August 11, 2022 - Game 111
W - Framber Valdez (11-4)
L - Cole Ragans (0-1)
S- None
HR: TEX: Semien (17); HOU: Maldonado (12), Bregman (14)
Time of Game: 2:53
Game Recap
The Rangers and Astros concluded their three-game series with the rubber match. Before yesterday's game, the team placed Spencer Howard on the fifteen-day injured list with right should impingement. The club recalled John King from Triple-A Round Rock. It was Cole Ragan's second major league start Thursday, facing another team that feasts against left-handed pitching (and any pitching in general). Texas met Framber Valdez for the day game matinee. I talked to a few veterans about Ragans and Bubba Thompson and if they spark into the roster. Plus, I got Martín Pérez's condensed evaluation of Cole Ragans. Unfortunately, it was Valdez that stole the show Thursday. "A lot of what we've seen in the past," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "We got some full counts and 3-2 counts that we chased a little bit. We have to learn to be a little bit more patient and disciplined."
Both teams started the afternoon with leadoff walks but couldn't move the runner to second base. Then in the second inning, Martín Maldonado blasted a three-run home run to left field, capping off a three-straight hit train against Cole Ragans. The bottom of the Astros' order put Houston led 3-0. The Rangers had two on and none out where it appeared Marcus Semien walked, but home plate umpire Junior Valentine called Semien out on strikes. Texas had the bases loaded with two outs, and Jonah Heim flew out to right center field to end the threat. In the fifth, the Astros added two more on an Alex Bregman two-run home run to left field, tending Houston's lead to 5-0.
The Rangers had another opportunity in the seventh against Framber Valdez. With two on, Valdez struck out Ezequiel Duran and Bubba Thompson to end the threat. In the seventh, Bregman added to his RBI total with an RBI single, scoring Gurriel. Then Aledmys Díaz added another run with a sacrifice fly to score Kyle Tucker. The Rangers avoided the shutout in the eighth as Nathaniel Lowe singled to right field, scoring Marcus Semien. Leody Taveras followed suit with an RBI single, scoring Corey Seager and cutting the Astros' lead to 7-2. Texas left two more on in the eighth, but got a solo home run by Semien in the ninth. Unfortunately it was too late to overcome and Texas dropped the finale. "We got some counts that we could have done some things [with] and got deep in counts. We just couldn't finish the at-bat off and other things that lately we've been doing better," Woodward said. "The dialogue was good. Guys were seeing some of what the younger guys seeing him for the first time. They're going to see a lot of [Framber] moving forward."
Cole Ragans' start on Thursday had a lot of traffic on it. Ragans allowed two home runs, where the home runs scored all five runs. Cole walked three, allowed six hits, and only struck out one on eighty-eight pitches. Ragans pitched to contact but nibbled the edges all afternoon. "he didn't have his best command and his best stuff today," Woodward said. "But I will say he battled through the game and a little unlucky there on the Bregman homer [where before he] popped up [which] would have been an out [then] hit the home run. Just didn't have his best command today."
John King came into the fifth to relieve Ragans in a multi-inning role. King retired five of the six batters faced in the fifth and sixth innings while striking out one. Garrett Richards allowed two runs in the seventh on three hits. However, he retired the side in order in the eighth.
Note: You can watch the full game here.
Postgame Notes
The Astros officially claim the silver boot in 2022. They lead the season series 10-4 with five games left.
Nathaniel Lowe extended his on-base streak to seventeen straight with an RBI single in the eighth.
Kyle Tucker has at least one hit in thirteen of his last fifteen games against Texas and reached base in fourteen of his last fifteen against Rangers pitching.
Adolis García extended his hitting streak to eight games with a single in the third.
Alex Bregman hit his second home run against left-handed pitching this season. However, Bregman averages under seven a season and sixteen home runs against lefties in 2019.
Framber Valdez extends his streak of six straight starts against the Rangers, allowing two or fewer earned runs. Valdez has allowed two runs and one earned run in twenty innings against Texas this season.
For the second time this calendar year, Cole Ragans allowed two home runs in a start. He didn't allow a two-homer game in Triple-A but allowed three in Double-A (two in 2021).
During the Chris Woodward era (since 2019), the Rangers are 4-14-1 in series against the Astros. Texas took the first two in 2019; therefore, Texas has dropped fourteen of the last seventeen series against the Astros with one four-game split.
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