Rangers recap: Texas sweeps first-place Astros

The Texas Rangers swept the first-place Houston Astros and moved above .500 for the first time since July 3 with a 4-3 win Wednesday night at Globe Life Park.

Pitching: Nick Martinez retried nine of the first 10 batters, allowing just a walk through the first three innings. In the fourth, Carlos Gomez led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Jed Lowrie’s double to right-center. Martinez left after five innings and 89 pitches. He allowed one run on one hit and three walks before Phil Klein started the sixth. With one out, Klein walked Carlos Correa and Lowrie. Correa stole third on Lowrie’s walk, and scored on Evan Gatts’ single to right. Sam Freeman replaced Klein with one out and runners at first and second and walked in a run after walking Colby Rasmus and Hank Conger on a combined 10 pitches. Freeman struck out Luis Valbuena with a high fastball for the second out before Spencer Patton came in to face right-hitting Jake Marisnick with the bases still loaded. Patton forced Marisnick to pop out to center to preserve the 4-3 lead. Jake Diekman pitched the eighth and after walking the leadoff hitter induced a 4-6-3 double play. After a single and a wild pitch put the tying run at second, Diekman escaped with a fly out to right. In the ninth, Sam Dyson was in trouble after a leadoff single and a hit batter put two on with one out. He struck out Carlos Gomez and then forced Correa into a groundout to short to end the game. Dyson earned his second save with the Rangers since being traded from the Miami Marlins.

Hitting: Texas scored three runs in the first against Astros’ starter Scott Kazmir, matching the total runs the Rangers had scored against him in the 21 prior innings this season. A couple errors, including a throwing error to first by Kazmir on Delino DeShields’ leadoff bunt, set the stage for Texas. DeShields scored on Prince Fielder’s sacrifice fly. Ryan Strausborger and Adrian Beltre both scored on singles from Mitch Moreland and Elvis Andrus to make it 3-0. In the second, Chris Gimenez homered to center to make it 4-0. In the sixth, Texas had runners at first and second with two outs but reliever Chad Qualls, who replaced Kazmir in the inning, forced to Gimenez to ground out.

Notable: Gimenez’s homer in the second was his first since Sept. 29, 2012 for Tampa Bay ... four runs by Kazmir are the most he’s allowed in a start since June 5.

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Texas sweeps first-place Astros."