Rangers Falter against Astros in Series Finale

Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

May 18, 2025

Astros 4, Rangers 3

ARLINGTON, Texas (May 18) — The Texas Rangers settled for a four-game series split with the Houston Astros, losing 4–3 Sunday afternoon. Isaac Paredes had a big three-run homer in the eighth to give the Astros the lead and the win. All things considered, this was a good homestand for the Rangers as they won five of seven games in Arlington over the past week. With this series in the books, the Rangers will head out on a six-game road trip, starting with three in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. The opener of that series is on Tuesday evening with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Eastern at Yankee Stadium. Both teams have yet to announce their starting pitchers for that contest.

The Astros, meanwhile, will continue their road trip with a three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays. That series will start on Monday with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm Eastern at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Left-hander Colton Gordon (0–0, 6.23 ERA) will toe the slab for the Astros, while righty Ryan Pepiot (2–5, 3.93 ERA) will get the ball for the Rays.

Jung Breaks the Seal

Both teams traded zeroes for the first three innings. The Rangers opened the scoring in the top of the fourth against Astros lefty Framber Valdez. Haggerty, Langford, and Jung all reached on singles to start the inning. Haggerty scored on Jung’s single to left.

After Adolis Garcia struck out swinging, Langford stole second for his ninth swipe of the season. Up next was Marcus Semien, who drew a walk to reload the bases. Langford crossed the plate moments later thanks to a sacrifice fly to right by Jonah Heim.

On deck was Jake Burger, who drove in Jung with a single up the middle.

The Astros got one back in the top of the seventh off Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter. With two outs in the inning, Yainer Diaz stepped in and launched one over the wall in right-center.

Much to the shock of everyone in the ballpark, the Astros took a 4–3 lead in the top of the 8th.

Jake Meyers led off with a single to center, and Cam Smith followed with a single to right. This brought manager Bruce Bochy to the hill to bring in Chris Martin to relieve Leiter. Martin threw one pitch to Jeremy Pena, who was pinch-hitting for Brendan Rodgers, before exiting the game with what Bochy called shoulder discomfort. Robert Garcia was brought in to relieve him.

After Pena popped out to second and Mauricio Dubon grounded back to Garcia, Paredes stepped to the plate and blasted a three-run shot to left to make the crowd of 34,433 throw a synchronized fit.

What Went Right for the Astros

The Astros were resilient on Sunday afternoon. They were behind 3–1 and found ways to get on base for Paredes to bring them in. When you can do things like that, you’re going to be successful.

What Went Wrong for the Astros

The Astros ran into some trouble in the early innings. You had the base hits by Haggerty, Langford, and Jung, and the opportunities they created. There was also Burger’s RBI hit.

Espada Ejected

Astros manager Joe Espada was ejected by home plate umpire Nick Mahrley in the top of the third for arguing balls and strikes. It marked Espada’s first ejection of the season and sixth of his managerial career.

Leiter’s Tough Luck

Rangers righty Jack Leiter took a no-hitter into the seventh and worked a career-high seven-plus innings in his first career start against the Astros. His line on the afternoon was 3 H, 3 R-ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 87 pitches/58 strikes. He retired 19 of the first 21 batters he faced until the Diaz home run in the top of the seventh. Sunday marked his longest career no-hit bid and the longest by a Rangers starter since Jon Gray (also 6 2/3 IP) on May 13, 2023 against the Oakland Athletics.

After giving up the dinger to Paredes, Garcia shouldered the loss, bringing his record to 1–2 with an ERA of 1.77.

Valdez’ Afternoon

Astros starter Framber Valdez made his 10th start of the season and picked up his third win after turning in a quality start. His line was 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R-ER, 1 BB, 8 SO, 98 pitches. He improves to 3–4 with an ERA of 3.57. Valdez retired each of the first nine batters he faced over three scoreless frames to open his outing before allowing the three consecutive singles to begin a three-run fourth inning for the Rangers.

After tossing a spotless ninth with two strikeouts, Josh Hader earned his 11th save of the year.

Bochy’s Postgame Comments

After the game, Bochy gave his thoughts on the weekend series. “Hard-fought series,” he said. “We played well today. Jack (Leiter) did a great job. I think everything was working. He had a good mix going. Jack threw a lot of strikes and pitched very efficiently, all those things. He did a terrific job. Really, really was on top of his game. You hate to see that get away with the job that he did.”