Late rally caps roller-coaster win over Texas Rangers
ARLINGTON — The Astros endured a collapse. Then they authored a comeback.
In the finale of a consequential series against the Rangers, Houston squandered an early eight-run lead, trailed in the ninth, then scored twice off Texas’ closer to secure a wild 12-11 win at Globe Life Field.
Astros insider: Takeaways from Houston's long road trip
Kyle Tucker led off the ninth with a single against Will Smith. José Abreu struck a game-tying double to the left-field wall. Chas McCormick lined a double to the gap in left-center to put Houston ahead. Ryan Pressly secured the final three outs, with McCormick’s lunging catch robbing Josh Jung of extra bases.
“That was a grind,” McCormick said. “We put some good runs up in the second inning and then we kind of maybe took the foot off the pedal a little bit. And they came back and I’m glad for how we kind of regrouped and came back mentally.”
It wrested the afternoon back from apparent disaster and another rough outing by Astros starter Cristian Javier. The Rangers had scored nine consecutive runs, taking the lead in the eighth on a strange sequence.
Leody Taveras stood on second base with one out. Third baseman Alex Bregman fielded a grounder with Taveras in no-man’s land. Bregman chased Taveras back toward second, then threw over Jose Altuve’s head, leaving everyone safe. Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly to left field scored Taveras to break a 10-10 tie.
But the Astros averted a total meltdown. They won three of four in Texas to depart three games behind the division-leading Rangers. The Rangers announced sellouts for all four games, including a paid crowd of 38,936 for the finale, their first time in history selling out every game of a four-game series at home.
“It was huge,” Tucker said. “They’re a good team. They’re in first place in our division. So being able to come in and get three games out of them is huge. We’ve just got to go home and finish out the first half strong.”
Houston built a 10-2 lead, hitting four home runs in the first four innings. McCormick and Yainer Diaz went back-to-back to open the second against Rangers starter Martín Pérez, who was not sharp. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Tucker, who crushed a full-count sinker to right field. His grand slam was the Astros’ eighth this season, most in the American League.
It also ended Pérez’s start. Tucker and Bregman struck two-out singles against Glenn Otto in the fourth inning, with Bregman’s scoring Altuve, who had walked. Abreu hammered a fastball from Otto for a three-run home run. The 452-foot blast was Abreu’s 250th career home run and gave Houston an eight-run lead.
Javier gave most of it back, allowing eight runs across 4 ⅓ innings. Taveras hit a two-run home run in the third inning. Travis Jankowski, who had not homered in the majors since 2021, drove a 2-0 fastball from Javier for a three-run home run in the fourth. Javier allowed three more hits in the fifth inning and did not escape it, exiting a 10-6 game with two runners on base.
Both scored when Jankowski flared a bases-loaded single down the left-field line off Phil Maton. The Astros had to deploy their high-leverage relievers in a game that had the early makings of a blowout. Maton allowed an unearned run in the fifth that made it 10-9. Ryne Stanek worked a scoreless sixth. Hector Neris drew the seventh.
Neris entered with a 1.07 ERA. Adolis García sent his second pitch over the center-field wall, tying the game.
Astros 12, Rangers 11 Houston Texas ab r h bi ab r h bi Totals 40 12 13 12 Totals 39 11 12 11 Altuve 2b 3 1 0 0 Semien 2b 5 0 0 0 Dubón ss 5 1 1 0 Seager ss 4 1 1 1 Tucker rf 4 3 4 4 Lowe 1b 5 0 0 0 Bregman 3b 5 1 1 1 García rf 5 2 2 2 J.Abreu 1b 5 2 2 4 Jung 3b 5 2 2 0 McCormick cf 5 1 2 2 Heim c 4 2 1 0 Diaz dh 5 1 1 1 Jankowski lf 4 2 3 5 Julks lf 5 1 2 0 Taveras cf 4 2 3 3 Maldonado c 3 1 0 0 J.Smith dh 3 0 0 0 Houston 060 400 002 — 12 Texas 002 340 110 — 11 E_Dubón (4), Julks (1), Bregman (9). LOB_Houston 5, Texas 4. 2B_Tucker (19), J.Abreu (15), McCormick (9), Seager (24). HR_McCormick (8), Diaz (8), Tucker (13), J.Abreu (7), Taveras (10), Jankowski (1), García (21). SB_Semien (9), Julks (13). SF_Seager (4). S_J.Smith (2). IP H R ER BB SO Houston Javier 4 1-3 9 8 8 0 4 Maton 2-3 1 1 0 1 1 Stanek H,3 1 0 0 0 0 0 Neris BS,2-3 1 1 1 1 0 1 B.Abreu W,3-2 1 1 1 0 0 0 Pressly S,18-21 1 0 0 0 0 1 Texas Pérez 1 1-3 6 6 6 2 0 Otto 3 1-3 4 4 4 1 2 Bradford 2 1-3 0 0 0 0 4 Chapman 1 0 0 0 0 1 W.Smith L,1-3 BS,14-16 1 3 2 2 0 0 HBP_Bradford (Tucker). Umpires_Home, Rob Drake; First, Bill Miller; Second, Roberto Ortiz; Third, Chad Whitson. T_3:04. A_38,936 (40,000). See More Collapse
Javier struggling
Before this series, the Astros indicated Javier could be pushed back after two shaky starts against the Mets and Cardinals. Instead, Framber Valdez was skipped with a sore ankle and Javier stayed on turn. His outing did little to allay concerns.
