Texas Rangers: Top 5 Moments from the first half

Marcus Semien's sends a ball for a ride in Houston

The Rangers and Astros have only played one series against each other this season and that was back in April in Houston. The Rangers entered that weekend having not won a series at Minute Maid Park since 2018. It has become a house of horrors for the Rangers since then. They had their chance to show a national audience on ESPN that this start was for real. In the seventh inning with the Rangers leading 2-0 Marcus Semien came through with the big hit.

The Rangers ended up winning 9-1 and ending their streak of losing series in Houston and handed a loss to Framber Valdez. It was a statement to the Astros and to the rest of baseball that the Rangers are here and they are not going anywhere. Since then they have grown their division lead from 1.5 games to 5.0 games over Houston.