Mike Minor wasn’t so broken up about losing his perfect game bid in the seventh inning. He would’ve liked a shot at a complete-game shutout Derick Brassard Jersey , though.

Minor took a perfect game into the seventh inning, Shin-Soo Choo reached base for the 40th straight game and the Texas Rangers beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 on Wednesday night.

Minor was perfect until Eric Hosmer’s single up the middle with one out in the seventh. One out later, center fielder Delino DeShields preserved Minor’s shutout by leaping to rob Hunter Renfroe of a home run.

Minor struck out five and threw only 85 pitches through seven innings, yet manager Jeff Banister decided to go to the bullpen after that. That drew a pointed response from Minor: ”Why?”

”I don’t have a complete game shutout in my career, so I still had some goals,” Minor said. ”With the pitch count being low, I feel I could have still went out there and possibly finished the game.”

”He grinded hard,” Banister said. ”I told him if there were only zeroes on the board, it would have been yours all the way.”

Minor (6-4), making his 125th career start since August 2010, said the thought of a perfect game got stronger each inning.

”Just try to make pitches,” he said. ”It was still a close ballgame.”

Minor benefited from two other strong defensive plays.

In the fifth inning, Jose Pirela hit a sharp grounder into the hole on the left side of the infield with two outs. Shortstop Elvis Andrus‘ long throw barely beat Pirela. Austin Hedges then hit a 105-mph liner to third baseman Adrian Beltre for the second out of the sixth inning.

”I thought, honestly, we had some hittable pitches early and missed them,” Padres manager Andy Green said. ”He wasn’t pitching the type of game that lent itself to what he was getting results-wise.”

Texas has won nine of its last 11 games while San Diego has lost nine of its last 11.

The Padres scored twice in the eighth inning but left the bases loaded. Keone Kela pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save, the most in the majors this season without a blown save and a club record to begin a season.

Clayton Richard (7-7) hit three batters and allowed four runs and a season-high 10 hits over seven innings. He sought his career-best fifth consecutive winning start.

Minor signed with Texas as a free agent last December. He returned to the majors in 2017 after having shoulder surgery in 2015. He made 65 relief appearances for the Kansas City Royals last year.

NEAR-PERFECT PARTNER

As Minor pursued perfection, he was pitching to rookie Isiah Kiner-Falefa, an infielder making only his third big league start as a catcher.

”Izzy back there did a great job first time catching me,” Minor said. ”I didn’t really know what to expect.”

CHOO STILL STREAKING

Choo tied Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera for the longest on-base streak in the majors this season. Choo was hit by a pitch leading off the first inning and also had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. His on-base streak is the fourth longest in Rangers history.

SHORT HOPS

Beltre’s third-inning RBI double was No. 624 of his career, tying him with Hank Aaron for 12th on the career list. … The first-pitch temperature of 101 degrees made it the hottest game played in the majors this season. … The Padres used their 77th different lineup this season, second most in the majors, playing their 83rd game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Texas RF Nomar Mazara (tight left hamstring) was held out of the lineup for the first time since June 16.

UP NEXT

Padres: Rookie LHP Eric Lauer (3-4 Youth Evgeni Malkin Jersey , 5.05) will open the weekend series vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.

Rangers: RHP Yovani Gallardo (1-0, 12.08) will make his third start for Texas on Friday at home against the Chicago White Sox.

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Chris Sale was headed out of the game anyway, so it didn’t matter if he received an ejection on his way to the dugout.

The important thing was that Sale was dominant through six innings, and the Boston Red Sox rode his performance to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.

After issuing two walks to open the seventh in a 5-0 game, Sale (6-4) was lifted by manager Alex Cora. As he was making his way to the dugout, the left-hander yelled at home plate umpire Brian Knight and was promptly ejected .

”There are going to be points in the season, points in the game where stuff happens,” Sale said. ”No one’s perfect. Obviously I lost my cool a little bit. That’s going to happen, too.”

It was the second career ejection for Sale, the other coming in April 2015 when he was with the White Sox.

”I like competing. When I feel like I’m getting something taken away from me, I get emotional,” Sale said. ”At the end of the day, hey, we’re human, stuff is going to happen.”

Sale struck out nine, allowed one run and gave up two hits in ending a run of three straight losing starts.

Baltimore has lost seven straight and 14 of 16. The last time the Orioles scored more than five runs in a game was May 24, and it sure wasn’t going to happen against Sale.

”It’s a bad combination, we’re not swinging the bat well and facing as good a pitcher as him,” manager Buck Showalter conceded.

Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez homered for the Red Sox, who are 9-1 against the Orioles this season.

Betts, the major league leader in batting average, came off the disabled list Monday after missing 14 games with an abdominal strain. He played Monday, was rested Tuesday and returned to the top of the lineup in the series finale.

Betts hit a 3-2 pitch from Yefry Ramirez over the center-field wall in the third for his 18th home run .

”The quality of his at-bats are incredible for not playing Jake Guentzel Jersey Kids , what, two weeks?” Cora said. ”I mean, the guy’s talented.”

A three-run fifth made it 4-0, and Martinez hit his team-leading 22nd homer in the seventh.

After placing Andrew Cashner (back) on the disabled list Tuesday, the Orioles recalled Ramirez from Triple-A Norfolk to make his major league debut. The 24-year-old left with the score 1-0 in the fifth, but Mike Wright allowed both inherited runners to score.

Ramirez had no complaints.

”I felt awesome, excited, happy to be here,” he said. ”It’s been an opportunity that I’ve been waiting for 12 years. Now, it’s finally here.”

Ramirez (0-1) gave up three runs and four hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out six.

Baltimore got its lone run in the seventh, when Jace Peterson hit a sacrifice fly soon after Sale departed.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: Cora said LHP Drew Pomeranz’s neck is sore and that the club would not plan for his return until after a weekend series in Seattle. Pomeranz originally went on the DL on June 5 with biceps tendinitis. … 2B Dustin Pedroia (left knee) has been doing some weight lifting but is staying away from baseball activities for now, Cora said.

Orioles: Orioles reliever Richard Bleier, one of the better performers on a ragged team, clutched his shoulder after throwing a pitch in the eighth inning and was immediately removed from the game. Asked for a prognosis, Bleier said, ”I have no idea. I don’t feel great right now.” Bleier is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA over 31 appearances. … IF Tim Beckham (core muscle surgery) will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Bowie on Friday, Showalter said.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: LHP David Price (7-4, 4.00 ERA) seeks his sixth straight win when Boston faces Mariners ace Felix Hernandez in the opener of a four-game series at Seattle.

Orioles: After taking Thursday off, Baltimore opens a three-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins in a matchup of last-place clubs.

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