Lineup Steps Up In The Seventh, Astros Win 6-3 Over Rangers

The Rangers were cruising until they weren’t. Nathan Eovaldi held the Astros scoreless through his 5 2⁄3 innings, allowing only a pair of hits while striking out five. He also walked three, and it was his last walk of the game to Christian Walker in the sixth inning that set the stage for the rest of the game.

With Walker at first base and two outs, and Eovaldi at 93 pitches, Bruce Bochy chose to bring in lefty Hoby Milner to face the switch-hitting Victor Caratini. Although it is relatively a coin flip between Caratini as a left- or right-handed hitter, he historically strikes out less and hits for a bit more power from the left side of the plate. With a runner at first base, Bochy’s decision to use a left-handed reliever in that situation with a 2-0 lead made sense to get Caratini to hit from his right side and avoid him seeing Eovaldi from the left-hand side a third time. Lo and behold, it worked out for Texas as Milner got Caratini to fly out to center field. They escaped with their 2-0 lead intact, and Houston’s lineup continued to struggle by not scoring a run in the first 17 innings of this series.

With Kyle Tucker now in Chicago and Yordan Alvarez on the IL, the Astros are remarkably short on left-handed bats. César Salazar counts as one, but Joe Espada isn’t turning to him unless he needs him at catcher in an emergency. Caratini is the only reliable left-handed option available to the Astros until Alvarez returns. Considering how Caratini was the last out in the sixth inning, the Rangers weren’t necessarily in a bind to keep Milner in the game or use another lefty. Jacob deGrom’s eight-inning shutout gave most of the Rangers’ bullpen the night off the day before, with only Shawn Armstrong making an appearance in the ninth inning. Of course, Texas hadn’t had a day off since May 5, so that bullpen has to be feeling tired at the moment.

In any case, Bochy kept Milner in the game with Yainer Díaz, Jake Meyers, and Zach Dezenzo coming up, all right-handed. He was certainly hoping to get at least two outs or possibly an entire inning out of Milner, who had only thrown three pitches to Caratini in the sixth. That part of the decision arguably made some sense, but Milner’s numbers against right-handed hitters for his career (.331 wOBA in 671 total batters faced) compared to left-handed hitters (.274 wOBA in 549 total batters faced) made this a peculiar decision. Again, I think Bochy was trying to squeeze as much as he could without risking a bullpen possibly running on fumes.

For a moment, even if the decision wasn’t the most optimal one, it looked like it was going to work for Texas. Milner got Díaz to ground out and Dezenzo to fly out, with only Meyers’ single in between them. But the inning and the game got away from Bochy and the Rangers at this moment. Cam Smith would finally snap the scoreless streak, driving in Meyers with an RBI double. In response, Bochy would bring in Armstrong for the third time in four days — I’ve seen this movie before — and he would promptly throw a wild pitch that allowed Smith to take third base, followed by Jeremy Peña’s walk. Jose Altuve would also draw a walk to load the bases with two outs, and the Astros now had a golden opportunity.

Easier said than done with this lineup usually, but this time, they answered the call. Isaac Paredes would drive in a pair with an RBI single to give Houston a 3-2 lead, a much-needed boost to this lineup. But the Astros weren’t done as Walker smoked a three-run shot to double his team’s run total to six runs.

Although Houston would reload the bases, there was no further damage done. But a six-run outburst gave the Astros life in a game that must have felt like a nice palate cleanser after the previous 17 innings.

Lance McCullers Jr. pitched better in his third start of the season compared to the ten-run in ¹⁄₃ of an inning disaster last weekend. Only seven whiffs on 38 swings, averaging 91.4 mph on his fastball, so the stuff still isn’t great. But you’ll take four innings of two-run ball in this situation with a bullpen that isn’t worn out yet. Shawn Durbin, Kaleb Ort, Bryan King, and Bryan Abreu threw a combined four shutout innings with zero hits and zero walks while striking out four. Other than Josh Hader’s solo home run to Josh Jung in the bottom of the ninth inning to make the score 6-3, the bullpen was excellent once again.

This four-game set is now tied at one game apiece, with Ronel Blanco and Tyler Mahle starting Saturday for the Astros and Rangers, respectively.

BOX SCORE HERE