Lone Star Series reheats quickly as Astros rally over Rangers

Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman’s social media post Sunday evening could have been just another innocuous comment on Twitter.

Instead it caught the eye of the Texas Rangers and was ready for them Monday when they arrived at their Minute Maid Park clubhouse.

A printout of the message was tacked to the Rangers’ clubhouse bulletin board and placed on two tables where the players read the paper, plays card games or eat a snack.

They all saw it, of course, just in time for their series opener Monday night against the first-place Astros, the first of 19 games with the Silver Boot trophy on the line.

The Astros, however, rallied for five runs in the seventh to bust open a tight, tense opener and win 6-2.

Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr.’s first pitch to Napoli after the mammoth homer in his previous at-bat was a fastball behind his head. Napoli took a few steps toward the mound while voicing his displeasure to McCullers. Meanwhile, both dugouts spilled out and both bullpens streamed in from the outfield. Both teams were warned but nobody was ejected. McCullers got Napoli swinging to end the inning.

The Astros rallied for five runs on four hits, including two doubles and a walk in the seventh to pull ahead 6-2. Cashner, who started the seventh, was charged with three runs (two earned) on three hits and three walks. He left in the seventh with two on and no outs and the Rangers clinging to a 2-1 lead.

Tony Barnette couldn’t reach a high bouncer from George Springer, whose run-scoring infield single tied it at 2-2. Altuve and Carlos Correa later followed with run-scoring doubles.

“We gave away five free passes off the mound with two hit batters and three walks, but the misplays are what really became challenging for us,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said of the poor defense. “When you only put two runs on the board it’s really difficult when you give them those extra opportunities.”

“We gave away five free passes off the mound with two hit batters and three walks, but the misplays are what really became challenging for us. When you only put two runs on the board it’s really difficult when you give them those extra opportunities.”

The Rangers’ defense committed three errors.

“It’s got to get better,” Banister said. “The one in the outfield (Nomar Mazara), we’ve got to make that play. The throw to second base, Elvis [Andrus] is trying to make a baseball play to get out of a situation and the ball gets away.

“The one to Joey [Gallo, at third base], hard hit ball, typically he’s been good coming up with those type of plays. He didn’t tonight. We can’t continue to give them the extra opportunities with errors and the walks, the lead-off walks come back to haunt you.”

The veteran Napoli greeted the Bregman news with an eye roll. In truth, he was more focused on his own issues at the plate.

“We’re worried about ourselves and playing good baseball,” said Napoli, who entered Monday’s game hitting .146 with three homers. “They’re a good team. We’re a good team. Obviously, they haven’t had the success last year against us but every year is different. We’re not worried about outside stuff or what people feel like they have to do.”

Some of Napoli’s teammates were more dismayed by Bregman’s post. It brought to mind reliever Ken Giles’ postgame comments after a game last June in Arlington.

“He’s always saying crazy things,” said Delino DeShields, who doubled in the third Monday. “I guess I understand it ... well, I guess I don’t.”

This story was originally published May 1, 2017 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Lone Star Series reheats quickly as Astros rally over Rangers."