ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brandon Nimmo singled for Texas three batters into the bottom of the first inning a night after three Houston pitchers combined for a no-hitter against the Rangers.
Four more hits and eight runs later, the Rangers were on their way to 10-7 victory made a little more interesting by four homers of at least 422 feet from the Astros.
“It doesn't make any sense sometimes,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said. “You're trying to think
about different ways to win games, last night, late at night. Again this morning. And then we come out and walk and slug. It's kind of a crazy game.”
Jake Burger had a two-run single with the bases loaded, Evan Carter drove home two more with a bouncing triple past first baseman Christian Walker into the right-field corner and Joc Pederson capped the eight-run first with a three-run homer off Jason Alexander after the right-hander had struck him out to start the inning.
“I don’t even remember yesterday,” said Burger, who had struck out in his previous three at-bats with runners in scoring position. “But no, when you see Nimmo break it open, get the hit, everybody kind of takes a deep breath. I don't know if there's anything in the history books of somebody scoring eight runs after a no hit."
Actually, there is.
The first eight-run first inning for the Rangers in 14 years was the second-largest for a team that went hitless in its previous game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Chicago White Sox had a nine-run first against the Boston Americans in the second game of a doubleheader on Sept. 27, 1905, after getting no-hit by Bill Dinneen in the opener.
Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert and Alimber Santa, who was making his major league debut, held Texas hitless in a 9-0 victory in the series opener on Monday night.
After Pederson's strikeout, Alejandro Osuna walked before Nimmo pulled a soft single into right. Josh Jung walked to set up Burger, and after Carter's triple, Ezequiel Duran brought him home with a double to the base of the wall in center.
Kyle Higashioka was hit by a pitch from Alexander (1-1) to bring Pederson back to the plate. His 399-foot drive landed about 12 rows deep in the right-field stands.
Carter also homered and had three hits with four RBIs to end a 2-for-24 slide. Burger had the third of nine Texas hits with the bases loaded this season.
Duran's second run-scoring hit came in the eighth and helped make things a little more comfortable for Texas after the fourth Houston homer in the ninth — the first of the season for Jeremy Peña.
“I think we all know we're better than that,” Carter said, referring to Houston's fifth combined no-hitter, including one in the 2022 World Series. “It's not like we're overhauling anything. Everybody knows that we're better than that.”
Yordan Alvarez homered twice for Houston, the first a three-run shot that went 449 feet. Cam Smith and Peña went deeper with solo shots.
Smith's 457-foot drive in the eighth made him the only player with two homers of at least 450 feet this season. Peña sent his 452-footer into the seats above the Houston bullpen in left-center field.
The Rangers had to go to closer Jacob Latz with two outs in the eighth. He finished off his sixth save with a hard grounder from Alvarez two batters after Peña's drive.
“We needed those add-on runs,” Schumaker said. “They did a really good job coming back, got our closer in the game. After being down eight runs, that was a win pretty much on their side.”
Texas' most recent eight-run first at home came in a 9-0 victory over Tampa Bay on May 3, 2004, when the Rangers played at Globe Life Park, across the street from their current home of Globe Life Field.
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