Seven-run fourth inning helps Astros rout Rangers, take series.
Three-run homer among 15 hits against I-45 rival
ARLINGTON — Cherish the sight this September, when his swings with the Astros seem numbered and finality may start to set in. Some take Carlos Correa’s exploits for granted. Others wonder how opponents allow them to continue. Most just bear helpless witness to the deflating scene that’s defined Correa’s career.
One swing sways a game and seizes all of its momentum. Correa is a man for any moment, be it in a pennant race, playoff series or a plodding game during the dog days. The fortune awaiting Correa in free agency grows each week while he authors the most complete season of his major league career.
Two hits and a walk on Thursday took Correa’s OPS to .854. He crushed another mammoth home run to catalyze a late-arriving Astros’ offense. The threerun bomb traveled 442 feet to dead center field and allowed a fourth-inning avalanche to commence en route to a 12-1 win over the
Rangers.
Houston scored a seasonhigh seven times in the frame. Four came after Correa’s home run broke a scoreless tie. Eleven hitters came to the plate. Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez struck consecutive runscoring hits, affording the Astros a lead they’d only augment.
Houston destroyed the Rangers, finishing the season’s Silver Boot Series with a result illustrating the gap between these two franchises. The Astros won 14 of the 19 games between them. Few were close. The Astros outscored the Rangers 35-12 during this final four-game series and pounded Rangers pitching for 15 hits on Thursday. Bregman, Yuli Gurriel and Kyle Tucker all had twohit games in addition to Correa, an offensive explosion needed because of the dilemma on the mound.
Houston starter Luis Garcia gave a gritty effort under less than ideal circumstances. Framber Valdez scratched his left index finger on the outfield wall before Wednesday’s game. The wound is not serious, but its location made it impossible for Valdez to make his scheduled start Thursday, so Garcia substituted.
Garcia had a full five days of rest. The 51⁄3 innings he threw put him over 140 for the season, furthering a career-high workload that may be catching up to him. Garcia threw 41 balls and 46 strikes. Texas scored only one earned run against him but squandered opportunities for more.
Garcia threw almost exclusively four-seam fastballs. The velocity dipped one mile per hour below his season average. Texas whiffed just once against the 23 secondary pitches Garcia threw. Few will criticize the night’s results, but more broad issues remain. Garcia threw just 49 of his 82 pitches for strikes in his last start. Thursday continued the concern.
The Rangers are not equipped to take any sort of advantage. They brought the American League’s lowest OPS, on-base percentage and wRC+ to the ballpark on Thursday. Then Manager Chris Woodward gave his best player a night off. Without Adolis Garcia, an already awful lineup languished, unable to make Garcia rue his mistakes.
Garcia needed 20 pitches to finish the second and 20 more during the third. Texas
stranded four baserunners against him. Jose Siri eliminated another with an excellent defensive play during the second. The center fielder corralled Willie Calhoun’s one-out single in the right center field gap.
Calhoun chugged past first base to challenge his arm.
Siri backhanded the baseball and spun around to uncork a strong throw. It reached Correa on one hop. Calhoun tried a swim-move style slide to avoid the tag
but could not. Correa and Garcia each pointed out toward Siri in thanks.
Garcia yielded a single to leadoff man Leody Taveras in the third. Nathaniel Lowe worked a walk, bringing DJ Peters to the plate. The 25year-old
rookie hit cleanup in a Adolis Garcia-less lineup. Garcia struck him out on an elevated four-seam fastball to end the threat.
Peters’ failure sent his starting pitcher back into a scoreless game. Glenn Otto is among the headliners from the Rangers’ massive trade deadline haul, a beacon of hope in an organization where few others exist. The former New York Yankees prospect arrived as part of the four-player package needed to acquire Joey Gallo.
Otto is a Spring native and Rice product. Thursday marked the fourth start of his major league career. Otto overpowered the Astros during his first. He struck out seven across five scoreless innings in a dazzling debut on Aug. 27.
An encore seemed near early. Otto tamed the Astros through three scoreless innings. He struck out Gurriel on a wicked slider to start the second. Alvarez succumbed against a curveball to end the third. The Astros mustered two singles against him. One didn’t leave the infield.
Otto procured only one other out. Gurriel bounced a single up the middle to start the fourth. Tucker deposited the next pitch down the right-field line for a double, allowing Correa a chance he craves. Otto spotted a first-pitch slider at the bottom of Correa’s strike zone. He tried to freeze him again with the same pitch. It had no bite or break.
Correa mauled the mistake. The swing he unleashed belonged on an instructional video. He finished his follow-through, arched his back and began the trot for home.