Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel said he didn’t appreciate the approach Texas second baseman Rougned Odor took the previous night.
While the Rangers (43-47) got the win, they’re still 5.5 games back of the Astros (50-43) for second place in the AL West. If Texas can string together a few more wins as July comes to a close, though, the fireworks between the two sides may just be beginning. Then, Rangers manager Jeff Banister and AJ Hinch went toe to toe with one another and got into a heated argument.
After a Friday night matchup that saw benches clear in the ninth inning, there was some hope that the heightened emotions might signal a turning point for a Texas team that has struggled for most of July.
They had at least one man on base in every inning except the fourth and often had multiple players on, but missed chance after chance to score, leaving 10 stranded. Feldman (4-5) hit the disabled list following right knee surgery in May. In the sixth, Valbuena had another two-run single to make it 7-0.
Astros catcher Hank Conger appears to have tried to “prompt” Mr. Odor to step up. Current Texas Rangers pitcher Wandy Rodriguez was the last Astros pitcher to record 13 strikeouts in a game on August 29, 2011 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“The singles are notable, because this guy has had a hard time finding singles”, said manager A.J. Hinch jawed in the middle of the scrum. Hinch on Saturday, but no ejections were handed out after order was restored.2. Conger, crouching behind the plate and ready for the first pitch, said something and gestured for Odor to get into the box. Odor singled with one out in the first, but was out trying to stretch it into a double. “Stay away from that”.
“I don’t really know that Odor guy much, but he’s got some good veterans he can learn the game from over there like (Adrian) Beltre and Prince”, Feldman said. He doesn’t need to act like that. Highlighting the effort was none other than Odor, who led off the inning by smashing a triple that rolled up Tal’s hill. Josh Hamilton added an RBI double that extended the lead to 7-4. Tolleson retired the next three batters for his 14th save.
Shortstop Carlos Correa (2-for-3 with two walks and three runs) and designated hitter Evan Gattis (2-for-3 with a walk and a hit by pitch) reached base in each of their opening four plate appearances.
Yovani Gallardo (7-9) yielded seven hits and tied a season-high with five runs in four-plus innings for his third straight loss. But even if they do not win their division this year, for the first time since 2005, Astros fans might see their team play baseball in October. Third baseman Luis Valbuena recorded the first four-hit game of his career and finished 4-for-5 with a double and a career-high-tying four RBIs.
Astros: 1B Chris Carter sat out a day after spraining his ankle. “There’s a lot of soreness right now”, he said.
Keuchel, making his first start after being the American League starter in the All-Star Game, was right back to his increasingly dominant self to start the second half.
Keuchel leads the Major League Baseball in innings pitched (137.3) and is having his best season in terms of ERA (2.23) and WHIP (1.00).
