Arlington, TX – The All-Star break is over, and this past weekend it was time for the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers to get back to the business of baseball. Both teams are in the hunt to make the playoffs and there is no room for error especially in the AL West race with Oakland A’s starting to get hot. The Astros were looking to get back where they started after defeating the LA Angels 2 out of 3 games before the break, however, the Rangers had other ideas and wanted to get back in the AL West playoff race.
The Rangers won the first two games of this Lone Star Series winning 5-0 on Thursday in a nationally televised game and coming back down 4 runs to win 9-8 on a walk-off Danny Santana game-winning single in the 9th. When it looked like the Astros were going to get swept in this four-game series, they rallied Saturday night and won 7-6 in extra innings. Now the question was if the Rangers would rally to take this series or if the Astros could split it?
In the first inning, the Astros got off the hot start with LF Yordan Alvarez hitting a single into right that brought in Jose Altuve to give the Astros a 1-0 lead. 1B Yuli Gurriel would get his first hit of the day, a single into left field that would bring in Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez home and would send Michael Brantley to third. Outfielder Josh Reddick then hit a sacrifice ball to center that was far enough for Brantley to tag third and go home. The Astros would lead 3-0, but the Rangers would respond in the bottom on the 1st inning. Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun singled into right center field to get the action started. Then shortstop Elvis Andrus singled, followed by DH Normar Mazara singling to bring in Calhoun. Second baseman Roughned Odor then kept the inning going, as he reached base on infield single hit and brought in Andrus as the Rangers cut the lead 3-2 in the first Inning.
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander was on the mound for Sunday’s action and those two runs in the 1st inning would be the only runs he would give up. He would retire 15 straight batters after a lead off walk. In the 2nd inning Astros would bring add more runs on the board, SS Myles Straw scored on a Bregman sacrificed fly into left field and Brantley added to the scoring as he hit a single into right field that brought in Altuve. The Astros lead extended to 5-2 from then on until the 7th inning. Rangers pitcher Ariel Jurado would pitch less than 5 innings for the 3rd time in 10 games before he had the plug pulled as the Astros bats stayed hot.
The Rangers had their hands full in the 7th inning. Josh Reddick hit a single, then Astros catcher Robinson Chirinos got a double in left field, that brought in Reddick and the Astros would lead 6-2. Then the 2017 American League MVP Jose Altuve rocked a grand slam into left field making the game 10-2. It was not over yet, as Yuli Gurriel would knock a 2 run homer into left too and made it a 12-2 advantage for the Astros. The Astros would score 7 runs in the top of the 7th inning.
The Rangers did not go down without a fight, especially in the first two meetings they always find a way to hit. In the bottom of the 7th, Chris Devenski would replace Justin Verlander and walked three batters. He then walked pinched hitter Danny Santana which walked home a run for the Rangers. Joe Smith another reliever pitcher for the Astros would relive Devenski, Calhoun would then single through second base bringing in Ronald Guzman. The Rangers would cut the lead to eight against the Astros.
However, the Astros lead would stick at 12-4 as they spilt the series with the Rangers. The Astros are now 8-6 in theSilver Boot Series. Jose Altuve now has 3 grand slams in his career including 2 this season. Justin Verlander got his 11th win this season and his 3rd straight against the Rangers. Rangers RF Shin-Soo Choo, who has given the Astros problems lately went 0-3 and ended his hitting streak at 9 games. The Houston Astros will head off LA Monday to face the LA Angels in a four-game away series and then will head back home to face the Rangers again. In that time, the Rangers will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in short, two-game series starting Tuesday.
Written by James Leyva
