Rangers Strike Back With Long Ball, Clobber Astros 8-1

The Texas Rangers bounced back from a tough defeat on Monday night, riding three home runs to an 8-1 victory over the Houston Astros.

Author:
Chris Halicke
Sep 14, 2021 11:24 PM EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers didn't wait very long to get some revenge after a 15-1 thrashing by their division rival Houston Astros.

The Rangers put together a complete performance, trampling the Astros by a score of 8-1. The Texas lineup only managed seven hits on the night, but made each one of them count. Three of those hits, in particular, decided the game.

Nathaniel Lowe got the Rangers on the board early with a two-run home run over the Texas bullpen in the first inning. Two innings later, Adolis García smacked his 30th homer of the season — also a two-run shot — off the batter's eye in center field. García's homer tied Pete Incaviglia's Rangers record for most home runs in a season by a rookie.

In addition to the homer, García added two doubles to cap off an impressive three-hit night.

After Nick Solak added another run with an RBI single in the sixth inning, DJ Peters put the game effectively on ice with a three-run blast into the Houston bullpen to give the Rangers an 8-0 lead. It was Peters' 12th homer of the season, and since August 11, he has 11 homers in 29 games. That mark is tied for the third most in MLB during that span.

While the offense rode the long ball to a win, Jordan Lyles had arguably his best performance of the season. Lyles dominated the tough Astros lineup, pitching seven shutout innings on 98 pitches. Only three Astros registered a hit of Lyles, none of which were for extra bases. Lyles also walked only one batter and struck out seven.

The Astros only run came on an RBI single by Carlos Correa in the ninth inning off Josh Sborz.

What's Next

After splitting the first two games, the Rangers (54-90) and Astros (84-60) continue their four-game series at Globe Life Field on Wednesday night. Kohei Arihara (2-3, 5.89 ERA) will get the nod for Texas, as he squares off against Houston right-hander José Urquidy (6-3, 3.51 ERA).