Phoenix, AZ – Tyler Skaggs tossed six scoreless innings and Cody Ross added a homer, as Arizona withstood a late Texas rally to claim a 5-3 victory in the opener of an interleague doubleheader.
Paul Goldschmidt, Martin Prado and A.J. Pollock each knocked in a run for the Diamondbacks, who have won two in a row and three of four.
Recalled from Triple-A Reno prior to the game, Skaggs (1-0) allowed three hits and walked three while fanning nine. He also added his first major-league hit with a leadoff single in the fourth.
"He executed a great game plan, had all of his pitches going," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said of Skaggs. "His changeup was lights out."
Adrian Beltre hit a two-run single and Jurickson Profar added a run-scoring hit in a three-run ninth for the Rangers, who have lost two straight after winning three in a row.
"We certainly had opportunities early, we just couldn't deliver a base hit when he had those opportunities against Skaggs," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "It took until the ninth inning before we started getting base hits to put some runs on the board."
Martin Perez (0-1) yielded nine hits and four runs -- three earned -- over his 5 1/3-inning start.
In a span of six batters, Tony Sipp and Heath Bell almost demolished what Skaggs, Will Harris and David Hernandez had built up.
Sipp walked Geovany Soto to begin the ninth, and after striking out Craig Gentry, he gave up back-to-back singles, forcing Bell into the game to clean up the bases-loaded mess.
He promptly served up an RBI single to Profar and a two-run hit to Beltre which closed the Rangers' gap to 5-3. Nelson Cruz fanned swinging, and Mitch Moreland grounded out -- earning Bell his ninth save in a less than stellar effort.
Arizona took the lead during its first turn at the plate, after Goldschmidt reached on a fielder's choice grounder, moved up on a Ross hit and scored on Prado's single.
Pollock doubled home Wil Nieves and came around on a Goldschmidt single in the second for a 3-0 game, then Ross launched his second homer of the year to left field for a four-run spread in the fifth.
Nieves walked with one out in the home eighth and later scored on Eric Hinske's pinch-hit double.
Game Notes
Skaggs earned his first win since his first major-league start, a 3-2 victory against the Marlins on Aug. 22, 2012 ... After the completion of tonight's doubleheader, the series shifts to Arlington for two more games on Wednesday and Thursday ... Arizona will be required to send Skaggs back to Reno on Tuesday and Perez will have to be returned to Triple-A Round Rock since the 26-man roster exception for a doubleheader will expire ... Diamondbacks pitchers struck out 15 Texas batters.
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