Astros Turn Tables on Rangers

One night after Texas rallied late to win, Houston returned the favor Tuesday

The Houston Astros did the rallying on Tuesday night, scoring four runs in the eighth inning to erase a 3-0 deficit and beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 at Globe Life Field.

On Monday, the Rangers (29-32) victimized the Astros (38-24) with a three-run rally in the eighth inning to win 5-3.

Well, the Astros returned the favor, and it was a sudden turn after Rangers starter Dane Dunning and reliever Matt Bush held the Astros two just two hits through seven innings.

Texas reliever John King gave up a leadoff single to Jose Altuve and another single to Michael Brantley to start the eight. With Altuve at third, Alex Bregman grounded to Rangers shortstop Corey Seager, who opted not to try and turn a double play but instead threw home to get Altuve. He ended up in a rundown with Rangers catcher Sam Huff giving chase up the baseline. But his throw was high, the ball tipped off third baseman Ezequiel Duran’s glove, Altuve scored, with Brantley advancing to third and Bregman to second.

“Probably (should have gone for the double play),” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “He asked about it and admitted he probably should have done that. He was trying to be aggressive and make a play.”

Yordan Alvarez grounded out to Lowe, but it allowed Brantley to score to cut Texas’ lead to 3-2.

King then gave up a first-pitch home run to Kyle Tucker, who gave the Astros a 4-3 lead and ended King’s night.

“Tucker has beat us with spins in the zone so many times and we’ve got to stop it from happening,” Woodward said.

Woodward also said King might not be pitching in his typical eighth-inning role in the near term.  

King recorded just one out, gave up three hits and four runs (three earned) before giving way to Dennis Santana.

The Rangers squandered a chance in the eighth as Seager grounded into a double play. In the ninth, Kole Calhoun led off with a single off Astros reliever Ryan Pressly. Charlie Culberson came on to pinch-run for Calhoun, but Huff grounded into a double play. Nathaniel Lowe singled to keep the inning alive before Duran ended the game with a pop-up to Altuve.

That wasted a potential for a win for Dunning, who didn’t have a clean night but gave the Rangers six scoreless inning despite giving up four walks. He only allowed two hits and struck out four on 99 pitches. He also hit a batter and stranded six base-runners.

Before the rally, the Rangers, like the Astros on Monday, were firmly in control. Lowe hit his eighth home run of the season in the fourth inning, which scored Adolis García with two outs. That built on the 1-0 lead the Rangers grabbed in the third inning off an RBI single by Marcus Semien.

Astros starter José Urquidy threw six innings, giving up five hits and three runs (all earned). He struck out four and walked none.

The Rangers end their homestand against Houston at Globe Life Field on Wednesday afternoon. Texas then travels to Detroit to take on the Tigers for a four-game set.

The Rangers return home quickly from that trip to the Motor City for interleague play, with two games against Philadelphia from June 21-22, and then a three-game series with Washington from June 24-26.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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