ARLINGTON — Astros left fielder Chas McCormick took a moment to look around the stands at Globe Life Field and into the sold-out crowd, many of whom were dressed in Houston orange. Crowd cheers at pivotal moments on Friday night evoked a playoff atmosphere that helped the playoff-hardened Astros rise to the challenge in their biggest series of the season.
The Astros started the second half of their regular-season schedule five games adrift of first-place finish in the American League West — a position they hadn’t attained this season since 2016 — and played like a team looking for one Battle your way to a 5-3 win over Rangers from a deficit in a great opening game in a Lone Star Series Showdown.
Mauricio Dubón, starting shortstop in place of Jeremy Peña (stiff neck), blasted a two-run double into left field to put the Astros ahead and scored three runs in Houston’s sixth inning. Houston’s bullpen was great: Phil Maton, Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly eliminated 12 of the last 13 Texas batters.
“We played inspired baseball,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker.
As a matter of fact. The Astros won their third straight game to move within four games of the Rangers in the AL West with three games remaining in the series. Houston improved to 13-4 in his last 17 games at Globe Life Field since 2021.
“This club can come at you here, so we want to keep them within striking distance,” Baker said. “You always want to win the first game because that gives you a lot of confidence for the second game and hopefully you can do the same in the second game. Four game streaks are tough. You are very tough. It was very important for us to win the first game.”
The tone was set on Friday evening – who else? — Jose Altuve, who smashed up Rangers starter Jon Gray’s first pitch of the game and sailed him 421 feet over the wall in midfield for his 34th career home run. The thousands of Astros fans in the stands erupted as Houston drew the first blood.
“Tonight felt like a playoff game and Altuve hit the first pitch right down the middle, was pretty great,” McCormick said. “Having him back in the lineup and getting us going is very special for him. He’s a great player and that’s what makes a great player.”
Baker called it “Vintage Altuve”.
“We’ve seen it many times,” he said. “I don’t know how many homers he hit early in the game. It doesn’t matter how far as long as it goes over the fence.
However, some confusion ensued in the sixth inning when Dubón attempted to land a bunt with runners on first and second base and no outs and dismissed it as a foul. Two pitches later, he ripped a left double to score José Abreu from second place, and an aggressive send from third base coach Gary Pettis paid off when Rangers All-Star catcher Jonah Heim failed to make the relay throw and Yainer Diaz scored the starting shot for the first run.
“I wanted him to shine in that situation,” Baker said of Dubón. “He tried to play baseball. I just tell him, ‘You let me think, you do the play.’”
Baker and Dubón later cleared up the misunderstandings in a conversation at the railing of the shelter.
“I was trying to put myself down, push the runners forward and do my job,” Dubón said. “I didn’t make it and was rewarded with a double in the end.”
The Astros will look to maintain their energy and commitment for the remainder of the series, knowing there will be a two-game turnaround in each of the remaining three games at Arlington.
“This game was pretty fun to attend and seemed like there were a lot of Astros fans,” McCormick said. “I’m just glad we won. It was a really good game from us. We still have three to go but tonight it was huge.”