"When Adrian Beltre limped around first base Saturday night after delivering the go-ahead single, he wasn't suffering from an injury as much as he was trying to prevent one.

The Texas Rangers' third baseman is experiencing tightness in his left hamstring, but it's an issue that he said pops up at this time of the season almost every year.

He has learned how to manage the hamstring through traditional means in the training room and some not-so-traditional ones like the intentional limp.

"It looks a little awkward sometimes, but that's how I protect it," Beltre said. "Sometimes I limp a little more because I want to extend it."

Manager Ron Washington went to first base after RBI single to ask Beltre how he was feeling. Washington got the response he usually gets when he thinks he has spotted something wrong with Beltre.

"'Skip, I told you to quit looking at me,'" Washington said. "When he said that, I knew he was fine."

The leg made his running, over-the-shoulder catch Friday night more difficult.

Beltre said he didn't think he had a shot at the Eric Hinske pop-up, but he chased it down about halfway down the left-field line."