Same old story: Astros fall to Rangers yet again
ARLINGTON — Two monitors plastered on separate walls of the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse at Globe Life Park displayed on Tuesday afternoon 34 words in red font, each letter about an inchhigh, under the header, “Quotes of the Day.”
The verbiage belonged to Ken Giles, the fiery Astros reliever who Monday added more fodder to a budding intrastate rivalry.
“We have more talent than this team does,” a frustrated Giles had declared the night of the series
opener, and before long his comments traveled to the eyes and ears of the opposition.
Bulletin-board material or not, the Rangers have owned the Astros dating to August. That didn’t change Tuesday.
After preparing for the game with Giles’ bold assertion in plain view, the American League West front-runners continued to torment their third-place counterparts, this time 4-3 behind Ian Desmond’s eighth-inning, tworun homer.
In eight meetings this season, the Astros (28-32) have yet to defeat the Rangers (36-22), owners of the AL’s best record.
Texas has claimed 12 consecutive meetings between these teams in Arlington and 16 of the
last 18 in either team’s ballpark.
The Astros have two more opportunities — on Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon — to exorcise their demons against the Rangers before the All-Star break. After the finale of this four-game set, they won’t match up again until Aug. 5 at Minute Maid Park. They won’t begin their third and final series at Globe Life Park until Sept. 2.
A.J. Hinch might be pleased to hear that.
“To be quite honest, they don’t need any bulletinboard material the way they’ve played against us,” the Astros manager said before Tuesday’s loss. “If we don’t like it, we’ve got to play better and find a way to score one more run than they do.”
Yet again Tuesday, the Astros scored one fewer.
Desmond’s home run off Dallas Keuchel (3-8) proved the difference. It also called into question Hinch’s surprising decision to send Keuchel back out to pitch the eighth inning. The Astros ace already had exhausted 101 pitches and was set to face the top of the Rangers’ batting order for a fourth time.
After Nomar Mazara followed Desmond’s blast with a single, Hinch pulled Keuchel and replaced him with just-displaced closer Luke Gregerson.
Decisive 8th spoils duel
Desmond’s long ball spoiled an otherwise solid outing from the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner. Through seven innings of two-run ball he had scattered seven hits and struck out eight without issuing a walk. The start was probably the best he has felt this season, he said.
“For Dallas, at the end of the game, I trust him against anybody,” Hinch said.
The 1-0 pitch Desmond hit was a 79 mph changeup located down and away in the strike zone. The veteran lifted the ball just over the center-field wall, just beyond the outstretched right arm of a leaping Carlos Gomez.
“I can’t take that pitch back,” Keuchel said. “It had been working for me all night, and that’s been a good pitch for me the last few starts. Maybe throw it an inch out more? But you’ve got to give credit to Desmond. This park flies. He got it up in the air and it just cleared the fence.”
The other half of the pitcher’s duel was Texas’ Cole Hamels, who allowed only two runs on four hits in seven innings. He issued four walks but prevented damage by inducing three double-play grounders. Both runs against Hamels came on Gomez’s two-run homer in the second inning, the center fielder’s second in three days.
Rally in 9th falls short
The Astros failed to score from the third through eighth innings, but they got to Rangers closer Sam Dyson for a run in the ninth.
Colby Rasmus opened the frame with a double and scored on Luis Valbuena’s one-out single. But with runners on the corners, the Astros failed again to capitalize. A pinch-hitting Tony Kemp and George Springer each struck out swinging on Dyson’s heavy sinker to end the game.
“It just seems like we play a lot better against everybody else,” Keuchel said.
Much to Giles’ chagrin.