ARLINGTON – The AL West frontrunning Rangers broke a tie in the eighth by erupting for four runs, using Wyatt Langford’s leadoff home run as a catalyst and Jake Burger’s three-run blast as the final nail in the coffin to defeat the archrival Astros, 7-3, in a series opener on Friday.
Langford, who was activated off the injured list the day before and eventually ended the game with a walk-off single, took a 1-0 pitch from Bryan King deep to left to give Texas a lead. Burger followed a walk to Josh Jung and a base hit by Brandon Nimmo with his home run to left-center field.
Right-hander Cole Winn (5-2), who pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, earned the victory. Lefty Tyler Alexander pitched around a leadoff hit in the ninth to close things out.
The home run was Langford’s ninth of the season. He is hitting .333 over his past 28 games and has reached base in 31 of his past 33 games, including 12 straight. Burger’s homer was his 16th of the season.
The Rangers are now 23-15 (.595) in their last 38 games, an American League best during the span.
Texas didn’t let Cal Quantrill’s quality start go to waste. The right-hander, inserted into the starting rotation in place of Jack Leiter (who is on the injured list after undergoing right ankle arthroscopic surgery), gave up one run over a season-high six innings.
Making his fourth consecutive start, Quantrill gave up five hits while walking one and striking out one. His only slip was a cutter to Yordan Alvarez, who got his money’s worth on the swing, driving the ball 455 feet into the right-center-field stands. The home run was Alvarez’s 30th home run this season and 200th of his career. The shot made him the second-fastest Astro to reach 30 home runs in a season – 96 games in – trailing only Jeff Bagwell’s 1999 (91).
Still, in his past four starts, Quantrill has a 2.12 ERA. He has also struck out nine against three walks, with a 0.94 WHIP. Moreover, he’s been stretched longer and longer. In the first of the starts, he threw 35 pitches. He threw a season-high 79 on Friday, following outings of 55 and 66.
Quantrill had good defense behind him, too. Langford doubled up Jeremy Peña off a flyout in the top of the first, erasing the leadoff baserunner at second to end the inning. Jung made a backhanded snare of a hard grounder to his right to throw out Brice Matthews at first in the fifth.
Right-hander Chris Martin, however, gave up the lead in the seventh.
Houston’s LaMonte Wade Jr. reached on a leadoff base hit. With one out, Yainer Diaz launched a two-run home run 415 feet to left to tie the game.
The Rangers scored two in their half of the first. Nimmo’s double off the wall in left scored Langford, and Burger’s groundout plated Jung.
Pederson led off the fifth with his 15th home run, which gave Quantrill a comfortable three-run lead for his last two innings of work.