Moreland’s fly helps Rangers overtake Astros for 1st in AL West

“We’re in it. We’re having a hard time getting to the finish line on the right side of these”.

His now famous shouting match with Astros catcher Hank Conger turned into a bench-clearer that led to the near-iconic photo of Jeff Banister and A.J. Hinch going at it in the middle of everything. Pinch runner Drew Stubbs, in for Fielder, went to third. His 19 wins are two more than he managed from 2012-14 combined, when the right-hander struggled with his command and an identity on the mound. Keuchel gave up 11 hits in his 4 2/3 innings. He ended up leaving the game. It was his 27th career game with multiple homers…. The contest lasted five hours, 23 minutes.

Keuchel’s ERA rose from 2.22 to 2.56 after his 4 2-3 innings.

Adonis Garcia led off the ninth with an infield single against Aaron Sanchez (7-6). Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo also had three hits.

Christian Yelich went 3-for-5 with a fifth-inning RBI double and a run-scoring groundout in the seventh.

The team, citing Elias, said the Rangers joined five teams since 1969 to take the first division lead this late in the season.

Slugger Adrian Beltre collected his fourth hit on the night, that was just one of many game-changing hits for him in that game.

Franklin went deep off Nick Rumbelow for his second home run of the season. He hit solo shots in the fourth and sixth innings. They’ve won the first three games of the series, four straight games, and they have no intention of stopping anytime soon. He scattered five hits, struck out nine and walked one.

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pinch-runner Quintin Berry raced home on Anthony Rizzo’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th inning, and Chicago slipped by Pittsburgh. It was the third quality start for Simon in his last nine outings. Erik Johnson (2-0) gave up three runs and six hits over six innings. It was Martinez’s first three-hit night since he had four against the Seattle Mariners on July 6.

Miller (5-15) didn’t make it through the fourth inning.

Hisashi Iwakuma (8-4) allowed one run and struck out a season-high nine in six strong innings.

While Texas handed Keuchel the kind of career-high numbers he’d rather avoid (nine earned runs allowed, three home runs allowed), it might not have made that much a difference who was pitching. A three-run homer by Napoli and a two-run homer by Odor were the big blows.

Stephen Piscotty grounded into a force at second to bring up Heyward.

And, then there’s the chance the Chicago Cubs – and it’s a great chance – have of making it to the postseason.

David Murphy homered for the second straight game for the Angels.

The Nationals took advantage of a weak opponent for the second consecutive game, beating the Phillies and gaining a game on the Mets – cutting the division lead to 8.5 games with 17 to play.

Pollock’s homer was his 16th.

The Rangers knocked Keuchel out of the game with two runs in the fifth. Luke Jackson closed it out in the ninth.