By Jeremy Kahn

With a chance to be a hero for a second straight day in his home state, Hunter Pence came up short.

Pence grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the game, as the Texas Rangers held on to defeat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 at Global Life Park.

Buster Posey got the Giants within a run in the top of the ninth, as he singled off of Sam Dyson, but then Dyson got Pence to ground into the twin killing to stop the rally and end the game.

Martin Perez was fantastic for the Rangers, as he went 8.1 innings, allowing one run on just two hits. This start for Perez came on the heels of a nightmarish outing on Tuesday night that saw Perez allow eight straight batters to reach in the second inning, as the New York Yankees throttled the Rangers 21-5.

Josh Hamilton provided the only offense the Rangers would need, as he hit a two-run home run off of Mike Leake in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Leake, making his Giants debut, went 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, walking two and striking out five.