Rangers win series opener against Astros in dramatic fashion
The heart of the Texas Rangers order came to play when they needed to in the American League West showdown against Houston Monday night.
Mitch Moreland's sixth-inning home run brought the Texas offense to life and then Prince Fielder's homer to centerfield in the eighth inning proved to be the difference in a 5-3 victory.
The big hits proved to be the difference for Texas, which is now a ½ game behind Houston. It's the closest the Rangers have been to first since April 17. The dramatic homers capped a strange night that included two errors by the Rangers, a key balk from Cole Hamels and missed chances early.
But none of that mattered as they Rangers opened the four-game series with their ninth win over Houston in 13 games this season.
"This definitely had a playoff-style atmosphere," said Moreland, whose homer off Scott Kazmir in the sixth inning turned a 2-1 Texas deficit into a short-lived 3-2 lead. "It was a back-and-forth game, a lot of opportunities. The pitchers pitched well. Our bullpen stepped up big. We had some big hits and it was one of those feels that it was a lot of fun to play those games. It was good to come out on top."
Fielder's homer allowed that to happen. The game was tied at 3 in the eighth before the Rangers got to the Houston bullpen. Right-hander Will Harris, who came into the game with a 1.42 ERA, gave up a one-out single to Adrian Beltre.
Fielder, who had just one homer in his last 31 games, then worked the count full before drilling a pitch to center that just got over a leaping Jake Marisnick.
"I knew if it was close I still had to swing," Fielder said. "Even though Adrian's super fast I've got to make sure I protect the plate. I'm trying to get a pitch I can get hard and hopefully it's not a tough one. I knew I hit it good. The way he was going back on it I didn't know if he was going to rob it or not."
The Rangers may have felt they were able to rob the Astros of a win Monday. The Astros left 11 runners on base and were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position. That had a lot to do though with the Texas pitchers coming up big at crucial times.
Houston led 1-0 after Jose Altuve homered off Cole Hamels in the first inning. After the Rangers tied the game in the second, Houston came back to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning.
A balk from Hamels helped the Astros score in that inning, but Hamels rebounded by stranding two runners. That was huge as Moreland went the opposite way off Kazmir an inning later to give Texas its first lead.
Hamels couldn't hold it though as a Colby Rasmus infield single in the seventh tied the game again. But the Rangers were to keep the game right there when Keone Kela finished off the Astros in the eighth with runners on first and second.
That set the stage for the Fielder heroics and a big opener to the series.
"It wasn't easy" said Hamels, who allowed three runs on seven hits in his seven innings. "You've got to battle. They have good hitters over there so you have to be able to make your pitches. Every single guy in that lineup can do damage and especially hit home runs. I've got to bare down a little bit more. We were able to pick our matchups and get the victory but you want to put up zeroes."
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