The Texas Rangers scored eight runs while the Houston Astros scored zero runs.
The top of the fifth was a big moment for the Rangers as Alejandro Osuna ended the daily no-hit watch with an infield single and then Jake Burger collected the first extra base hit of the weekend for Texas when he smacked a two-run dong to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
That home run meant that Texas wouldn’t be shut out today as they doubled their run output for the series with one swing.
The cold, factual nature of the above
may have come off as sarcastic but I truly am grateful as the home run supported Nathan Eovaldi’s efforts today and eventually that darned dam finally broke for the Rangers at the plate.
Indeed Texas turned to Eovaldi with the requirement that he keep putting up zeros while the lineup was working through whatever the heck has been troubling them and he did just that with seven innings of scoreless ball on five hits and a couple of walks. Eovaldi struck out eight Astros as he picked up his fifth win of the year.
That win was all but assured when the Rangers added five runs in the top of the seventh when Burger again came through with a two-run double with the bases loaded.
Texas has had a devil of a time delivering on bases loaded chances, and producing big innings, so the five-run seventh had to feel cathartic. Following Burger, Kyle Higashioka — who also threw out a would-be base stealer and made some laser precision ABS challenges behind the plate — singled in two more runs and Brandon Nimmo — who robbed a home run earlier in the day — doubled in the fifth and final run of the inning.
In the ninth, Higashioka collected his second home run of the year, a solo shot to finish off the scoring. Meanwhile, reliever Gavin Collyer bounced back from his shakiest outing as a big leaguer against Arizona last Tuesday with a couple of strikeouts in two easy shutout innings.
The first two games of this series were certainly annoying as evident by the fact that the Rangers actually out-scored the Astros 9-6 in this series but come away down a leg in the fight for the Silver Boot, but claiming the finale at least allows them to leave Houston with a victory and some good vibes at the plate.
Player of the Game: Eovaldi deserves a hat tip for coming through inning after inning as he waited for the lineup to catch up to him. That said, you have to acknowledge games like today from Burger and Higashioka when they come.
Burger produced two extra base hits that provided the bulk of the scoring as the Texas first baseman collected four RBI and scored two runs. Meanwhile, Higgy homered and drove in three runs while being a difference-maker behind the plate. A much-appreciated impactful day from the No. 7 and No. 9 hitters in the lineup.
Up Next: The Rangers next travel to Colorado to take on the Rockies with LHP MacKenzie Gore expected to make the start in the opener for Texas against LHP Jose Quintana for Colorado.
The Monday evening first pitch from Coors Field is scheduled for 7:40 pm CDT and you can watch it via the Rangers Sports Network.
