Leiter goes 'blow for blow' with Arrighetti, but Rangers' bats fall flat in Houston

HOUSTON -- Jack Leiter began to strut off the mound, assuming he struck out Christian Vázquez in the bottom of the seventh inning. But then, Leiter paused in the middle of the infield grass as the Astros' catcher challenged the pitch.

The call was confirmed as the 96.3 mph sinker clipped the bottom of the zone, completing Leiter’s stellar day on the mound.

The 25-year-old threw seven innings of one-run ball, all of which were necessary as Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti took a no-hitter in the eighth inning. The Rangers' offense gave Leiter little room for error, so a solo homer into the Crawford Boxes from Isaac Paredes would be the difference in Texas’ 2-0 loss.

“It feels like we gave away a really good start from Jack,” said manager Skip Schumaker. “I don't know if you want to say wasted opportunity, but when you have a pitcher go seven innings, give up three hits, one run, I mean, you should win those games. Their pitcher was really good tonight, and kept us off-balance, did a really good job. But Jack deserved to win that game, we just couldn't get anything going.”

Leiter no doubt gave everything he had to give the Rangers a chance to win with only the fourth time in his young career that he’s completed seven full innings.

The lone run Leiter allowed on Paredes’ solo shot was on a four-seamer that leaked over the middle of the plate. Still, the right-hander remained quick and efficient, completing his outing on 98 pitches.

“It happens, it’s part of baseball,” Leiter said. “They say solos don't beat you. They usually don't.”

Leiter needed a smooth outing like this after a volatile pair of starts against the Tigers and Cubs in the last two weeks. While he wasn’t fully to blame, he allowed six runs in 6 2/3 innings in Detroit before deep counts and five walks led to an abbreviated scoreless outing against Chicago.

Between starts, he worked with pitching coaches Jordan Tiegs and Dave Bush to streamline his mechanics to get him toward a more repeatable delivery.

“You always try to stay process-minded,” Leiter said. “I feel like a lot of the things we were working on showed up in the game, which is fortunate. Obviously, I really wish we could get a win, but from a process standpoint, I felt good about a lot.”

The Rangers' offense ultimately mustered just one hit in the loss, a single by Justin Foscue to break up the no-hitter, and while there was often traffic on the bases with four walks and an error, it led to stranded runners and wasted opportunities.

That’s been the story of the season so far. And it was the story of 2025 as well. The Rangers’ pitching is continually keeping them in games. The offense has shown signs of life in flashes. But they’ve been unable to string good offensive games together.

“Jack was great,” Schumaker said. “He was going blow for blow with their starter and kept us in the game, 1-0, to the very end. You couldn't ask for anything more than that. Unfortunately, he gets the loss, but Jack's last couple starts, he’s just been trending up ever since that Detroit series. He's going to be pretty special for us the whole year.”