Texas Rangers at Houston Astros
· Major League Baseball
3 - 6
Astros rookie Zach Cole powers 6-3 win over Rangers in place of injured Yordan Alvarez
Houston pulled within a half-game of the streaking Seattle Mariners atop the AL West and moved three games ahead of Cleveland and Texas for the final American League wild card.
Cole homered on the first pitch he saw in the majors Friday at Atlanta. This time, he entered after Alvarez sprained his left ankle in the first inning and launched a two-run shot off starter Jack Leiter that gave the Astros a 4-3 lead in the fifth.
Texas threatened in the seventh, but Astros left fielder Jesús Sánchez threw out Jonah Heim at the plate on Wyatt Langford's single to end the inning.
Houston increased its lead to 6-3 in the bottom half when Sánchez and Jeremy Peña hit consecutive doubles with two outs, followed by Cole's run-scoring single.
Texas took a 3-2 lead with a three-run fifth that included Josh Jung’s two-run homer and an RBI single by Josh Smith.
Houston starter Jason Alexander permitted three runs, one earned, over 4 2/3 innings. Steven Okert (3-2) got four outs and combined with Jayden Murray, Bryan King and Bryan Abreu to throw 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief.
Abreu worked the ninth for his sixth save.
Leiter (9-9) allowed six runs — three earned — and five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
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Scoring Summary
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9th Inning | Freeman grounded into fielder's choice to third, Duran out at second. |
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9th Inning | Duran singled to right, Heim to second. |
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9th Inning | Heim walked. |
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9th Inning | Jung grounded into double play, second to first, Helman out at second. |
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9th Inning | Helman singled to center. |
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9th Inning | Abreu relieved King |
Statistics
 TEX |
 HOU |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 0 | Hit By Pitch | 1 |
| 0 | Ground Balls | 0 |
| 8 | Strikeouts | 5 |
| 3 | Runs Batted In | 4 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 10 | Hits | 6 |
| 1 | Stolen Bases | 0 |
| 2 | Walks | 1 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 3 | Runs | 6 |
| 2 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
| 35 | At Bats | 31 |
| 1 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 11 | Runners Left On Base | 8 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 0 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 0 | Doubles | 2 |
| 0 | Fly Balls | 0 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 138 | Pitches | 115 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch At Bats | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 1 | Is Qualified In Steals | 0 |
| 13 | Total Bases | 11 |
| 37 | Plate Appearances | 33 |
| 162.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
| 1 | Extra Base Hits | 3 |
| 3.8 | Runs Created | 2.7 |
| .286 | Batting Average | .194 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
| .371 | Slugging Percentage | .355 |
| .171 | Secondary Average | .194 |
| .324 | On Base Percentage | .242 |
| .696 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .597 |
| 0.0 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.0 |
| 3.8 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 2.9 |
| 26.0 | Batter Rating | 33.0 |
| 35.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 31.0 |
| 1.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 0.00 |
| 3.73 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.48 |
| .086 | Isolated Power | .161 |
| 0.25 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.20 |
| .054 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .030 |
| -.114 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .000 |
| 6.0 | Runs Produced | 10.0 |
| 1.0 | Runs Ratio | 0.7 |
| 0.4 | Patience Ratio | 0.4 |
| 0.3 | Balls In Play Average | 0.2 |
| 80.5 | MLB Rating | 79.0 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
