The Texas Rangers have had a road trip to forget thus far. Errors haunted them in a two-game sweep at the hands of the San Francisco Giants. Now, in the first game of the season against their in-state rival Houston Astros, the Rangers beat themselves once again.
Texas dropped the first game of the Silver Boot series, losing by a score of 4-3. The winning run was scored on a wild pitch from Brett Martin with two outs in the 11th inning.
Prior to the winning run crossing the plate, the Rangers and Astros had been deadlocked at 3-3 since Joey Gallo tied the game with an RBI groundout in the top of the third inning. Astros starter Cristian Javier outlasted Rangers starter Mike Foltynewicz, but the Rangers bullpen pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings until Martin's wild pitch.
"We fought. That's the one thing we did do all game," said Rangers manager Chris Woodward. "They left a ton of runners on base. It felt like we were playing golf, just scrambling from the woods the whole time. It felt like the leadoff guy was on every inning. Our guys kept fighting. We just couldn't get the big hit."
Nothing personified the Rangers' fight quite like a Gold Glove-caliber play from a Gold Glove winning right fielder. With the bases loaded and only one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Myles Straw flew out deep enough to right field to give a chance for Chas McCormick to score from third base. However, Gallo fired a dart home to prevent the winning run from scoring.
Willie Calhoun delivered the first blow in the fight, dispensing the first pitch of the game from Javier into the right field seats to give Texas an early 1-0 lead. Where the Rangers missed a golden opportunity was in the second inning, when they loaded the bases with nobody out, but only managed to push one run across to extend their lead to 2-0.
On the flip side, the Astros loaded the bases in the bottom half of the second inning with one out, and Jose Altuve hit one passed Charlie Culberson at third base on a ball that seemed playable. Instead, the ball rolled into the left field corner, clearing the bases and giving Houston a 3-2 advantage.
"I would have like to seem him kind of attack that ball," Woodward said. "It's not an easy play. It's an in between play. He's kind of in no man's land, and came in to guard against the bunt there and put himself in a tough spot . . . But we battled back. We were tied after that and had plenty of chances to win the game."
The Rangers (18-21) will try again on Friday night against the Astros (21-17). Texas will call up left-hander Wes Benjamin (0-1, 4.76 ERA) from Triple-A Round Rock to square off against Houston's Zack Greinke (2-1, 4.23 ERA).
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