He struck out four, walked three and had two wild pitches. They’ve won eight of nine and scored at least 10 runs in each of their past three games. Mazara, Ian Desmond, Mitch Moreland, Carlos Beltran and Rougned Odor each drove in two runs. Houston got scoreless innings out of Will Harris and Luke Gregerson before Ken Giles notched his eighth save.Houston pushed the lead to 7-5 in the sixth on an RBI grounder from Jose Altuve.Texas got a leadoff triple in ninth off Giles and an RBI grounder from Adrian Beltre with one out.
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Notable: Darvish’s four innings are his shortest outing since August 9, 2014 when he allowed five earned runs in four innings against the Astros before being shut down the rest of the season.
Mazara hit his two-run homer in the fifth, when the Rangers chased starter Joe Musgrove.
“I believe that the offense has proven their ability to put runs on the board and how they fit together inside the lineup”, Banister said.
A late show from the Colorado Rockies saw them defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 14-7, the Detroit Tigers edged the Kansas City Royals 7-6, and the Chicago White Sox got the better of the Minnesota Twins 11-4.
Half an inning later, Beltre hit his 26th homer into the visitors’ bullpen in left-center field, and then Texas went ahead 3-1 on Moreland’s two-out, two-run double in the fourth. We had to tack on some runs first, and then hold them off.
Rangers: LHP Derek Holland (6-6, 4.68) is 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts since returning from a stint on the 60-day disabled list because of left shoulder inflammation.
Holland has won his last two starts and is 5-1 at home this season.
Tampa Bay’s Matt Duffy hit a three-run double to key a five-run sixth inning that lifted the Rays past Toronto 7-5. “That’s what you have to do against good teams like this, get ahead of them early and continue to apply pressure”.
Atlanta’s Adonis Garcia scored the winning run in the 10th inning after homering twice earlier in the game, powering the Braves past Philadelphia 6-4. “I had to make sure it was all it could be”.
– Orioles slugger Pedro Alvarez connected on his 20th home run against the Yankees.
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish, left, of Japan, is met at the mound by catcher Jonathan Lucroy during the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016. The Dallas native performed a front walkover before picking up the ball and delivering a flawless strike.
Astros: Altuve is day to day after feeling discomfort in his right calf while trying to beat the throw to first on the game-ending double play. While manager A.J. Hinch said INF Marwin Gonzalez was available as a defensive replacement or pinch-hitter, he hasn’t played since leaving midway through Wednesday game because of a right hamstring injury. Manager Jeff Banister said Lucroy could play Sunday. The 29-year-old looks to continue his positive momentum when he faces Texas, against which he owns a 4-1 career record despite allowing the club to bat.341 versus him.
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Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish, of Japan, walks into the dugout after the third inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016. The loss came on June 9, when the Rangers knocked McHugh out in the fourth inning.
