Rangers 6, Astros 2
HOUSTON -- Right fielder Shin-Soo Choo continued his torrid month with a three-hit game as the Texas Rangers took a stranglehold on the American League West with a 6-2 victory over the spiraling Houston Astros on Friday night at Minute Maid Park.
The Rangers (84-69) won their eighth consecutive game against the Astros (80-74) and extended their lead in the division to 4 1/2 games. Houston fell to 4-13 against Texas this season and, with the division chase all but over, have shifted their postseason hopes to fending off the Twins and Angels for the second wild card in the American League.
Choo, who entered the series leading the AL in batting (.410), on-base percentage (.539) and walks (19) this month, finished 3-for-5 with a two-run home run. The top of the Texas order laid waste to Astros left-hander Scott Kazmir (7-11), with center fielder Delino DeShields, Choo and third baseman Adrian Beltre finishing a combined 7-for-13 with four runs scored and three RBIs -- all by Choo.
Five Texas relievers kept the Astros at bay over the final five innings, including right-hander Ross Ohlendorf (3-0), who was credited with the win. The Rangers have won 11 of 14 games and have gained six games on the Astros during that stretch.
To add injury to insult, the Astros lost All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve in the seventh inning when he collided with rookie shortstop Carlos Correa pursuing a popup from Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus.
Kazmir continued what has been a miserable month individually, succumbing to the Rangers time and again with two outs in an inning.
Beltre worked a two-out walk in the first inning and scored when designated hitter Prince Fielder followed with an RBI double to the left-center-field gap.
After his throwing error in the second inning allowed first baseman Mitch Moreland to score on Andrus' bunt single, Kazmir surrendered a two-out triple to Rangers catcher Chris Gimenez, plunked DeShields with a pitch, and then allowed a run-scoring single to Choo that upped the Rangers' lead to 3-0.
The Rangers knocked Kazmir out for good with another two-out rally in the fourth, stringing together a DeShields double, a Choo two-run home run (his 19th), a Beltre double and a Fielder RBI single to extend their lead to 6-0.
For Kazmir, four of his eight worst starts this season (according to the GameScore metric) unfolded in September. Friday night was his worst of the lot: six runs on 10 hits over 3 2/3 innings.
Houston mustered a feeble rally against Rangers right-hander Yovani Gallardo, with first baseman Luis Valbuena following Evan Gattis' leadoff triple in the fourth inning with a first-pitch, two-run homer to right field.
Although they managed to prevent Gallardo from being the pitcher of record by chasing him with two outs in the fifth, the Astros were just 1-for-7 against Gallardo with runners in scoring position.
NOTES: Rangers OF Josh Hamilton participated in batting practice and is nearing a return from left knee surgery in, at minimum, a pinch-hitting role. Hamilton underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a slight meniscus tear on Sept. 11. Hamilton has been ravaged by injuries this season, posting a .253/.295/.425 line with six home runs and 21 RBIs in 42 games. ... The Astros announced 1B A.J. Reed and RHP Joe Musgrove as their Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year. Reed hit .340/.432/.612 with 34 home runs and 127 RBIs in 135 games across two levels (High A Lancaster and Double-A Corpus Christi) while Musgrove finished 12-1 with a 1.88 ERA in 19 games (14 starts) across three levels (Class A Quad Cities, Lancaster and Corpus Christi). ... Astros CF Carlos Gomez took batting practice against team coaches in the tunnel, the first time he experienced live batting practice since being sidelined by a left intercostal strain on Sept. 12. Gomez could be used during the Rangers series as a pinch runner or defensive replacement.