editions of a three-game series.

The Braves fought back after a lengthy rain delay, but could not pull of the win to get their fifth loss in six games.

When the game resumed with two outs in the fifth, Rangers starting pitcher Matt Harrison returned after sitting for two-plus hours with a 4-2 lead. He took just three pitches to induce a Jordan Schafer flyout to end the inning.

"I took a lot pride in that," Harrison said of returning after the rain delay and finished giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits over 6 1/3 innings. "I stayed lose. I played catch every 20 minutes. If I had felt any tightness at all I would have not gone into the game. I wasn't going to push it just for one start and end up on the DL because I tried to push it too hard. I was able to stay loose and go out there and throw a couple more inning."

However, he served up a Brian McCann home run in the sixth as the Braves pulled within one.

Harrison, who was originally drafted by the Braves, was then pulled after fanning Freddie Freeman in the seventh and Yoshinori Tateyama took over until getting just one out in the eighth. Daren Oliver them came in and had trouble right from the start.

Schafer hit a comebacker to Oliver, whose throw to first was way off target and allowed the runner to reach second. Dan Uggla then ripped a shot off the top of the wall in center to plate Schafer and tie the game at four apiece.

Mark Lowe (2-1) kept the game tied in the ninth and sent the game into the extra inning, working around a walk with three strikeouts.

"Anytime you lose is tough, especially with a day game tomorrow," Schafer said. "We just have to come out and win one. We need to do a better job as a team all around. Our pitching was pretty good but as far as fielding and hitting we need to do a better job as a team."

The Rangers took advantage of first inning errors by the Braves. After Kinsler's lead off single, he scored when Andrus grounded into right where Jason Heyward committed a two-base fielding error. Andrus then crossed home on Hamilton's hard grounder to first baseman Freeman, who misplayed the ball.

The Rangers added onto their lead in the third. Andrus singled and Hamilton reached on a fielder's choice before Andrus raced to third on Beltre's flyout. With the double steal in place, Andrus scurried home to swipe home while Hamilton crossed the plate on Michael Young's single to go up 4-0.

Atlanta starting pitcher Derek Lowe help himself out with a two-out double in the third and scored on Nelson Cruz's two-base error on Schafer's shot to the left warning track. Schafer then touched home on Uggla's standup double to halve the deficit, 4-2.

Game Notes

Atlanta third baseman Chipper Jones (right adductor strain) did not play in the second straight game...Andrus finished 3-for-5 at the plate...Texas has won six of its last eight interleague clashes with Atlanta...The Braves are 9-7 in extra innings this season -- the most in the majors. The Rangers improved to 2-4 in extra frames...Hamilton was 0-for-4 to snap his interleague game hitting streak at 24 games...Andrus has stolen home twice this season. He's the third player in Rangers' history to do so.