The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros met for their second series in as many weeks, this time in Houston at Minute Maid Park, home of the Astros. The two teams went into the series tied for the Silver Boot due to splitting the first series. However, the Rangers currently lead the overall series wins 136-134 after this series, not including the 2023 postseason. The tally, including the 2023 postseason, stands at 140-137, still favoring the Rangers.
Game One – Dane Dunning vs JP France – Rangers Win 12-8
Dane Dunning had a bit more of a rocky outing than usual. He allowed five hits, three earned runs, two walks, and one home run in his five innings. The bullpen took over in the 6th when Jose LeClerc entered the ballgame in a significantly less stressful position than in previous appearances, which showed in his performance. He pitched the 6th inning, allowing one hit and one walk, and struck out two. The 7th inning got dicey when Brock Burke allowed three hits, four runs, and one home run while striking out only two. Grant Anderson relieved him to get the final out, but not before giving up two hits and one run. David Robertson and Kirby Yates each took one inning of work, allowing no hits between them. Yates recorded one walk and one strikeout.
JP France had an abysmal start. He pitched four innings before being relieved of the ball to stem the bleeding. He allowed eight hits, eight runs, four walks, and one home run while striking out only three. Joel Kuhnel came in at the top of the 5th and recorded another four hits, four runs, and only one strikeout. Brandon Bielak, Ryan Pressly, and Josh Hader each took one inning of work, allowing no further hits. They recorded one walk (Pressly) and three strikeouts (Pressly-1, Hader-2) between them.
The Rangers offense was on fire. Seven of the nine batters recorded hits. They struck first in the top of the 1st with a Corey Seager double followed by an Adolis Garcia single to score Seager. The top of the 2nd went quietly before the bats got to work in the 3rd. France managed to strike Semien out but walked Seager. The Seager walk was followed by an Evan Carter single, and then a Garcia walk. Josh Smith also walked in a run, bringing the go-ahead run across the plate. Wyatt Langford singled and then reached second on a fielding error that allowed Carter and Garcia to score. With two men on, Jonah Heim let one loose for a three-run home run, bringing the score to 7-1. The 4th came with three more singles that ultimately brought the score 8-1 before ending the inning. The Astros woke up a little and scored twice in the bottom of the 4th to bring the score to 8-3. The 5th went quietly for both teams. The top of the 6th saw an Evan Carter double and a Garcia single to score Carter. Garcia scored after a Smith single, a Langford hit by pitch, and a Heim ground out. Smith and Langford also scored on a Jared Walsh single, bringing the score to 12-3. The 6th was relatively uneventful for both teams. In the bottom of the 7th, the Astros came to life, scoring two after Yordan Alvarez was hit by a pitch and Kyle Tucker sent one over the fence for a two-run home run. Jon Singleton doubled, followed by a Jeremy Pena single and a Mauricio Dubon single to score Singleton. Jake Meyers doubled, sending Pena and Dubon home to bring the score to 12-8. Both teams would go quietly the remainder of the game.
Game Two – Andrew Heaney vs Ronel Blanco – Astros Win 9-2
Andrew Heaney pitched for 3.2 innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and four walks and striking out only one before being relieved of the ball. Jacob Latz took over for 1.1 innings of work, allowing two hits and no runs. Jose Urena, who had, until this appearance, been lights out, struggled greatly in this game. In his 1.1 innings of work, he gave up six hits, five runs, and one walk and struck out only one. Austin Pruitt, making his return to the big leagues and his Rangers debut, took the final 1.2 innings of work, allowing two hits, two earned runs, and two walks.
Unlike his first start against the Rangers, Ronel Blanco had no chance of a no-hitter during this outing. After back-to-back walks, the Rangers knocked the first hit in the top of the 1st inning. Blanco gave up his first two runs of the year to the Rangers in the top of that same inning. In his six innings of work, he gave up five hits, two earned runs, three walks, and struck out five. Bryan Abreu went one inning, giving up two hits, one walk, and striking out one. Rafael Montero and Shawn Dubin took the final two innings, allowing only one hit between them while Dubin struck out two.
The Rangers offense was incredibly quiet, racking up only eight hits, two runs, two RBIs, and four walks combined while striking out eight times. The most productive members of the lineup were Evan Carter, Adolis Garcia, Josh Smith, and Wyatt Langford.
Game Three – Nathan Eovaldi vs Christian Javier – Astros Win 8-5
Nathan Eovaldi had an uncharacteristically rough outing against the Astros. He pitched for 6.0 innings, allowing eight hits, five earned runs, two walks, two home runs, and striking out only three. Yerry Rodriguez pitched 0.1 of an inning, allowing two hits, three earned runs, three walks, and a trip back to Round Rock. He was sent back down following the game. Cole Winn made his Major League Debut in the bottom of the 7th with one out, inheriting a bases-loaded situation. He escaped the inning with minimal damage, allowing only one run to cross the plate. He finished 1.1 innings of relief, allowing no hits, runs, or walks and striking out one.
Christian Javier pitched 7.0 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs, two walks, one home run and striking out five. Taylar Scott took the mound for one inning of relief, allowing two hits and striking out one. Seth Martinez let the Rangers run away with him, allowing three hits, three earned runs, and one home run while striking out no one. Josh Hader entered the game to get the final out, allowing no hits or walks before ending the game.
The Rangers offense had another quiet night, though each of the nine batters garnered a hit, with Marcus Semien being the only batter to have more than one. They had a combined ten hits, five runs, five RBIs, two walks, and seven strikeouts. Evan Carter and Marcus Semien homered off Christian Javier and Seth Martinez, respectively.
Recap
The Astros will host the Atlanta Braves in a three-game series at Minute Maid Park before going on the road to face their 2019 World Series foe, the Washington Nationals. The Rangers will head north to face the Detroit Tigers in a four-game series at Comerica Park before heading south to Truist Park to face the Braves. The Rangers and the Astros will meet again on July 12th when the Rangers return to Minute Maid Park for the second time and final time during the regular season. The Astros will visit Globe Life Field one more time beginning August 5th. This series will mark the final regular season battle for the two clubs.
