ARLINGTON, Texas (July 10) \u2014 The Texas Rangers<\/a> padded their lead in the AL West to 1.5 games over the Seattle Mariners<\/a> Friday with a 7\u20133 win over the Houston Astros<\/a>. Joc Pederson<\/a><\/strong>, Wyatt Langford<\/a><\/strong> and Jake Burger<\/a><\/strong> each chipped in with a homer apiece. The Rangers will aim for another series win Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 pm Central at Globe Life Field. It will be a matchup of righties as Peter Lambert<\/a><\/strong> (7\u20135, 3.26 ERA) will go up against Kumar Rocker<\/a><\/strong> (2\u20137, 3.95 ERA).<\/p>\n The Rangers opened the scoring in the top of the first against righty Hunter Brown<\/a><\/strong>. Pederson drew a leadoff walk. He made his way back to the bench when Langford grounded into a 6\u20134 force play. Josh Jung<\/a><\/strong> followed with a single to center to move Jung into scoring position. Up next was Brandon Nimmo<\/a><\/strong>. He scored Langford by lining a double to left. Jung crossed the plate on a groundout to Christian Walker<\/a><\/strong> at first by Burger.<\/p>\n Pederson’s big moment came in the top of the fifth when he led off with a laser of a dinger to right, his 15th of the year.<\/p>\n The Astros got on the board in the top of the sixth off right-hander Cal Quantrill<\/a><\/strong>. To lead off the frame, Yordan Alvarez<\/a><\/strong> stepped in and demolished a 2\u20132 pitch that soared to right-center with a distance of 455 feet. After he touched home plate, Alvarez was greeted by his teammates on the top step of the Astros dugout to express their congratulations to him. Not only was it his 30th blast of the season, it was also the 200th home run of his career.<\/p>\n The Astros tied the score 3\u20133 in the top of the seventh against reliever Chris Martin<\/a><\/strong>. LaMonte Wade Jr.<\/a><\/strong> led off the frame with a single to shallow left. By the time shortstop Ezequiel Duran<\/a><\/strong> retrieved it, there was no time to make a throw to first. Cam Smith<\/a><\/strong> lined to center to bring up Yainer Diaz<\/a><\/strong>. On an 0\u20131 pitch, Diaz hit a ball that barely snuck inside the foul pole in left for his sixth blast of the season.<\/p>\n The Rangers regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth with reliever Bryan King<\/a><\/strong> on the mound. On a 1\u20130 pitch, Langford deposited a ball to left for his ninth dinger of the season.<\/p>\n They promptly tallied three more in the inning. A walk by Jung and a single to left by Nimmo set the table for Burger, who hit a three-run bomb to left-center on the first pitch of the at-bat. It marked his 16th homer of the campaign.<\/p>\n The Rangers created and cashed in on multiple scoring opportunities on Friday. The round-trippers by Pederson, Langford, and Burger got the crowd of 34,899 off their phones (for the moment) and on their feet. The noise of the crowd was another thing that fueled this win for the Rangers.<\/p>\n The Astros had their moments where they put pressure on the Rangers. Alvarez’ home run came on his second plate appearance of the game, and Rangers fans knew it was going to come at some point in the series. There was a mix of cheers and jeers as many of them knew that it was a big career milestone for Alvarez.<\/p>\n Rangers starter Cal Quantrill turned in his first quality start of the season but settled for a no-decision. His final line was 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R-ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 79 pitches\/47 strikes. He totaled season highs in innings pitched and pitches thrown in his 19th appearance and fourth start. Quantrill twirled five scoreless frames until yielding the solo bomb to Alvarez leading off the sixth. He held the Astros to 1-for-8 with runners on base and 0-for-4 with men in scoring position. Quantrill booked only one strikeout, Jose Altuve<\/a><\/strong> in the fourth. Since being inserted into the starting rotation on June 23 against the Miami Marlins<\/a>, Quantrill has posted a 2.12 ERA in four starts. The Rangers are 2\u20132 in those games.<\/u><\/u><\/p>\n After relieving Chris Martin in the seventh, Cole Winn<\/a><\/strong> earned the victory to improve to 5\u20132 with an ERA of 6.06 after tossing a perfect inning and a third.<\/p>\n Astros starter Hunter Brown made his seventh start of the season, including his fifth since being activated from the injured list. He did not factor into the decision despite notching a quality start. His line was 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R-ER, 5 BB, 4 SO, 98 pitches\/55 strikes, and it was his third quality effort of the year. Brown matched a career high with five walks, as he’s walked two or more batters in each of his seven starts this season, the longest single-season streak of his career.<\/p>\n He threw 23 pitches in the first inning, allowing the pair of runs on Nimmo’s double and Burger’s groundout. Brown dealt with traffic in the second through fourth stanzas but held the Rangers off the scoreboard before surrendering the homer to Pederson leading off the fifth. He has been tagged for one or more home runs in four straight starts after not allowing any in his first three of ’26. Brown exited with the game tied, 3\u20133, after the Astros struck for two in the top of the seventh.<\/p>\n <\/u>King took home the loss after giving up the two homers in the eighth, totaling four runs, all earned, on four hits. He also walked one and struck out one. He now owns a record of 2\u20132 with a 2.85 ERA.<\/p>\n After the game, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker<\/strong><\/a> once again gushed over Langford’s performance. \u201cI just don’t want it to get lost how hard this is to come off the IL and then produce in late, high-leverage innings. To provide the walk-off, and then obviously the big home run. It’s not as easy as he’s making that look,\u201d he said. \u201cWe don’t win those two games without him.\u201d<\/p>\n Quantrill also appeared before reporters after the game to discuss his process heading into Friday. \u201cWe’ve been building to it for the last two and a half weeks or so,\u201d he remarked. \u201cWe knew I was still going to have a pitch count today. It was enough to do six, so that was the goal. I felt good. I still felt strong in the sixth. We think that I’m probably ready to go a full pitch count next time, but this is the way you get there and just a bonus that we were official today, and we were able to get through six.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\nJoc Jam<\/h4>\n
Late Inning Scoring<\/h4>\n
What Went Right for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
What Went Wrong for the Rangers<\/h4>\n
Quality Quantrill<\/h4>\n
Brown’s Evening<\/h4>\n
Schumaker’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Quantrill’s Postgame Comments<\/h4>\n
Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>