Rangers reaction on a night the new hands took the wheel

It’s been a while since I’ve used this but tonight is as good a night as any: The Rangers (64-47) tied their third-best start through 111 games with Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Astros. Only the 1999 and 2012 teams had better records at this point in the season. Texas has the best record in the American League with 51 remaining.

More importantly, they increased their lead back to 6 1/2 games on the Astros and will be no worse than 5 1/2 up with a loss in Sunday’s series finale in which Yu Darvish takes the hill against Joe Musgrove.

Three quick thoughts on Saturday’s win before I have to get up in five hours:

1. Beltran’s bruise — Carlos Beltran left the game in the middle of the seventh inning with a left quad bruise after an awkward slide at home plate. Banister said he expects Beltran to be fine but he’ll be checked Sunday morning. A few days off for Beltran are probably coming no matter the severity. By the way, many wondered by Banister didn’t pinch-run for Beltran after he singled in the seventh. A speedier runner such as Delino DeShields may have scored on Rougned Odor’s double to the left-center gap. Banister didn’t want to lose Beltran’s bat in a tight game. (It was 2-1 at the time.) DeShields did come out for the bottom of the inning to replace Beltran in right. And sure enough, Beltran’s No. 3 spot in the order came around again in the ninth. DeShields struck out.

2. Altuve ejection — Astros All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve was ejected by homeplate umpire Alan Porter after a called third strike in the seventh inning.

Altuve shared his disapproval with Porter, whose patience ran out before Astros maanger A.J. Hinch made it out to the plate. It’s the first ejection in Altuve’s six-year career. The pitch may have been slightly outside to the right-hitting Altuve but too close to take. At least, that’s what Rangers’ catcher Jonathan Lucroy thought.

“I thought it was a good pitch. If I get called out on that pitch I’m mad at myself,” he said. “You can’t put your fate in the umpire’s hands, not with two strikes. With two strikes, you have to expand your zone a little bit and protect the plate. That’s how I look at it.”

3. Lucas Harrell, magician — In an odd way, you have to admire the performance of Lucas Harrell Saturday night. In his second start for the Rangers (both Texas wins, by the way), the right-hander managed to allow just one run through 3 1/2 innings despite more than have the batters he faced reaching — four in the first, one in the second, four in the third and one in the fourth. He walked five, allowed five hits and struck out five. There has to be some sort of casino meaning in there. Whatever it is, he was dodging disaster for much of the night.

“I backed myself into some pretty bad situations but kind of battled my way out of it,” said Harrell, a former Astro. “I played here and this is a team I really want to beat and this team is also in second place behind us so I wanted to make sure and keep the game close. When it really came down to it I really made some pitches.”

Harrell, of course, tipped his cap to the bullpen, which finished the game with 5 1/3 scoreless innings.

“Can’t say enough about what the bullpen did today,” he said. “They did a great job.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 1:35 AM with the headline "Rangers reaction on a night the new hands took the wheel."