Bullpen pitches out of trouble, Rangers beat Astros 4

Manager A.J. Hinch and a trainer went on the field, but Gomez stayed in the game and homered on his next at-bat.

Astros: Scott Feldman (4-5) starts Thursday when Houston starts a four-game series at Oakland, the second of three consecutive road series. Kazmir has tossed shutouts in four of his last five outings over 34 innings.

Adrian Beltre had his third career cycle Monday night, becoming the first major league player since the 1930s to accomplish that feat. But they never recovered from the three-run rally the Rangers mounted in the fifth for a come-from-behind 4-3 victory. “Tolleson has been pitching a lot lately, so we had him on the ropes”.

Texas took advantage terrible Astros defense in the first inning, by scoring three runs off of two errors.

But Kazmir couldn’t get another win against Texas and prevent the AL West-leading Astros from a three-game sweep.

The Astros scored two runs within the sixth towards relievers Phil Klein and Sam Freeman, who mixed to challenge 4 walks within the inning. Altuve singled and scored on Gomez’s double. Houston scored seven of its nine runs on homers, as Jason Castro, rookie Carlos Correa and Luis Valbuena went deep. He then stole second base, putting himself in scoring position with no one out.

Delino DeShields’ triple and singles by Rougned Odor and Josh Harrison drove in the runs.

Houston came into tonight having to feel confident, as they had AL ERA leader Scott Kazmir on the mound. Two outs later, Straily walked Mitch Moreland to prompt a call to the bullpen. I was trying to give us six strong innings and I wasn’t able to get that done.

Kazmir entered the game with a. 221 opponent batting average in 113 at-bats against left-handed batters this season.

But the odds were thrown out the window, as Martinez outpitched Bumgarner and the Rangers opened the series with a 6-3 win before eventually winning the series.

“That’s a tough day”, Hinch said. “By the time I got to the field and got loose and toed the rubber you forget all the outside stuff of the rest of the day and really focus on the task at hand”.

“They did a great job today”, Gallardo said. “I’m shooting for 100 more right now”.

“I think we’re playing good ball right now”.

Sometimes, it’s more about timing and a bit of luck. “We did not play very properly this collection”. After striking out Evan Gattis, Freeman walked Colby Rasmus to load the bases with one out.

Preston Tucker greeted Freeman with a single to center. “Bases-loaded in that situation and making quality pitches”. He had a double in the second and a single in the third before his ninth homer of the season made it 12-7. Valbuena followed with a single through the left side, beating the shift to put runners at the corners with nobody out. “It was frustrating”, Gonzalez said.

The Texas Rangers are right in the middle of the Wild Card race and show no signs of going away.