Gomez’s HR in 8th extends Texas’ lead for top seed

ARLINGTON — Carlos Gomez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning as the Rangers rallied for an 8-5 win over the Brewers on Wednesday night in the rubber game at Globe Life Park.

The Rangers (94-66), with their 49th come-from-behind win of the season, hold a 1 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox for the best record in the American League. Texas can clinch home-field advantage throughout the postseason by winning two of three against Tampa Bay in the final series of the regular season.

“I saw that pitch good and I didn’t have to do too much,” Gomez said. “I threw my hands out there and hit it good. It was big for us.”

Jeremy Jeffress, with two scoreless innings, earned the win in relief of Rangers starter Cole Hamels. It was the 41st relief win of the season for the Rangers, tying a Major League record shared by the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers.

The Rangers trailed, 5-4, going into the bottom of the eighth, but Jonathan Lucroy reached with one out when fill-in center fielder Hernan Perez misplayed the line drive — “It was like a knuckleball,” Perez said — for a two-base error. After Delino DeShields entered as a pinch-runner for Lucroy, reliever Corey Knebel walked Mitch Moreland and struck out Nomar Mazara.

Brewers manager Craig Counsell then brought in right-hander Tyler Thornburg and Elvis Andrus tied it with a single up the middle. Gomez followed with his home run, finishing the night 3-for-4.

“He’s one of those guys who when he locks in, he always does pretty well in a series,” said Thornburg, who played parts of four seasons with Gomez in Milwaukee. “I feel like he definitely wanted to lock in against us, and he ended up doing pretty well.”

Perez’s was not the Brewers’ only defensive letdown. In the first inning, second baseman Jonathan Villar lost a popup in the twilight and it dropped safely, leading to a three-run Rangers rally.

“Overall, we didn’t convert enough outs tonight,” Counsell said. “Against a lineup like that, it gave them a couple more chances and eventually they made us pay.”

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