Matt Kemp’s homer lights up Texas

For more than an hour and a half Saturday night, the Dodgers had to sit and wait.

The reason?

A set of lights above the first base line at Rangers Ballpark had to be repaired.

With a scoreless tie after five innings and nothing else to do, Matt Kemp spent time catching up with family members seated near the visiting dugout. Juan Pierre watched a feature on the Negro Leagues on the stadium’s scoreboard. Andre Ethier retreated to the clubhouse, where he read a magazine.

When play resumed in the sixth inning after delay of one hour and 41 minutes, the Dodgers scored three runs over the next two innings on their way to a 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers.

“I’ve had rain, I’ve had some crazy stuff, but never the lights,” Pierre said.

“I’ve had sprinkler delays,” Ethier said, recalling his days in the minor leagues, “but never a light delay.”

About the only person in the Dodgers’ clubhouse able to share a story about a similar situation was the 68-year-old manager, who recounted a game he played as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

“I remember getting in the batter’s box one time in Montreal and putting my bat on the plate and the lights went out as the pitcher was winding up,” Joe Torre said. “I said, ‘Oh, God, let me get out of here.’ ”

By claiming the second game of the three-game series, the Dodgers remained the only team in the majors to not have dropped three consecutive games this season. Torre said the Dodgers’ offensive outburst in the sixth and seventh innings released some of the frustration that had mounted in the club’s recent offensive slide.

With Rangers starter Scott Feldman taken out of the scoreless ballgame because of the lengthy delay, Pierre woke up the dormant Dodgers attack with a single against reliever Eddie Guardado to lead off the sixth.

Pierre stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Jerrod Saltalamacchia. He scored on a groundout by Rafael Furcal to put the Dodgers ahead, 1-0.

Former Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones, the Rangers’ designated hitter, hit a Cory Wade serving in the bottom of the inning for a solo home run that tied the score at 1-1.

But Kemp outdid the $36.2-million bust he replaced as the Dodgers’ starting center fielder, crushing a two-run home run to left-center in the seventh that handed his team a 3-1 edge it wouldn’t relinquish.

“Juan got us started off and we were just rolling from there,” Kemp said.

Like Feldman, Dodgers starter Randy Wolf was forced to make a premature exit from the game and wound up with his ninth no-decision in 14 starts.

Wolf was charged with only two hits over five scoreless innings.

“It’s one of those things you can’t control,” Wolf said.

The malfunctioning set of lights weren’t on from the time the first pitch of the game was delivered.

As the game progressed and the sunlight gradually dimmed, visibility became an issue.

“It was pretty dark in the outfield and up at the plate,” Kemp said.

Pierre, who was in left field, laughed and said he actually preferred to play with that particular set of lights turned off.

“I really didn’t mind it because that light shines right in left field,” Pierre said. “It’s in your eyes. It wasn’t bad for me at all, but you don’t want to risk anything like that.”

That was also the opinion of umpire crew chief Charlie Reliford, who cited safety concerns when suspending the game.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com