Rangers sweep first-place Astros with power of ’pen

The Texas Rangers sent a message, whether they admit it or not, Wednesday night.

After sweeping the first-place Houston Astros with a nail-biting 4-3 win at Globe Life Park, the Rangers put the rest of the American League West, and the scrum of teams still holding out wildcard berth hopes, on notice.

They don’t plan to fade away into the 100-degree night. The Rangers pulled to within five games of the Astros and remain three games behind the second-place Angels. They also kept pace and remain two games back in the race for one of two wildcard berths.

It didn’t come easy, either. The Astros had the go-ahead runs on in three of the last four innings, including the ninth when Sam Dyson was in a mess after a leadoff single and hit batter. But Dyson struck out Carlos Gomez for the second out and then forced Carlos Correa into a groundout to short to preserve the win.

“It’s very exciting,” said Dyson, who earned his second save since being traded from the Miami Marlins on Friday. “It’s just nice to help out and play for a solid chance of being in the playoffs. It was definitely nice to get thrown in the fire right away and kind of get your feet wet.”

Texas, which is above .500 for the first time since July 3, jumped on Astros’ starter Scott Kazmir for three first-inning runs, thanks in part to Kazmir’s throwing error on Delino DeShields’ leadoff bunt. The Rangers added another run in the second on a solo homer by catcher Chris Gimenez, who was just called up from Triple A Round Rock on Friday. It was his first major league homer since September 2012 (for Tampa Bay).

“A blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while,” Gimenez joked. “You have to tip our hats to these guys in the bullpen. I think it’s that theory of bend but don’t break.”

Kazmir, who had dominated the Rangers in three previous starts this season, regrouped and retired 12 of the next 13 batters after the homer. He left with two outs in the sixth but the Astros bullpen kept the Rangers from padding their lead. It’s Kazmir’s shortest outing since July 8 and the most runs he’s allowed since June 5.

Meanwhile, the Astros’ offense was chipping away.

They pulled to within 4-1 in the fourth against Rangers’ starter Nick Martinez, who turned 25 on Wednesday. Gomez led off with a walk and scored on Jed Lowrie’s double. Martinez left after five innings and improved to 7-6 with the victory.

“Not only at home, but the team that’s in first place and one of the ball clubs we’re trying to run down,” manager Jeff Banister said. “They’re all big now.”

This story was originally published August 5, 2015 at 11:05 PM with the headline "Rangers sweep first-place Astros with power of ’pen."