ARLINGTON, Texas -- Alex Rodriguez had gone too far to stop. He was going to score.

Rodriguez tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, running through third-base coach Steve Smith's stop sign to start a seven-run rally as the Texas Rangers beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-4 on Wednesday night.

''By the time I saw it, it was too late,'' Rodriguez said. ''There was no turning back. I wanted to score really bad.''

Rodriguez reached on the first consecutive one-out walks by Scott Sullivan (3-2). He tied the game at 4 on Rafael Palmeiro's single, beating right fielder Juan Encarnacion's throw to the plate.

Rookie Kevin Mench hit a two-run single and Michael Young had a bases-loaded triple for the Rangers, who had lost 19 of their previous 26 games.

''Hopefully this will be a turning point,'' Rodriguez said.

''We are capable of coming back and we showed it,'' Mench said. ''It is a good character-builder for us.''

Herbert Perry was intentionally walked by Danny Graves before Mench's tiebreaking single. After shortstop Juan Castro's error kept the inning going, Young tripled and Todd Greene had a sacrifice fly. Only two of the seven runs were earned.

''I've been much more surprised that this sort of thing hasn't happened more often,'' said Rangers manager Jerry Narron. ''This was just the sort of thing we've been needing.''

John Rocker (1-1), who pitched a scoreless eighth, got the win. He struck out two, walked one and was helped by a double play.

Cincinnati only had one hit in the final five innings after building a 4-2 lead.

''It's one we could've and should've had,'' said Reds manager Bob Boone. ''We just didn't hit.''

Texas starter Chan Ho Park gave up just three hits over six innings, but he allowed a season-high five walks -- one of them intentional. He also struck out five.

After the Rangers gave him a 1-0 lead on Juan Gonzalez's RBI double in the first, Park walked the first two batters in the second. He got two outs and had a 3-2 count on Reggie Taylor, who hit a 427-foot homer to center for a 3-1 lead.

''I threw a mistake, and got a ball up and away,'' Park said. ''I don't feel bad about the home run. I feel bad about the two walks.''

Park made his first start since allowing nine runs in a career-short 1 1-3 innings against the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

Even though he developed a blister on his right thumb, Park rebounded with six innings against the Reds. It was only the second time in seven starts this season that he pitched at least six innings.

Park got out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, but Corky Miller led off the fourth with a single. Miller advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor and a wild pitch, and scored on Castro's squeeze bunt.

Reds starter Chris Reitsma left the game with a 4-3 lead after Palmeiro led off the seventh with a double and scored on Young's two-out single.

''He is snakebit, the baseball gods will reward him someday,'' Boone said. ''He pitched great. That's several now that he has pitched well in, he just hasn't had any luck.''

Gabe White replaced Reitsma and struck out pinch-hitter Greene, the only batter he faced, on three pitches to end the threat with two runners on.

Notes:

Reds OF Ken Griffey Jr. did not start for the fifth straight game because of a strained right hamstring, but got up as a pinch-hitter in the ninth and walked. He was taken out for a pinch-runner. … All three outs in the top of the third were unassisted outs by Rangers fill-in first baseman Mike Lamb. … The Rangers have signed 15th-round draft pick Sam Narron of East Carolina. The 6-foot-7 left-hander is a cousin of manager Jerry Narron. … Reitsma had lost three straight starts since his May 21 victory against Florida, allowing seven earned runs in those three. The second-year right-hander was 3-0 in his first eight starts. The Associated Press