Major League Baseball
Rangers 10, Padres 9
Major League Baseball

Rangers 10, Padres 9

Published Mar. 28, 2012 1:16 a.m. ET

Rangers manager Ron Washington wasn't going to take any chances with his starting shortstop.

Elvis Andrus left Tuesday's game against a San Diego Padres split squad after the second inning, but Texas went on to a 10-9 victory behind Mike Napoli's two homers.

''Once he said he felt a little tightness in his quad we took him out,'' Washington said. ''We didn't give him a chance to say nothing.''

Andrus came out with a tight right hip flexor muscle. He was 0 for 1 with an RBI.

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Washington said he'll hold Andrus out of the lineup Wednesday but plans to start him Thursday night against San Francisco.

Napoli hit his first two home runs of the spring and Ian Kinsler had three hits for Texas.

''The two balls to Napoli weren't good pitches on my part,'' Padres starter Cory Luebke said. ''But I think that results sometimes can be a little deceiving.''

Luebke gave up five runs, eight hits and a walk over 4 1-3 innings, striking out six. Projected as San Diego's No. 2 starter, the left-hander had allowed only three runs in 14 innings during his four previous starts.

''I feel good,'' Luebke said. ''I got up to about 90 pitches and still had a lot left in the tank.''

Jeremy Hermida homered on consecutive pitches in the first and third for the Padres. Jeff Gyorko, Yasmani Grandal and Andy Parrino also went deep for San Diego.

''The ball was flying out of here today,'' Washington said. ''If you got it up it was leaving.''

Joey Butler tripled home the tying run in the bottom of the ninth and scored on a wild pitch to win it.

After the Padres scored twice in the top of the ninth to take a 9-8 lead, Matt Kata led off the bottom half with a double off Alex Hinshaw. Butler followed with a triple into the right-field corner.

Texas has won consecutive games for the first time since the opening week of Cactus League play.

Left-hander Robbie Ross led a parade of Rangers relievers to the mound, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk in two innings. He struck out one.

''He had a lot of fight in him,'' Washington said. ''You're not going to be perfect in this game but he kept coming and that's what we want to see.''

Yoshinori Tateyama, Michael Kirkman and Koji Uehara followed Ross.

NOTES: With the Padres' other squad facing NL West rival Los Angeles in Peoria, San Diego opted to start Luebke in Surprise. ... Rangers RHPs Neftali Feliz and Colby Lewis, two-fifths of the starting rotation, were slated to start later Tuesday in separate minor league games on the back fields. Joe Nathan, who threw a perfect inning Monday, was scheduled to pitch after Feliz. ... Texas OF Craig Gentry, who left a game against the Angels on Sunday with dehydration-like symptoms, entered in the seventh inning.

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