Odor’s 31st a winner as Rangers see key pitchers rebound

A week ago, the Texas Rangers’ rotation was in the middle of a five-start stretch in which they went 1-4 with an 11.70 ERA.

The lone win was delivered at Seattle by left-hander Martin Perez, who had won only one road game in 13 starts before allowing two earned runs in six innings.

Less than a week later, concerns about the rotation have been reduced and Perez can’t lose on the road. But then there’s the bullpen, and maybe those concerns will start to be minimized, too.

Perez did his part Monday night, allowing two runs on three hits in 6  1/3 innings, but was long gone before Keone Kela and Jake Diekman, two struggling late-inning relief pieces, tossed three scoreless innings to help the Rangers beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Rougned Odor’s 31st homer of the season.

“This is kind of how we’ve played all year long,” manager Jeff Banister said. “They know how to play in these type of situations. Obviously, they continue build on that bank of confidence and know that we’re never out of a ballgame.”

The Rangers reduced their magic number below 10 for the first time. It sits at nine over second-place Seattle, and any combination of nine wins or losses by the Mariners will clinch the American League West for the second straight year.

Odor had three RBIs, including two over the first three innings, but the Rangers’ offense went cold after a hot start. The Rangers saw a 3-2 lead erased in the ninth inning as Evan Gattis took closer Sam Dyson deep.

The Astros’ bullpen, meanwhile, had worked six scoreless innings after starter Doug Fister left after the fifth and hadn’t allowed a hit before Odor’s home run. But Kela set up Odor’s chance with two scoreless innings in the 10th and 11th, and Diekman worked an easy 12th inning for his fourth save and first clean outing in two weeks.

“That’s what I expect to see from these guys and that’s what we need to see from them moving forward,” Banister said. “We believe in all of our guys. Jake is a guy we need for him to get going. Just the vote of confidence for him. He’s been such a huge player for us.”

Perez gave the Rangers a chance to win in nine inning as he struck out six and walked three in his third road start of the season. Two of the walks turned into runs. But he pitched with a lead throughout as the Rangers scored twice in the first inning against Fister. The first five batters reached in the two-run inning, which could have been bigger were it not for an out on the bases by Ian Desmond.

Carlos Beltran had an RBI single to score Carlos Gomez, who started with a walk against his former team, and Odor dropped a double just inside the right-field line to score Beltran.

Houston scored one in the second inning, but the Rangers quickly countered it in the third as Odor singled in Desmond. After that, though, the Rangers’ offense went cold.

Jonathan Lucroy had their only hit, a one-out single in the sixth, until Odor’s 31st homer to start the 12th.

The Astros, meanwhile, didn’t have the third hit until Yuli Gurriel started the seventh with a single against Perez. Lucroy threw out Gurriel trying to steal second, but Perez walked Gattis and was replaced by Matt Bush.

Bush quickly got a fielder’s choice before walking pinch hitter Colby Rasmus and allowing an RBI double to another pinch hitter, Tony Kemp. His liner hopped over the right-field wall, keeping the tying run from scoring.

That proved large as Bush struck out George Springer on a 101-mph fastball to end the threat, and Bush worked a perfect eighth inning to get the game to Dyson.

Gattis, though, homered down the left-field line with one out to hand Dyson his fifth blown save. Dyson had converted saves in seven consecutive outings.

The bullpen continues to be the biggest worry for the Rangers, though Kela and Diekman had a perfect 12th move in the right direction. Diekman said that his timing is back where it needs to be after getting knocked off kilter.

He had allowed runs in three straight outings.

“It just took some repetition, doing it correct again,” Diekman said. “A couple throws in the bullpen, I'll pay attention. I'll check it out again after a few throws and just try to keep up with it.”

But Banister was never overly concerned about the rotation’s rough patch last week. The rebound started Friday with Yu Darvish and included an effective outing Sunday by Colby Lewis in his return from the disabled list.

Including Perez’s outing, Rangers starters have allowed eight runs in their past 24  1/3 innings, good for a 2.96 ERA. A.J. Griffin, roughed up in his last start, is scheduled to start Tuesday.

“Very solid outing for Martin, very in control,” Banister said. “He had a couple situations today that in certain times this year that have gotten away from him, but he was able to come back after a walk and get some ground balls for himself. The changeup and breaking ball were really in play for him, and then he was able to regulate the fastball. Tremendous movement on the fastball.”

Jeff Wilson: 817-390-7760, @JeffWilson_FWST

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 12:04 AM with the headline "Odor’s 31st a winner as Rangers see key pitchers rebound."