Still, the Rangers got a two-run homer from Marlon Byrd and beat the Athletics 8-5 for their fourth straight victory. Omar Vizquel had three of Texas' 12 hits, including a two-run single.

Rangers starter Kris Benson faced 10 batters in the first inning, allowing four runs and four hits - including Ryan Sweeney's two-run triple. He also walked one and hit two batters with pitches. But the right-hander settled down from there and lasted four innings, giving up only a single the rest of the way.

"He got the ball up in the first inning and they whacked him around," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "We weren't sure he was going to get out of the first inning and he ended up giving us his four innings. That was a great recovery."

While chasing a fifth-inning popup, Blalock couldn't stop himself before he toppled over the railing and into the dugout.

"I had a bead on it," he said. "I was right there. I just had too much momentum."

Back from a series of injuries, Blalock said he felt a little rusty at the hot corner.

"I haven't played third since July," he said. "If the rust is gone and I'm used to my surroundings, I would have been able to break it down a little bit more and not go in the dugout and just lean over the rail, but it didn't happen. I just want to make sure the effort was there, but I didn't make the play."

Blalock did a face-first dive onto the metal bench, with his flip-down sunglasses causing the cuts.

"The ball hit him in the glove and he lost his balance," Washington said. "He fell over, landed and hit his head. I thought it was going to be worse than that."

Nippert was led off the mound by Washington and a trainer in the seventh with a 2-0 count on Cliff Pennington.

"He has some tightness under his right arm in the shoulder blade area," Washington said. "We didn't need to send him out there any longer than that. He was just a little inconsistent. Maybe the tightness was the reason. He tried to pitch through it."

Benson, the first player picked in the 1996 draft, has not pitched in the majors since 2006 with Baltimore. He had shoulder surgery in 2007.

"I was surprised I didn't have much velocity," Benson said. "Today was more of a dead arm, where my arm was feeling really good, but nothing was coming out of it. I had to battle and rely on my other four pitches. Fortunately, they were working today better than the fastball. With this team, it's just minimize the damage and try to throw up some zeros and hope they come back, which they did.

"Right now, I don't feel like I pitched. There was just nothing in the tank today. I think everyone goes through it. I think every spring I would go through some type of dead arm. It never lasts long."

Oakland starter Edgar Gonzalez yielded just one hit through the first two innings, but Texas scored six runs in the third, chasing the right-hander.

Gonzalez was disappointed he didn't field Elvis Andrus' comebacker and start a double play. It was generously ruled an infield single, though Gonzalez said it should have been an error.

"If I make the play, anything happens," he said. "It was right in my hands. ... It was my fault after that everything I threw was flat. I tried to make good pitches, but they were up in the zone."