Rangers stay atop AL West after heated rout of Astros

HOUSTON — Marcus Semien is often as calm and regular as they arrive.

But the Rangers’ star second baseman felt like he was deliberately hit by Astros starter Framber Valdez throughout Wednesday evening’s sequence finale.

So he wore his feelings on his sleeve, sharing phrases with Valdez and with catcher Martín Maldonado. Then he hopped in celebration onto house plate when Adolis García put an exclamation level onto the 13-5 sequence finale win by hitting a grand slam onto the prepare tracks at Minute Maid Park.

“Any time a guy gets hit, it’s between the pitcher and the catcher, the manager, whoever. Whoever’s decision it was,” Semien mentioned. “I obtained hit. It was on function. I’m not going to simply take that.

“It definitely fueled us. We got the win when we needed it most.”

The skipping celebration led to each benches clearing. In the aftermath, each Semien and Maldonado had been ejected.

But the Rangers would have the final chuckle. After dropping every of its first two video games of the sequence by one run, Texas managed to salvage a giant win within the Lone Star Series, staving off Houston to carry the division lead by two video games.

The buildup
Here’s a breakdown of the regular rise in stress inside Minute Maid Park:

1. Starter Andrew Heaney hit Yordan Alvarez — who had simply returned from a proper indirect pressure — on the shoulder with an 0-2, 93.1 mph fastball within the prime of the primary inning, proper after permitting a three-run homer to Alex Bregman.

2. Valdez hit Semien within the prime of the third with a first-pitch sinker.

3. Semien nodded his head at Valdez, and after scoring on Nathaniel Lowe’s house run, instructed Maldonado at house plate: “We’re going to end up winning this game.”

“He said, ‘Now, it’s just like when you were in Oakland,’” Semien mentioned. “When I was in Oakland, they won the division twice, maybe, when he was there. We won the division once. They beat us in the playoffs.”

4. Semien hit an enormous two-run house run to place the Rangers up, 6-3, and once more shared phrases with Valdez and Maldonado whereas rounding the bases.

5. Two at-bats later, Lowe moved out of the way in which of a pitch that almost hit him for ball 4 and took offense, chirping at Valdez on the way in which to first.

“That was very close to my chin,” Lowe mentioned. “If he’s going to go after me, over some personal vendetta, put it in my leg. But when you go above the belt, that’s when things start to get dangerous.”

The blowup
In the subsequent inning, García hit his grand slam, a towering 448-foot blast to left area. His twenty fifth house run of the season put Texas up 13-3, giving the Rangers their twenty first recreation with 10 or extra runs, essentially the most within the Majors this 12 months. Semien, on third, hopped onto house plate in celebration.

“After I scored on Adolis’ grand slam, I told him, ‘I told you we’re going to win this game,’” Semien mentioned.

When García completed rounding the bases himself, he and Maldonado exchanged phrases, getting in one another’s faces at house. The benches cleared.

“We competed for a lot of years,” Semien mentioned. “I by no means need to get thrown out of a recreation, however it occurred.”

“It’s two guys trying to compete, two good teams that are playing for the division,” Maldonado mentioned. “And I feel each group within the huge leagues has that aggressive mindset on the market.”

The aftermath
With Alvarez and Jose Altuve coming off the injured checklist and again within the Astros’ lineup, an early three-run deficit and Houston’s ace on the mound, the Rangers confronted a doubtlessly devastating sequence sweep.

But Texas responded, rallying with a four-run fourth and a seven-run fifth — essentially the most runs the Rangers have scored in an inning at Minute Maid Park.

“Facing a good pitcher today, down three runs, they had no quit in them,” supervisor Bruce Bochy mentioned. “They just kept going and got a big win.”

A loss would’ve additionally given the Astros, who maintain a 6-4 lead within the season sequence, the head-to-head tiebreaker for playoff place.

Instead, Texas maintained a slight edge within the division. The two groups meet as soon as extra this season, from Sept. 4-6 in Arlington.

“Not just to win to win today, how we won, how we responded after Marcus got drilled,” Bochy mentioned. “You’re speaking about karma at its best. I actually assume that was the case, as a result of there’s no means Andrew was attempting to hit any individual. He’s forward within the depend. We’re attempting to get him out of the primary inning.

“But, hey, it’s what it’s. And it’s only a nice response by this membership.”