Rangers recap: Another display of power makes for Texas-sized sweep of Astros

The Texas Rangers wanted to hold their own against the American League West-leading Houston Astros entering their four-game series this week. They did much more than that. The Rangers swept the series with a 8-2 win Thursday night, overtook the Astros atop the division, and then padded that lead to 2 1/2 games at Globe Life Park.

The teams meet for a three-game series on Sept 25-27 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Pitching: The Astros scored twice against Colby Lewis in the fourth with two outs. Jed Lowrie singles to right and scored on Evan Gattis’ hard-slicing double that sailed over Mike Napoli’s head. Luis Valbuena’s single to center scored Gattis to pull Houston to within 3-2.

Keone Kela took over for Lewis in the seventh and had to work himself out of trouble after a leadoff single and walk. Adrian Beltre fielded Jose Altuve’s one-hopper at third, stepped on the bag and threw to first for the double play. Kela struck out George Springer to end the inning. Sam Dyson pitched a perfect eighth and Ross Ohlendorf closed it out in the ninth. Lewis improved to 16-8 after holding Houston two two runs on seven hits and no walks.

Hitting: Mitch Moreland’s three-run homer in the third gave Texas a 3-0 lead. Shin-Soo Choo’s single and Prince Fielder’s walk set up Moreland’s two-out, opposite-field blast on a curve ball. The Rangers scored two more in the seventh to make it 5-2. Chris Gimenez led off with single and Drew Stubbs was used as a pinch-runner. He moved to second on Delino DeShields’ sacrifice bunt and stole third without a throw before scoring on a wild pitch. Choo singled for the third time and scored on Adrian Beltre’s double to the right-center gap. Texas added three more in the eighth on Bobby Wilson’s run-scoring double and Choo’s two-run single.

Notable: Andrus struck out for the first time in his previous 55 plate appearances, the longest streak of his career ... Andrus stole two bases in the eighth inning, giving him 20 for the season. He has 20 or more stolen bases in each of his seven seasons in the league ... Texas has won the past seven games with Houston and lead the series 12-4 ... Choo had his 12th-career four-hit game and second this season ... the Astros were swept in a four-game series for the first time in 2015 ... the Rangers swept a four-game series for the first time since Sept. 26-29, 2013 against the Angels.

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Another display of power makes for Texas-sized sweep of Astros."