Houston Astros regain pride as they defeat Texas Rangers 7-0 – MLB Update
Sense finally prevailed at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas as the Houston Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 7-0 on Thursday, June 30.
The Astros put in a strong performance to end their losing streak to the Texas Rangers at home and win after eight games, that too comprehensively. Wandy Rodriguez pitched fiercely for the Astros, conceding just four hits in seven innings with no runs leaked.
He pitched 106 pitches in what was an epic display of force, managing 61 strikes and four strike-outs. Rodriguez won his sixth game of the season, as his win-loss record is now at 6-4.
The hitters complimented their pitchers for the Astros and this team-work proved too much for the Texas Rangers. The hitters did not let the flow of runs stop and continued scoring at regular intervals to inflict pain on the Texas pitchers who were mostly
out of sorts on the night dominated by Houston.
The Minute Maid Park broke into applause as Carlos Lee opened the scoring for the night in the fourth inning helped by his massive 370-feet hit. Lee knew as soon as he connected that the ball was flying out of the park.
The Astros did not let this opportunity go to waste. They built onto this and went on to score four devastating runs in the fifth inning and making it almost impossible for the Rangers to catch-up on their five-run lead. Michael Bourn, Hunter Pence, Lee
and Jason Michaels scored a run each to put the Astros in a commanding position.
With the score at 5-0, the Astros again took charge in the seventh inning. Michaels had seen Lee smash one out of the park and he precisely matched his team-mate’s effort. Michaels connected one well, as the ball landed 381-feet, easily allowing him to complete
a homer. This was Michaels’ second home-run this season. Pence added one more in the seventh inning to complete seven runs for the Astros and mark a strong comeback in the season.
Rangers did not have much to cheer about in the game. Their pitching was horrendous, miles away from what the Astros had done. The starting pitcher, Matt Harrison, had a pretty ordinary outing. His six innings saw five runs being leaked and the two strike-outs
he managed were not of any help. Dave Bush could not help much as a relief pitcher as he went for two runs in the sole inning that he pitched. The Rangers failed to connect as well. They managed just four hits in the game and given a team of the Rangers’ stature,
it was a pretty ordinary performance.
Having lost the series already after the first two games, the Astros were mainly playing to regain lost pride. They managed to do so in style. They will just hope that they can repeat what they have achieved going into the next half of the season.
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