Rookie Blanks drives in 3 as Padres turn away Rangers 7-3

Blanks leads Padres past Rangers 7-3

ARLINGTON, Texas — Rookie Kyle Blanks drove in three runs and the San Diego Padres had a season-high 16 hits, beating the Texas Rangers 7-3 Saturday night.

Blanks, who was called up last week from Triple-A Portland, had the first RBI of his career with a double in the second. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound left fielder added a two-run double in the fifth that gave San Diego a 6-1 advantage.

The Rangers dropped out of the first place for the first time since May 5. They are a half-game behind the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West.

Kevin Correia (5-5) struck out a career-high nine in seven innings, his fifth straight start pitching at least six innings. The right-hander’s previous high strikeout game was eight against Atlanta on August 10, 2005.

Kevin Kouzmanoff and Chase Headley each had three hits for the Padres, who won for the fourth time in 22 interleague games dating to last season.

Rookie Derek Holland (1-5) allowed 13 hits and seven runs in 5 2-3 innings as Texas had its three-game winning streak snapped.

Chris Davis homered in the second, and Michael Young and Andruw Jones each had RBI doubles for the Rangers.

San Diego, last in baseball with 284 runs, was sparked by the bottom of its lineup. The Nos. 5-9 hitters had 12 hits and scored six runs.

The Padres, who had only four hits Friday, broke out in the second by scoring three runs on five straight hits.

Kouzmanoff and Headley singled with one out. Blanks doubled off the wall in left to bring home Kouzmanoff. Henry Blanco and Everth Cabrera followed with RBI singles to give San Diego a 3-0 lead.

David Eckstein had an RBI double in the fourth to extend San Diego’s lead to 4-1. He added another run-scoring double in the sixth.

With two men on in the fifth, Blanks hit a grounder underneath Young’s glove at third into the left-field corner to make it 6-1.

Correia, who allowed three runs and five hits, needed only 11 pitches in a spotless first inning. He struck out the side in the fifth before giving up back-to-back RBI doubles to Young and Jones.

NOTES: Rangers C Taylor Teagarden was scratched from the lineup with a stomach virus. … RHP Josh Banks is San Diego’s probable starter for Tuesday night’s game against Houston. LHP Wade LeBlanc was originally scheduled to make the start but he was optioned to Triple-A Portland on Friday. …. Texas SS Omar Vizquel, who became the all-time Venezuelan hit leader Thursday, is donating the jersey from the record-setting game to the Hall of Fame. … Holland struck out a career-high eight. … The temperature was 100 degrees at first pitch for the second day in a row.