The Texas Rangers are finally pushing back hard against their in-state rivals. After a frustrating season defined by an inability to build momentum, they stepped up their game against the Houston Astros, discovering a rhythm that has largely eluded them this year.
Joc Pederson delivered a three-run homer in the first inning, putting an exclamation point on a stunning eight-run outburst by the Rangers against the Astros. Although Pederson had struck out in his first trip to the plate, Texas then strung together six consecutive hits to take a five-run lead. After the Rangers batted through the entire order, Pederson capitalized on a fatigued pitcher by sending a 1-2 fastball over the fence, extending the lead to eight runs.
As it turned out, the Rangers needed every one of those first-inning runs. The Astros kept chipping away, beginning with a three-run third inning. Texas managed to match Houston with runs of their own each time, holding on for a 10-7 victory. Still, the pitching staff’s poor performance after being handed such a large cushion is a worrying sign going forward.
With the win, the Rangers improved to 25-29. The eight-run inning came just one day after the Astros no-hit Texas, with three Houston pitchers combining to shut out their rivals. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker shared his thoughts after that loss.
“There’s no excuses when you get no-hit,” Schumaker said. “We wanted to get [Imai] in the strike zone. So we took our walks and, again, we had traffic in the first inning. We felt like we were on our way to a big inning, and we wanted to get into their bullpen early.”
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