Astros Rally in Ninth, Gut Punch Texas Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas – If the race in the American League West for the rest of the season is anything like Monday afternoon, baseball fans in the Lone Star State are in for a treat.
The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros put on a show of power and fireworks for another sellout crowd at Globe Life Field in the final meeting between the rivals before the All-Star break.
The Astros persevered despite giving up an eight-run lead by rallying in the ninth for a 12-11 victory to end the four-game series.
The Astros (47-38) won three in the weekend set and tightened the division race. The lead for the Rangers (50-35) is down to three games – the smallest it’s been in a month.
Texas went 3-5 on its homestand. The Rangers final road trip before the break starts Tuesday with a three-game series at the Boston Red Sox, followed by another three against the Washington Nationals before six Rangers All-Stars pack for Seattle.
The Astros took a 4-3 lead in the season series. The teams meet again July 24-26 in Houston.
Texas nearly earned a series split by coming back from a 10-2 deficit midway through the fourth inning, finally taking the lead in a wild eighth inning on All-Star shortstop Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly to score Leody Taveras.
Taveras, who singled to open the eighth, appeared to be caught in a rundown between the second and third base after Corey Semien drilled a grounder to Houston third baseman Alex Bregman. With Taveras retreating back to second, Bregman sailed his throw into right field, allowing Taveras to make it to third.
Seager followed with a line-drive sacrifice fly to left that easily scored Taveras, giving the Rangers their first lead.
The Astros regained the advantage against Texas closer Will Smith. Kyle Tucker started with a single and scored on a one-out double by Jose Abreu. Chas McCormick followed with another double to give Houston a 12-11 edge.
Smith, who dropped to 1-3, had converted 10 consecutive saves.
Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect eighth to momentarily put him in line for the win.
The day started poorly for Texas, as the Astros chased starter Martín Pérez in the second. McCormick and Yainer Diaz opened the inning with back-to-back home runs for a 2-0 Houston lead. Tucker hit a grand slam later in the fame to send Pérez to the showers.
Houston leads MLB with eight grand slams this season.
It was the shortest outing of the season for Pérez at 1 1/3 innings. He gave up six runs on six hits and walked two, as his ERA went from 4.28 to 4.81.
The Astros went up 10-2 in the fourth, as Abreu added a three-run shot off reliever Glenn Otto.
The Rangers did make things more than interesting. In the bottom of the fourth with two men on, Travis Jankowski hit his first homer in two years off Houston starter Cristian Javier to cut the lead to 10-5. Jankowski last homered on June 23, 2021 for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Nationals.
Seager extended his on-base streak to 22 games – the longest of his career – with a double in the fifth off Javier. Fellow All-Star, right fielder Adolis García, followed with a single to score Seager and make it 10-6.
Another All-Star, third baseman Josh Jung, singled to left. That was enough for Houston manager Dusty Baker, who pulled Javier in favor of reliever Phil Maton. Javier didn’t factor in the decision since he went just 4 1/3 innings.
Maton walked All-Star catcher Jonah Heim to load the bases for Jankowski. His slicing single down the left-field line scored two, giving Jankowski a career-high five RBI. A groundout by Leody Taveras scored Heim, leaving Texas down just 10-9.
Cue García to lead off the bottom of the seventh. His towering solo shot – 412 feet into the Astros bullpen in left-center – off Hector Neris tied the game 10-10.
The Rangers send right-hander Dane Dunning (7-1, 2.69) to the hill for the Boston opener. The Red Sox had not announced a starter as of Monday morning.
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