New additions Lucroy, Beltran lead Rangers over Astros
For all the fretting over the Texas Rangers’ offensive inefficiencies since the trade deadline, you haven’t been able to point a finger at their acquisitions.
That point was underlined Saturday night.
Jonathan Lucroy hit two homers and Carlos Beltran had three hits, including a go-ahead RBI single, to lead the Rangers over the Houston Astros 3-2 at Minute Maid Park.
The win pushed the Rangers’ lead over the Astros back to 6 1/2 games in the American League West. The Rangers are now 10-2 against the Astros this season and clinched the Silver Boot series.
The clubs play seven more times, including Sunday’s series finale with Yu Darvish facing right-hander Joe Musgrove.
This is the third season I’ve actually played for something. It’s really cool and a lot of fun out there. It makes it easier to play.
Rangers catcher Jonathan Lucroy
on being in a division race“It’s pretty exciting. Playing meaningful games is always a lot of fun,” said Lucroy, who has three homers and four RBIs since joining the Rangers on Tuesday. “This is the third season I’ve actually played for something. It’s really cool and a lot of fun out there. It makes it easier to play.”
Rangers right-hander Lucas Harrell was in a mess for much of his start Saturday but somehow squirmed out of it for most of his 3 2/3 innings. He left after a single with two outs in the fourth trailing 1-0.
Harrell threw 92 pitches, including just 44 strikes. He walked five, including three consecutive batters in the first that put the Astros up 1-0.
Ten of the 19 batters he faced reached base, but he also struck out five and received some stellar defense behind him. Lucroy threw out Jose Altuve trying to steal second after a lead-off walk in the third. With the bases loaded, Harrell forced a groundout to third to escape.
The Rangers bullpen tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings. Tony Barnette took over to record the final out of the fourth and pitched a scoreless fifth. Keone Kela, Jeremy Jeffress, Jake Diekman each added a perfect inning before Sam Dyson earned his 24th save in the ninth despite allowing the Astros to score a run to pull within 3-2.
Dyson got Marwin Gonzalez, who replaced Altuve after Altuve was ejected for arguing a called third strike in the seventh, to ground out softly to end the game.
Everybody is a closer down there, it seems like. They have stuff that can move and pound the zone and not give anything away.
Rangers reliever Jeremey Jeffress
on the team’s bullpen“The guys down there are animals,” Jeffress said of the bullpen after he had two strikeouts in his second scoreless inning since joining the Rangers on Wednesday. “They go right at guys and hold nothing back. Showcasing what could happen when you get it to us.
“Everybody is a closer down there, it seems like. They have stuff that can move and pound the zone and not give anything away.”
Lucroy’s lead-off homer in the sixth tied it at 1-1 and Beltran’s RBI single in the seventh put the Rangers up 2-1. Shin-Soo Choo, who was 2 for 3, scored on after starting the seventh with his second walk.
Lucroy led off the eighth with an opposite-field homer to make it 3-1. He was in an 0-2 hole before battling back and homering on a 3-2 count.
“When I’m going right I do several [opposite-field homers],” Lucroy said. “I’m just trying to hit the ball where it’s pitched. Trying to hit a bar as hard as you can and let it travel. Two-strike counts never bother me. If anything, it makes you focus even harder.”
Stefan Stevenson: 817-390-7760, @StevensonFWST
This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 11:23 PM with the headline "New additions Lucroy, Beltran lead Rangers over Astros."