The rivalry between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros dates back to 1972 when the Rangers arrived in Arlington. The Silver Boot Series began during the 1992 season when the two teams met for the first time in exhibition games at the conclusion of Spring Training, with the Rangers taking home the first Silver Boot with a series score of 2-0. The official Lone Star Series began in 2001 when the two teams regularly faced each other in interleague play. The rivalry intensified in 2013 when the Astros moved from the National League West to the American League West, creating a division rivalry between the two teams. The Silver Boot has gone back and forth between Houston and Arlington since the series’ inception. However, the Rangers currently lead the overall series wins 134-132 before the beginning of this series, not including the 2023 postseason. The tally, including the 2023 postseason, stands at 138-135, still favoring the Rangers.
Game One – Cody Bradford vs Hunter Brown – Rangers Win 10-2
Game One in any series between these two teams is bound to be exciting. Cody Bradford took the mound for the Texas Rangers. He pitched a lights-out game, allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out four in 7.2 innings. One of those two hits came from the first batter he faced, Jose Altuve, in the top of the 1st inning. He would not allow another until the top of the 8th inning when Jeremy Pena singled on a ground ball to center field. That hit ultimately led to Bochy handing the ball to Yerry Rodriguez, who allowed Jake Meyers a home run on his first pitch of the game, allowing Houston’s only two runs to cross the plate.
Hunter Brown’s outing was not nearly as smooth. He pitched three innings, allowed eight hits, five earned runs, one home run, issued four walks, and only struck out three. The score was 5-0 for the Rangers when Brandon Bielak relieved Brown. In a subsequent three innings pitched, Bielak allowed seven hits, five earned runs, two walks, one home run, and struck out one batter, bringing the score to 10-0 Rangers. Seth Martinez took the ball for the bottom of the 7th inning, allowing one hit, but held the Rangers at 10-0. Miguel Diaz pitched the bottom of the 8th, giving up nothing to the Rangers, leaving the final score at 10-2 Rangers.
The Rangers offense had a stellar night to back up the exquisite performance by Bradford. Almost every Rangers batter who came to the plate recorded one or more hits. The only Ranger who did not was Justin Foscue, who flied out in his first plate appearance in his Major League Debut in the bottom of the 8th inning. Leadoff man Marcus Semien went 3-3 with three runs, three RBIS, one home run, and two walks. Corey Seager went 1-4 with one run, RBI, and walk. Wyatt Langford went 1-4 with one run, RBI, walk, and strikeout. Adolis Garcia went 2-4 with one home run and four RBIs. Travis Jankowski went 1-1. Evan Carter broke his 2024 hitless streak, going 2-4 with one walk. Jared Walsh went 1-5 with one run and one strikeout. Jonah Heim went 2-5 with one run and one strikeout. Josh H Smith went 2-4 with two runs, one RBI, and one walk. Leody Taveras went 1-5 with one strikeout.
Game Two – Jon Gray vs JP France – Rangers Win 7-2
Jon Gray’s start was just as shaky as his first, allowing five hits, two runs, neither earned and three walks and issuing only three strikeouts over 3.2 innings. Brock Burke got the final out in the top of the 4th inning, allowing only a single hit. Jose Urena took the ball in the top of the 5th, allowing a single walk and striking out one. Kirby Yates followed with two punchouts in the 6th. David Robertson pitched the 7th with zeros across the board. Josh Sborz, the hero of Game 5 of the World Series, pitched a clean two-thirds of an inning in the 8th before grimacing and stretching his shoulder. The trainers and managers opted to pull him from the game out of an abundance of caution. Jose LeClerc came in to get the game’s final four outs, allowing two hits and issuing one strikeout.
JP France pitched well, having been activated the previous evening following two days on the paternity list following the birth of his second child, a daughter they named Remi Grace. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowing eight hits, three earned runs, two walks, and striking out four. Bryan Abreu came in at the bottom of the 6th for the final out, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out one. Rafael Montero pitched the 7th, allowing only one walk. Ryan Pressly took the mound in the 8th, garnering one out but allowing five hits, four earned runs, and one strikeout. Tayler Scott was called upon to stop the bleeding, claiming the final two outs while allowing one hit and two punchouts.
