August 10, 2022 - Game 110
W - Taylor Hearn (5-6)
L - Phil Maton (0-2)
S- None
HR: HOU: Tucker(20), Alvarez (31)
Time of Game: 3:41
Rangers Cowboy Hat Winner: Leody Taveras (2nd)
Game Recap
The Rangers and Astros met for the second game of a three-game series. It was a rainy day outside of Minute Maid Park, with some roof leaks around the park. It also looked like a rainy day (on paper) for the Rangers' offense against the Astros All-Star, Justin Verlander, on a ridiculous run in 2022. Meantime, Glenn Otto got the start back in Houston for the second time this season. It was Otto going up against the two top ERA leaders in the American League in back-to-back starts. "You want to play against the best and compete against the best," Glenn Otto said after Friday's game against the White Sox. "[I'm] not trying to out due whoever I'm lined up against, just trying to throw strike one and go from there and get that guy out and get the next guy out twenty-seven times. It's fun competing against those guys, but at the same time, I know what my job is, and I'm sticking with that."
The Rangers had a chance in the first inning with two on and one out. However, Justin Verlander got Nathaniel Lowe on strikes, and Leody Taveras grounded out. Then in the bottom of the second, Glenn Otto walked the lead-off man, Alex Bregman, and scored on a Jeremy Peña RBI groundout to put Houston up 1-0. In the fourth inning, the Rangers took the lead thanks to Leody's triple and a sacrifice fly by Meibrys Viloria. It came after Otto stranded two runners on in the half-inning before. The Astros tied the game back at two with a solo home run by Kyle Tucker. Houston had the bases loaded after the Tucker homer, but Otto got Yuli Gurriel to ground out, keeping the Rangers in the game. "I think we did a good job of making it tough on [Verlander]," Marcus Semien said. "He went six innings but I feel like he worked pretty hard against us and that's all we can try and do."
In the sixth, Texas took the lead, with Adolis García singling to start the frame. Adolis stole second and scored on Leody's sacrifice fly. The Rangers had a chance in the seventh with Marcus Semien with a single to left field. Ezequiel Duran raced home but was thrown out at the plate by Chas McCormick to keep it a one-run game. In the next inning, Yordan Alvarez blasted the Rangers again with a solo home run, evening the game at three. Houston picked up two singles in the eighth, but Moore escaped the jam to keep the inning even through eight.
In extra innings, Marcus Semien drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and Corey Seager drove in another with a single. Leody unloaded the bases in the tenth to score three and put the Rangers up 8-3. Houston got a run in the tenth with a Kyle Tucker single scoring Bregman to make it 8-4. Chris Woodward mentioned Josh Smith's bunt single, Heim's walk, and then Semien and Seager's run scoring hits. Finally, the Leody at-bat that sealed the win. "Overall we played a good ballgame. That's fight heavyweight mass [and] we came out on top." "We had some big bats from our left-handed hitters," Marcus Semien said. "Taveras came through for us, not only against Verlander, but in the tenth too. Those kind of things are going to be huge for us down the stretch."
Glenn Otto's Wednesday had a lot of traffic, but he maneuvered around baserunners all night. Otto threw five innings, four hits, two runs, four walks, one hit batter, and five strikeouts. He allowed another home run but held the Astros to 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. "I don't any inning was easy," Woodward said. "He's from Houston [and] I know there's a lot of pressure with people in the stands. I like where he's at. I know it's not always going to be easy for these young guys, but if he can battle through outings like that and still get us five with two runs or less, we'll take that every time."
Brock Burke pitched two innings. Burke walked a batter in the sixth and in the seventh allowed the game-tying home run. Matt Moore struck out the first two he faced followed by two singles. However, he got Jose Altuve to pop out to end the inning. Taylor Hearn retired the side in the ninth with one strikeout and picked up the victory.
Postgame Notes
Leody Taveras with a career high 5 RBI on Wednesday. Taveras never had a 4 RBI MLB game and his previous career high was 3 (July 11th, 2022).
The two earned runs allowed by Justin Verlander are the most in a start since June 18th against the White Sox. Verlander went seven straight starts before Wednesday, allowing one or fewer earned runs.
Wednesday snapped a streak of seven straight pitching wins for Verlander against the Rangers.
Glenn Otto has hit six batters in his last five starts. In his two Minute Maid Park starts, Otto allowed two earned runs in both but eleven hits, seven walks, and two hit batters.
Adolis García extended his hitting streak to seven games on Wednesday.
Nathaniel Lowe extended his on-base streak to sixteen games with a base hit in the third inning.
Leody Taveras snapped a 1 for 17 skid with an RBI triple. Twenty percent (five RBI) of Leody's twenty-five RBIs this season came on Wednesday.
Brock Burke allowed a homer to a left-hander for the first time this season. It was the fourth home run allowed by Brock.
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