Javier retired his first six hitters in order. He faced 17 more batters, 10 of whom reached base via nine hits and an error. All eight runs Javier allowed were earned. He has given up 18 runs in 10 2/3 innings in his last three starts, his season ERA rising from 2.90 to 4.34 in that span.
Javier, through an interpreter, said he thought his stuff was “good” Monday. “I threw some pretty good pitches today, tried to do the thing that I do every single time I go out there and try to attack the strike zone. Thought today was a little bit better than some of my previous outings. Obviously got to give them credit. They’re a very good lineup and made some adjustments and they hit the ball.”
Javier threw 88 pitches Monday. The Rangers swung at 44 and missed just seven times. Taveras and Jankowski both hit home runs off fastballs. Javier has allowed four homers in his last two starts after giving up none in the previous four.
“He was OK,” manager Dusty Baker said. “He was better than he was the last couple outings. We were trying to get him through that fifth because I knew my bullpen was kind of spent. Those guys have been pitching a lot.”
Short outings from Javier are further stressing the bullpen. Maton began warming in the fourth inning Monday. Javier finished the fourth at 73 pitches and returned for the fifth. García struck an RBI single to make it 10-6. Baker emerged from the dugout.
Baker walked to the mound, talked with Javier and left him in the game. Houston clearly hoped Javier could navigate the fifth before it began deploying relievers. Javier could not. Three pitches later, Jung lined a slider for a single. Baker left the dugout again, this time to remove Javier from the game.
“I was going to look at his eyes and look at (catcher Martín Maldonado) and decided, ‘hey man, he had enough to get the next guy out, a double-play pitch possibly,’ then our bullpen would line up the way I wanted it to line up,” Baker said. “But sometimes the opposition changes your plan, which they did.”
Baker acknowledged the importance of getting Javier, the Astros’ No. 2 starter, back on track for the second half.
“What is he, 7-1 or something like that, but he’s struggled the last few outings,” Baker said. “So I think he’ll have one more start and then he’ll take a break and regroup and get everything back strong here.”
Tucker vs. lefties
Tucker has fared well against lefthanded pitching for much of his career, but this season he’s terrorizing lefties. With a double and grand slam in his first two at-bats against Pérez on Monday, Tucker is 34-for-96 against lefthanders, a .354 average, with 12 extra base hits. He has 11 walks and just eight strikeouts against lefties.
Last season was Tucker’s first in the majors with significant splits; he had a .736 OPS against lefthanders and an .851 OPS against righties. He entered Monday with a career .842 OPS against righthanders and a .823 mark against southpaws.
“I don’t mind lefties at all,” Tucker said. “There’s tough righties and tough lefties. But in terms of whether I prefer a lefty or righty, I don’t really mind it either way.”
As evidenced Monday, when Tucker hit third against Pérez, his success against lefties lets Baker ignore platoon matchups when deciding where to slot Tucker. That is particularly helpful with Yordan Alvarez out, leaving Tucker the only lefthanded-hitting regular in the lineup, as the Astros can still break up the run of righthanded hitters at the top of the order. Overall, Tucker had four hits Monday and went 17-for-39 (.436) on the 10-game road trip.
“Tuck had a great series, outstanding series in all forms and ways,” Baker said.
Source: Houston Chronicle
