Houston wins the opener
Astros grab comeback win over Rangers in Arlington
Aug 27, 2021, 10:31 pm
The Astros came alive for a five-run inning which put them over the Rangers on Friday. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
The Astros came alive for a five-run inning which put them over the Rangers on Friday.
After taking two of three from the Royals earlier in the week and benefiting from some losses by the A's to extend their division lead, the Astros entered Globe Life Field on Friday looking to continue to set themselves apart on top of the AL West. Despite going down four runs in the game, they would grab the comeback win to start the series.
Final Score: Astros 5, Rangers 4
Astros' Record: 76-52, first in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Phil Maton (3-0)
Losing Pitcher: Brett Martin (3-4)
Odorizzi gives up two over five innings
After three scoreless innings, Jake Odorizzi allowed the first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff double scored later in the inning on an RBI single, putting the Rangers up 1-0. They doubled their lead in the next inning, getting a one-out solo homer in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-0. Odorizzi would finish that frame, but Houston turned to their bullpen in the sixth, making his final line 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 88 P.
Rangers extend their lead, but Houston battles back
Phil Maton was the first reliever out for the Astros, but he did not fare well in the bottom of the sixth, allowing the Rangers to push their lead to 4-0 on back-to-back two-out RBI doubles. Houston battled back in the top of the seventh, getting five runs on four hits, including a two-RBI double by Jake Meyers, a two-RBI single by Michael Brantley, and an RBI groundout by Yuli Gurriel, giving Houston their first lead of the night at 5-4.
Professional hitter, Michael Brantley.#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/DkJ4jmHg3q
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 28, 2021
Astros take the opener on the comeback win
Yimi Garcia was the next reliever out of the bullpen for Houston, and he worked around a one-out single for a scoreless inning. After a scoreless top of the eighth, Ryne Stanek took over on the mound, and he, too, erased a one-out single to maintain the one-run lead. That set up the save opportunity for Ryan Pressly, and despite allowing two singles, he would notch his 20th of the season with some solid defense behind him, finishing the win for the Astros and starting the series with a win.
Up Next: The middle game of this series will get started at 6:05 PM Central on Saturday. The pitching matchup is expected to be Framber Valdez (8-4, 2.94 ERA) for the Astros and Kolby Allard (3-10, 4.86 ERA) for the Rangers.
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?