Rangers News: Beltre Hits For Cycle, Rangers Top Astros 12-9

Aug 3, 2015; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre (29) celebrates with teammates after hitting a home run to complete the cycle during the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Texas Rangers (52-53) beat the AL West leading Houston Astros (60-47) by a score of 12-9 in a wild affair in Arlington, Texas. Colby Lewis (12-4) got the win for the Rangers and rookie Lance McCullers (5-4) couldn’t even last an inning while taking the loss for the Astros. Shawn Tolleson worked a perfect ninth inning for the Rangers and gained his nineteenth save of the season.

Colby Lewis got the win tonight, but that has all to do with the offensive outburst and nothing to do with the start he turned in. Colby pitched six innings, allowing ten hits, seven earned runs, and struck out three while walking one. I talked about it in the pre-game that Colby Lewis had given up a home run in six straight games and with the Astros coming into town, that could be a problem. The Astros lead the MLB in home runs and Colby Lewis did nothing to buck that trend tonight. In the first inning Astros rookie phenom Carlos Correa turned on a Colby Lewis offering and put it into the left field seats. Then in the second inning, Luis Valbuena homered to right, cutting the Rangers lead to 6-3. Then, with the Rangers up big, Colby Lewis served up another long ball and this one was of the grand variety. Jason Castro turned on a fastball from Lewis, placing one inside the right field foul pole for a grand slam, making it 11-7 Rangers. At the end of the day Colby Lewis did enough to get the win, but I would’ve loved to see him keep the Astros at bay.

Spencer Patton followed Colby Lewis and he wasn’t any better. He was only able to go 2/3 of an inning, allowing two hits and two earned runs in the process. But for a position group that has caught a ton of grief, the rest of the bullpen picked up the pitching staff tonight. Sam Freeman came in and delivered for the Rangers, retiring the two batters he was scheduled to face. Sam Dyson then followed him by throwing 2/3 of an inning of shutout ball and Shawn Tolleson pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

Houston pitcher Lance McCullers has been good so far this year, but he was absolutely atrocious tonight. Lance went 1/3 of an inning, surrendering seven runs and six hits while striking out one. The Rangers offense came out swinging at the fastball and McCullers was never able to recover. Josh Fields came in and did a nice job limiting the damage for the Astros, pitching 1 2/3 innings and allowing just one hit. Astros manager A.J. Hinch then went with a rather bold move, bringing in tomorrows scheduled starter to try and limit the damage. The move backfired as Mike Fiers went five innings, allowing seven hits and six earned runs. More importantly for the Rangers, he threw 96 pitches and put into doubt who the Astros turn to tomorrow. Chad Qualls came in for the eight inning and threw a scoreless inning, but the damage had already been done.

The Rangers had many offensive standouts tonight and this offense has been on a different level in the past week or so. Adrian Beltre paced the offense tonight, hitting for the cycle and needing just five innings to complete it. Rougned Odor, Prince Fielder, Mitch Moreland, Elvis Andrus, and Bobby Wilson all collected two hits on the night and every hitter but Delino DeShields and Josh Hamilton recorded a hit. The Rangers picked a good night to have this kind of offensive output and because of that they got a much needed win.

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For the Astros, they used the same formula they have used all season to produce runs, and that is hitting home runs. Correa, Valbuena, and Castro all hit home runs for the Astros. Newly acquired Carlos Gomez collected two hits for the Astros as did Jed Lowrie, and Castro paced the team with four RBIs. This offense is predicated on the long ball and they showed the raw power that they possess tonight.

With the win, the Rangers move to seven games back of the Houston Astros and just two games back in the AL Wild Card. No one seems to be talking about this Rangers team, but with the way they are playing and finding themselves just two games back, Rangers fans have to like where they stand.

The Texas Rangers (52-53) battle the Houston Astros (60-47) in game two of the three game series tomorrow night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Rangers will turn to Yovani Gallardo (7-9 3.39 ERA) and the Houston Astros will now be searching for a starter after they used scheduled starter Mike Fiers tonight. Fox Sports Southwest will carry the game live locally, and MLB.tv subscribers can watch worldwide on connected devices.

Next: Beltre Hits For The Cycle

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