Despite Gray’s shaky start, the Rangers offense had yet another stellar night. All starters played the complete game, and each of the nine batters made contact. Marcus Semien went 2-5 with one run and one RBI. Corey Seager went 2-3 with one run, one RBI and two walks. Wyatt Langford went 2-5 with one double, one run, one RBI, and one strikeout. Adolis Garcia went 1-5 with no runs, one RBI and one strikeout. Evan Carter went 3-5 with two doubles, one run and one strikeout. Jared Walsh went 1-4 with one run, one walk and two strikeouts. Jonah Heim went 1-5 with one RBI and two strikeouts. Josh H Smith went 1-3 with one walk and one strikeout. Leody Taveras went 2-4 with one double, two runs and one RBI.
Game Three – Dane Dunning vs Ronel Blanco – Astros Win 3-1
Dane Dunning had a stellar start, giving up a single lousy pitch that resulted in a Yordan Alvarez 3-run home run. He pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four hits, three earned runs, three walks, and seven strikeouts. Grant Anderson, recalled from Round Rock the same day, appeared to take the final out in the top of the 7th inning. He allowed no hits and struck out the only batter he faced with six pitches. Jacob Latz took over in the 8th inning with a strikeout. Yerry Rodriguez closed out the game, giving up one walk and striking out one.
Ronel Blanco looked just as good in this start as he did during his no-hitter in his first start of the season. He maintained a no-hitter through the first out of the 6th inning before Adolis Garcia singled. Blanco gave up the single hit and four walks, striking out four. Rafael Montero took the mound in the bottom of the 7th, giving up nothing and striking out one. Ryan Pressly had a marginally better inning of relief than the previous game, striking out one and allowing nothing. Josh Hader, the prized Astros closer, took the mound and imploded, as he has in other games, allowing one hit, one run, and one walk.
The Rangers’ offense struggled during this game. Despite collectively striking out six times and walking five times, they only garnered two hits and one run.
Game Four – Andrew Heaney vs Blair Henley (MLB Debut) – Astros Win 10-5
Andrew Heaney had a rough night, pitching 3.2 innings and allowing four hits, six earned runs, three walks, one home run, and striking out only two. Brock Burke came in the top of the 4th to attempt the final out of the inning but was unable to deliver, giving up three hits, and one earned run before manager Bruce Bochy handed the ball to Grant Anderson, who struck out the final batter in the 4th and continued to pitch through the 5th inning. Anderson gave up three hits, three earned runs, one home run, and struck out two. Jose Urena picked up the ball in the 6th inning and pitched the remaining four innings. He allowed only one hit across the four innings, striking out four.
Blair Henley’s Major League Debut was indicative of the situation he was placed in. Henley was called up from the Sugar Land Space Cowboys and fielded in an emergency situation after Framber Valdez was scratched due to elbow soreness. Henley gave up a walk to Marcus Semien, a single to Corey Seager, and a single by Wyatt Langford that scored Marcus Semien. Adolis Garcia took a single to load the bases. Evan Carter took his first walk of the evening to score Corey Seager with the bases remaining loaded. Josh H Smith took a pitch to his left thigh to score Wyatt Langford. A single by Jared Walsh drove in both Adolis Garcia and Evan Carter. Henley got his first out on a Knizner pop-out before walking the ninth batter of the inning, Leody Taveras, to load the bases again. He was relieved of the ball by manager Joe Espada, who called upon Seth Martinez to complete the inning. Martinez allowed one hit and recorded two strikeouts in the 3.2 innings he pitched. Taylar Scott picked up for another two innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and striking out two. Brandon Bielak replaced Scott on the mound in the bottom of the 7th and pitched through the end of the 8th, allowing one hit and striking out one. Bryan Abreu took over in the bottom of the 9th to close out the game, allowing one hit.
The Rangers’ offense couldn’t be restarted after the initial 5-run first inning. The Astros’ defense held them scoreless for the remainder of the game. Once the young rookie was removed from the game, it was certainly an off night for everyone.
Recap
As series between these two teams usually are, this series was exciting on all fronts. From two MLB Debuts, a couple of new babies, and home runs galore, not one of the games was boring. As both teams won two games, the series is split, and the Battle of the Silver Boot begins with a tie. The current all-time Silver Boot record stands at 136-134 in favor of the Rangers. The Astros head to Kansas City to face off against the Royals before returning home to Houston to prepare to host the Rangers in the second series of the season. The Rangers will remain in Arlington and will host the Oakland Athletics.
