DENVER — Rougned Odor and Jurickson Profar had discussed double steals before. So when both reached base in the ninth inning, they pulled one off exactly as planned.
Elvis Andrus brought them home with a two-run single, Mitch Moreland delivered a tiebreaking double and the Texas Rangers scored three times in the ninth to beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3 on Monday night.
"We made eye contact and went," Odor said.
With two runners in scoring position, Andrus’ single tied it 3-all. Moreland then sent Andrus home with a double before he was thrown out stretching at third.
"We look for opportunities like that," Rangers manager Jeff Banister. "We’ve been aggressive with baserunners all year long."
Texas, which has won three straight and eight of 11, improved to 4-3 on its eight-game road trip. The teams conclude a two-game series in Colorado on Tuesday before heading to Texas to begin another two-game set Wednesday.
Tyler Anderson allowed two hits in seven innings for Colorado, but Carlos Estevez (2-7) was handed his fifth blown save in the ninth.
"Tyler was great once again," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "Always tough when you lose games late, no question."
Nolan Arenado homered for the third time in two days and drove in two runs for the Rockies. David Dahl had a pinch-hit single in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.
Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez exited in the second with left ankle inflammation. Gonzalez sat out two games last week after spraining his ankle on a groundout in Wednesday’s 12-2 win over the Dodgers.
"During the warmup I started feeling a little tight," Gonzalez said. "When I was running down the line I felt really bad."
Colorado has lost four of five.
Cole Hamels yielded two runs in six innings for Texas. He avoided losing back-to-back starts for the first time since 2014 thanks to the Rangers’ late rally. The left-hander struck out six and walked one.
Anderson gave up one hit through six scoreless innings before Adrian Beltre homered to centre field on his first pitch of the seventh, cutting Colorado’s lead to 2-1. Anderson retired the next three batters, and Adam Ottavino stranded runners at the corners with a strikeout of Jonathan Lucroy in the eighth to extend his scoreless streak to 26 1/3 innings.
Charlie Blackmon had an RBI single in the third. Arenado, who leads the National League in home runs (30) and RBIs (89), homered in the fourth and hit an RBI single in the eighth off winner Keone Kela (3-1).
Moreland provided the decisive hit off the right-field wall in the ninth.
"My mindset is we’re always in the game," he said.
NEXT UP FOR 3,000?
After Ichiro Suzuki became the 30th member of the 3,000-hit club on Sunday at Coors Field, the 37-year-old Beltre is next on the active list with 2,880 and counting.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: DH/OF Carlos Beltran was out of the starting lineup for the second consecutive day with a bruised left quadriceps. The 39-year-old slugger walked as a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
Rockies: OF Gerardo Parra pinch-hit for Gonzalez in the second and stayed in the game. Parra (ankle) came off the 15-day disabled list Sunday.
UP NEXT
Rangers: RHP A.J. Griffin (5-1, 4.05 ERA) is 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA in his last three starts. The Rangers are 10-4 in his 14 starts.
Rockies: RHP Tyler Chatwood has gone 2-1 over his last three starts, allowing five runs in 18 innings. He’s also walked 15 batters, though.
