Rangers bounce back, blow out Astros 13-2 in series finale.
Eight-run fifth inning dooms sluggish lineup, denies sweep in most lopsided loss of year
ARLINGTON — The Astros called Bryan Abreu to action with no outs in the fifth inning and his team already in a four-run hole.
His unenviable task quickly morphed into a nightmare.
The reliever allowed five of the first six batters he faced to reach before Texas Rangers rookie Adolis Garcia delivered his club’s first grand slam of the season and ballooned the Astros’ deficit to double figures. Abreu showed no emotion as the runners rounded the bases. His expressionless face could not deny the scoreboard.
The Rangers’ eight-run romp in the fifth inning was their highestscoring inning of the season, the sour cherry on top of a calamitous Sunday for the Astros.
The Houston bats were quiet and the pitching mistakes were
loud as the Astros were denied a series sweep in a lopsided 13-2 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
It was the Astros’ worst loss of
the season, a massacre minus the chainsaws.
The Rangers might as well have been taking batting practice against Astros starter Zack Greinke, who worked four innings and allowed six earned runs, the most runs he has allowed in his career against the Rangers dating back to 2008. Abreu continued the collapse when he allowed seven more runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
Greinke faced 23 batters and yielded nine hits, two walks, one home run and one strikeout. Half of the balls the Rangers put in play against him were hard-hit.
“They didn’t chase the pitches I wanted, and when I made mistakes, they hit ‘em really good and took good swings on them,” Greinke said. “Not too concerned about stuff and location. It’s just one of those days where the other team was locked in.”
Opposite Greinke, Rangers starter Taylor Hearn held the Astros hitless for four innings and finished 62⁄3 innings of two-run ball with six hits and six strikeouts. Hearn has allowed three earned runs in 172⁄3 innings pitched against the Astros over the past two seasons.
“(Hearn) was dealing,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “He had the fastball low and away, and he'd get behind and then find the plate again. So, you know, he threw a good game against us.”
Despite hitting for the cycle in the fifth inning, the Astros scattered only six hits on the day. Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel went a combined 0-for-9 at the top of the order. Astros pitchers allowed 16 hits, matching a season-high last set by the Tigers on June 29.
Before Sunday, Greinke had allowed five total runs in first innings this season. He surrendered three to the Rangers in a disastrous opening inning.
Greinke gave up singles to the first three batters he faced as Garcia’s RBI hit put the Rangers on the board. The first out of the inning came on Nathaniel Lowe’s sacrifice fly, which scored another run while Garcia advanced to third base on a throwing error by Astros catcher Martín Maldonado. DJ Peters extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI double to left field before Greinke forced two groundouts.
Brantley provided Houston’s first defensive highlight in the bottom of the second inning when he made a sliding catch in left field for the first out. Greinke then issued a walk to Leody Taveras, who entered the game with a .186 OPS. Taveras then stole second base, just his fourth stolen base of the season, and advanced to third base on a groundout. Greinke got Isiah Kiner-Falefa to fly out to strand Taveras.
Garcia did more damage in the third inning when he hit a leadoff double and later scored. Jake Meyers sprinted and crashed into the outfield wall while making a fantastic play on Peters’ sacrifice fly for the inning’s second out. When the dust from Meyers’ catch settled, however, the Rangers’ lead stood at 4-0. Greinke allowed a single before Alex Bregman snagged a line drive for the final out.
“If there wasn’t a couple really good plays, then it would have been worse than it was,” Greinke said.
The Astros’ deficit grew to five runs in the following inning after Greinke gave up another leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI double.
On offense, the Astros went 12 up, 12 down against Hearn. The Rangers lefty struck out three batters and left the bases clear through four innings on 44 pitches.
Houston’s offense briefly came alive to score two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Yordan Alvarez blasted a 1-1 slider to right field for a leadoff home run, his 28th of the season. Hearn kicked Bregman’s infield ground ball into left field for a single before Aledmys Díaz grounded into a double play. The Astros scored another run on back-to-back extra-base hits with two outs, a Kyle Tucker triple and a Meyers RBI double. Maldonado struck out to leave the score at 5-2. The Astros’ two-run spurt was not nearly enough to withstand what occurred next.
The Rangers batted around in the bottom of the fifth as a bloodbath commenced. Peters smashed a 3-2 pitch to center field for a leadoff home run to end Greinke’s outing. Abreu entered and gave up a walk and back-toback singles as another run scored. The reliever secured one out on a fly ball before he nailed Yonny Hernandez with a firstpitch curveball to load the bases.
Kiner-Falefa lined an RBI single into right field, and the bases stayed full to set the table for Garcia to deliver the first grand slam of his young career. Abreu allowed a double and got one strikeout before the Astros mercifully pulled him off the mound. Blake Taylor surrendered another run on an RBI single before the inning was over.
Although no more runs scored, defensive lowlights continued for Houston. In the sixth inning, Hernandez reached with two outs on an error by Taylor, sprinting to second base as first baseman Yuli Gurriel chased down Taylor’s wayward throw. In the seventh inning, Altuve, Meyers and Tucker converged on a fly ball in shallow right field. It dropped between them for a two-out single. Brooks Raley was the only Houston pitcher who managed a spotless frame with a 1-2-3 eighth inning.
The Astros had one on with two outs in the top of the ninth when Tucker stepped up to the plate. He grinded through a 12-pitch at-bat, fouling off six consecutive pitches before finally grounding out to end the game. It was among the most fight the Astros showed all day.