Article Author:
Reuters
The Texas Rangers had to show a competitive edge from the start if they were to have any success against Houston Astros right-hander Justin Verlander on Wednesday.
Texas did just that, and his current three-game load of his series he squared off in ten innings with an 8-4 win. The Rangers started off with a hard-hitting first inning against Verlander in which he fouled on nine pitches.
The Rangers failed to score in the opening frame, but Verlander ran out 22 pitches while stranding a pair of baserunners, allowing three runs in six innings and allowing one earned run or one seventh inning. Finished the consecutive starts. Few.
The tone was initially set, which Verlander described as "a bit of a grind". After showing some early fighting, the Rangers scratched runs with timely fly balls in the fourth and sixth.
"We should give them a tip," said Verlander. "We had a runner on third base, and with less than two outs, they put together some good at-bats on me and got some sacrifice flies." Flamber Valdez, lefty (10-4) , an ERA of 2.87) will start the Astros' series finale on Thursday. He made consecutive quality runs by limiting the Cleveland Guardians to 3 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks on 3 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings in a 9–3 win on August 5. Extending his starting streak to 18.
Valdez is 9-3 with a 2.68 ERA and a .591 OPS against his opponents. He worked less than six innings twice in his first three starts of the season, but he hasn't since, giving up three or more earned runs in 21 starts. Only once.
Valdes is 4-2, and against the Rangers he has appeared in 10 games (seven starts) and has a 2.78 ERA. He went 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in his two starts this season, against Texas in a 5-1 win over the Rangers in a 5-1 game where he had six hits. In seven innings, he struck out seven and held him to two walks.
Rangers rookie lefty Cole Ragans (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second career start on Thursday. He limited his Sox to his three hits, four walks and three strikeouts in his fifth inning in his league debut in the majors on August 4 in Chicago. . 2016 draft. He had 18 or more starts in Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Roundrock before promotion, going 8-5 with a 3.04 ERA.
Rangers center His fielder Leodi Taveras led the offense on Wednesday, and his career-high five RBIs saw him finish 2-for-4. Taveras has gone 16-1 in his last four games, rolling an innocuous ground ball to first base on the first pitch of his first at-bat in the first inning. But as a showcase for his growth and perseverance, Taveras calmed himself down, hitting a triple in the fourth and putting the Rangers on the board before hitting a sacrifice fly and a base hit in the sixth. Added clearing of . He doubled the game wide open in the tenth inning.
"He's come a long way in a short time," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "And he proved to us that I can't keep him out of the lineup."
– Field Level Media
