St. Petersburg, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Adrian Beltre homered and knocked in the decisive run as the Texas Rangers avoided a sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays with a 2-1 win.
Keone Kela (3-1) struck out a pair in the seventh before Beltre's RBI single in the eighth gave him the win.
Rangers starter Wandy Rodriguez took a perfect game into the sixth and set a franchise record for consecutive batters retired (34) dating back to his last outing. Rodriguez allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts over six innings.
"It was a gutsy performance by Wandy," said Rangers manager Jeff Banister.
Brandon Guyer knocked in the lone run for Tampa Bay.
Elvis Andrus drew a walk to begin the eighth inning, which preceded a walk to Prince Fielder. Beltre followed with a single to left off Kevin Jepsen (0-2) that gave the Rangers a 2-1 edge.
"I gotta throw the ball over the plate. The way the inning start with a walk, things just go from there," Jepsen said.
Shawn Tolleson pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth and Neftali Feliz closed it out in the ninth for his fifth save of the season. Feliz did work out of trouble, however, stranding runners at the corners to end the game.
Beltre crushed a 2-0 cutter from Jake Odorizzi over the wall in center field to begin the fourth for a 1-0 lead.
Rodriguez set the franchise mark with a strikeout of Logan Forsythe in the fifth, then he punched out Joey Butler before getting Asdrubal Cabrera to go down looking to remain perfect through five.
During the home fifth, Rays manager Kevin Cash was ejected by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes.
Tim Beckham put an end to Rodriguez's streak, as well as the perfect game, by leading off the bottom of the sixth with a laced single into left. Rene Rivera was plunked with a curveball in the dirt prior to Guyer tying the game with a single into left.
Steven Souza Jr. then walked to load the bases, but Andrus made a diving stop on Evan Longoria's liner and tossed it to second for the double play that ended the inning.
Game Notes
Jake Odorizzi surrendered one run on seven hits with seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 frames ... Ken Hill set the original Rangers record with 31 straight retired in 1996 ... Beltre has 398 homers in his career and is tied with Dale Murphy for 54th all-time.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.