ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -- After waiting eight days, Trevor Hoffman finally got his 250th career save.

	Jackson

	Hoffman

Jackson's superb diving catch in left-center was the final out of the San Diego Padres' 4-3 victory over Texas on Sunday night, ending the Rangers' five-game winning streak and making Hoffman the 17th player to reach the milestone.

"I got it by the best defensive play I think I've ever seen in my life," Hoffman said. "None of them have been easy."

Hoffman had Jackson autograph the game ball, then slipped it into a long white sock for protection.

"Everybody wants to make every play for him," said Jackson, who as a defensive replacement was in left for only the fifth time this season. "I was either going to catch the ball or break something trying."

Hoffman, headed to the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, came in with a two-run lead in the eighth to face Luis Alicea with two out and runners on first and second. It was only the fifth time in 36 outings that he was asked to get more than three outs.

Alicea hit Hoffman's first pitch to right field and Eric Owens caught it with a nice sliding catch.

Hoffman made the ninth tough by giving up a leadoff single to Rusty Greer, who went to third on a single by Rafael Palmeiro. Ivan Rodriguez drove in Greer with a sacrifice fly to center.

David Segui flew out to third for the second out, bringing up Chad Curtis with speedster Scarborough Green was pinch-running for Palmeiro.

Although Jackson had been San Diego's top shortstop until a few weeks ago, he knew where to go when Curtis hit the ball. He left his feet at the perfect moment and reached back to snag the drive in his pocket.

"The first couple of steps," Jackson said, "I thought I had a chance."

Had Jackson not caught it, Green would've easily scored from first.

"Put it this way: If there had been less than two outs, there's no way we would've won because I would've been standing on home plate," Green said. "There's no way I would've made it back to first base."

Texas manager Johnny Oates called it "the fifth or sixth best catch I've ever seen."

Padres players were still oohing and aahing over the play in the locker room. Those who missed it got descriptions from those on the field. Everyone was silent when the replay was shown in.

The heroics made Matt Clement (9-7) the first San Diego starter to win three straight games this season.

It wasn't one of his better outings, though. He allowed more walks (six) than hits (five) and threw three more balls than strikes. The key was that he allowed only five hits and forced Texas to strand six runners in 5 2/3 innings.

"My sinker was moving all over the place," Clement said. "When I was missing, it was just by a hair."

Clement was on the ropes in the fourth when two walks loaded the bases with one out. He'd already allowed two runs in the inning. He got out of it with consecutive strikeouts.

Texas' Kenny Rogers (9-6) ended a streak of six straight victories with his shortest outing (5 2/3 innings) in 19 starts.

Pitching on three days' rest after throwing 114 pitches against Seattle, Rogers allowed four runs on 11 hits. He struck out three and walked none in losing for the first time since May 24.

Kevin Nicholson, batting ninth, tied a San Diego record with three doubles. He drove in the first run in the second inning.

Bret Boone and Wiki Gonzalez had consecutive RBIs with two out in the third and Phil Nevin doubled in a run in the fifth.

The Rangers fell back under .500 one day after breaking even for the first time in almost a month.

Rodriguez, the leading All-Star vote-getter, went 2-for-3 to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 11 games. The catcher raised his average to .366, the highest ever for a Rangers player at the break.

San Diego won for just the second time in nine interleague games. It was the Padres' second victory in eight games overall at The Ballpark.

Game notes
Jackson isn't as smooth with the bat as he is with his glove. With a fly out Sunday, he's in an 0-for-20 slump. ... The Padres are 8-6 on Sundays, the only day they have a winning record. ... This was the 13th straight game Texas had at least two doubles, extending a team record. ... There were only 30,070 tickets sold, and probably about 25,000 fans. ... Texas' Darren Oliver threw four scoreless innings on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma. He allowed two hits, struck out two and walked two on 61 pitches. ... The Rangers head into the All-Star break with a losing record for the first time since 1994 and only the second time in 10 years.