Rangers hit three homers in 4-2 win
HOUSTON - Typically loquacious to the point of casual humor, Texas manager Ron Washington didn't have much to expound upon Friday night, not after his Rangers delivered a performance so tidy and efficient that anything beyond superficial analysis was unnecessary.
The Rangers slugged three solo home runs, a pair from their two left fielders, and rode another dominating bullpen effort to a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Right-handed hitting Jeff Baker, who went 0-for-2 against Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel, greeted lefty reliever Wesley Wright (0-1) with an opposite-field home run leading off the seventh inning to put the Rangers ahead 3-2.
His replacement a half-inning later, left-handed hitting David Murphy, did the same to lefty Travis Blackley in the ninth as the Rangers (22-13) defeated the Astros (10-26) for the seventh time in eight meetings.
"That one (Nelson) Cruz got was huge to get us back in the ballgame right there after they stole a run from us," Washington said of the mammoth, sixth-inning homer Cruz hit off the glass paneling above the left-field seats. "And then Baker gets us the lead run and Murphy a little bit of insurance. It was all needed."
After Robbie Ross (1-0) and Tanner Scheppers retired the seven batters they faced to close the sixth and complete the seventh and eighth, Texas closer Joe Nathan picked up his 10th save with a perfect ninth inning.
The Rangers' bullpen opened the weekend ranked fourth in the American League in ERA (2.85). Ross, Scheppers and Nathan needed just 43 pitches, 27 of which were strikes, to record their 10 outs.
"We are in a pretty good rhythm right now," Nathan said. "The young guys who were question marks coming into the year are throwing the ball great. Obviously, we are passing the ball along pretty good.
"We have confidence down there. We are just trying to throw as many quality pitches as we can and get outs. We know coming out of the pen we got to be aggressive, throw strikes and get outs for us. Fortunately, it has gone well."
Keuchel made his first start of the season a memorable one, practically mimicking his major-league debut against the Rangers last season. On June 17, 2012, Keuchel limited Texas to one run on four hits in five innings, with his latest performance against Texas nearly as good.
"I felt good," Keuchel said. "Before the game I told some of the guys that, since I went to the bullpen and then had that one start in Triple-A (Oklahoma City), my body has been responding well. Even though I got a little hot early, I was able to settle in a little bit."
Keuchel allowed two runs in six innings, the only blemishes coming when he walked Elvis Andrus with the bases loaded in the third, and when Cruz crushed a 1-1 fastball 416 feet to knot the score at 2-2.
Considering he pitched in relief just three days earlier, Keuchel wasn't in position to give much more. And because Rangers right-hander Alexi Ogando was equally effective, Keuchel didn't have much wiggle room.
Ogando allowed runners in each of his five-plus innings but limited the damage by inducing a Carlos Pena flyout with the bases loaded in the first and fanning Trevor Crowe with two on for the final out of the third. Crowe belted a leadoff homer in the second to give Houston a 1-0 lead.
Ogando left with two outs in the sixth, having surrendered two runs, five hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Keuchel threw 83 pitches, a quality start erased by the Rangers' late-game excellence.
"Dallas was tremendous," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "He did a great job of attacking the zone and throwing the sinker ball away. He pitched to both sides of the plate and got a lot of ground balls. He kept us right there for six innings."
NOTES: Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos encountered travel snafus after his recall from Triple-A Round Rock. The Express were in Las Vegas, and Chirinos had two separate flights to Houston cancelled, forcing him to fly to Dallas and drive with team personnel to Minute Maid Park. He arrived less than an hour before the first pitch. ... Astros right-hander Josh Field began a rehab assignment on Friday with Class A Quad Cities. Fields has been on the 15-day disabled list since April 4 with a right forearm strain. With his leadoff double in the eighth inning, Rangers designated hitter Lance Berkman extended his hitting streak at Minute Maid Park to 16 games dating back to July 26, 2010.
