Rangers look to continue run of recent success in Houston

The Texas Rangers returned to Houston's Minute Maid Park on Friday for the first time since they claimed Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 American League Championship Series. They followed that by capturing their first World Series title in franchise history.

The result Friday in the opener of a three-game weekend series was familiar for Texas, which bashed its way to a 12-8 victory over the Astros. The Rangers have won three of five games against Houston this season, with the partisan crowd eager to greet the Astros' rivals rudely.

The gathering of 39,842 especially was vocal when Rangers right fielder Adolis Garcia came to bat. Garcia was named ALCS MVP after recording five home runs and 15 RBIs. He picked up Friday where he left off by finishing 2-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs and a pair of walks to keep Astros' fans seething.

"You hear the noise up there when Garcia gets up there," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "They let him have it pretty good, and I think he loves it though, to be honest.

"But overall, as far as this series, yeah it should create a lot of interest."

Left-hander Andrew Heaney (0-2, 7.56 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Rangers on Saturday. He will make his second consecutive start against Houston after allowing six runs on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings in a 10-5 home loss on Monday. Heaney is 4-5 with a 3.84 ERA over 16 career starts vs. the Astros.

Right-hander Ronel Blanco (2-0, 0.00) is the scheduled starter for Houston. He followed his no-hitter in his season debut by throwing six shutout innings at Texas on Sunday, allowing one hit and four walks with four strikeouts. Blanco recorded 44 outs before surrendering his first hit, the most by any pitcher to begin a season since 1893. He is 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA over five career appearances (two starts) against the Rangers.

Astros right-hander J.P. France offered no respite from a weary stretch for Houston starting pitchers. He allowed eight runs over four innings on Friday, and the Astros completed one turn through their rotation with their starters posting a 20.93 ERA while logging only 13 1/3 innings.

The macro view is just as bleak for Houston, which dropped its fourth consecutive game and fell seven games under .500 only 15 games into the season. The Astros most recently failed to qualify for the postseason in 2016, when they finished 7-17 in April and could not recover from that start.

"It feels like we've been in this situation here for too many days in a row," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "And we've got to continue to grind. Right now it's not working out our way.

"We need to find a way to get over the hump. There is some inconsistency in how things are going. We know how to do those things. We just need to come out and get it done. If not, we're going to find ourselves digging ... every single day, and we don't want to do that. We're a better team than the way we're playing right now."

--Field Level Media