Yu, Adrian! Pair leads Rangers past Pirates

The Pirates saw their five-game winning streak come to an end. Starter Juan Nicasio allowed four runs on seven hits through 4 2/3 innings. Cole Figueroa drove in a run with an RBI single in the fifth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Beltre surpasses 1,500 RBIs: Beltre's two-run homer off Nicasio in the first inning -- Beltre's ninth homer of the season -- put him at 1,501 career RBIs. He's just the 54th player in MLB history to hit that mark and is just the fourth primary third baseman. The other three third baseman with at least 1,500 RBIs are Mike Schmidt (1,595), George Brett (1,596) and Chipper Jones (1,623) The home run came off a 95-mph fastball from Nicasio in a nine-pitch at-bat, and just cleared the wall in straightaway center. It was Beltre's second homer in as many nights.

Beltre's two-run moonshot

PIT@TEX: Beltre smashes a two-run homer to center

Adrian Beltre works a nine pitch at-bat, then launches a pitch over the fence in center field, notching his 1,500th career RBI

Nicasio nicked early: After pitching only one inning in his last start, which was eventually postponed due to rain, Nicasio wasn't sharp early Saturday. He allowed an infield single to leadoff hitter Jurickson Profar to start the game, a double to Ian Desmond, an RBI groundout to Prince Fielder and Beltre's two-run shot to fall behind, 3-0, after recording just one out. Nicasio settled down, yielding only one more run in 4 2/3 innings, but the first-inning struggles were enough to decide the game with Darvish dealing for the Rangers.

Nicasio catches Andrus looking

PIT@TEX: Nicasio gets Andrus looking in the 2nd

Juan Nicasio freezes Elvis Andrus and strikes him out for the first out of the 2nd inning

Pirates' rally fizzles: Pittsburgh had its last, best chance to get back in the game in the eighth inning, trailing, 5-1, getting back-to-back singles from John Jaso and Andrew McCutchen to start the frame and greet new reliever Matt Bush. But Bush struck out Gregory Polanco, got David Freese to fly out and struck out Starling Marte to get out of trouble.The Pirates left seven men on base in the game and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Barnette preserves the lead: Right-hander Tony Barnette entered the game with a 4-1 lead in the sixth to take over for Darvish and immediately found himself in some trouble. He got McCutchen to fly out to left to lead off the inning, but allowed a single to Polanco, and an error by shortstop Elvis Andrus -- his second of the night -- on a ground ball from Freese put runners at first and second. Marte's fielder's choice moved Polanco to third, bringing up Francisco Cervelli. Marte stole second during the at-bat, but Barnette struck out Cervelli swinging on a 3-2, 79-mph curveball in the dirt, holding the lead.

Barnette escapes trouble

PIT@TEX: Barnette works out of a jam in the 6th

Tony Barnette gets Francisco Cervelli swinging and strands two runners in scoring position to end the top half of the 6th

WHAT'S NEXT
Pirates: Francisco Liriano will make his seventh start at Globe Life Park on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET. Liriano is 4-1 with a 3.11 ERA in his career in Texas..

Rangers: Martin Perez will take the mound for in the series finale for the Rangers at 2:05 p.m. CT. Perez leads all qualifying Rangers starters with a 3.13 ERA this season. .

Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.

Ryan Posner is a reporter for MLB.com based in Texas and covered the Rangers on Saturday.

Dave Sessions is a contributor to MLB.com based in Ft. Worth and covered the Pirates on Saturday.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

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Yu, Adrian! Pair leads Rangers past Pirates