HOUSTON — All’s well that ends well. That’s all that mattered for the Astros on Tuesday, when a big lead over the Rangers gave way to a white-knuckle ending in which manager Joe Espada was forced to bring in closer Bryan Abreu despite having a five-run lead entering the eighth inning.
With the first-place Mariners pounding the Royals in Kansas City, this was a game the Astros desperately needed to stay on Seattle’s heels and keep their chance of winning the season series over the Rangers in play entering Wednesday’s series finale.
So when Abreu got Kyle Higashioka to swing over a 2-2 slider for the final out, stranding the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base, almost everyone inside Daikin Park let out a collective exhale as the Astros escaped with a 6-5 win over the Rangers.
“It’s not easy to win a Major League game,” Espada said. “Our pitching did a really nice job to piece it together there. It got a little wild there at the end, but we were able to get 27 outs.”
The Astros remained one-half game behind the Mariners in the American League West race with 10 games remaining, but moved ahead of the Red Sox and into the second Wild Card spot by one-half game. The Guardians are three games behind the Astros, and the Rangers dropped four games behind Houston.
The winner of Wednesday’s game between the Astros and Rangers takes the season series and will hold any tiebreakers if the clubs finish with the same record.
“You want to win the games where you’re ahead by multiple runs late in the game and you want to be able to put an end to them, and I’m glad we were able to do that,” Astros third baseman Carlos Correa said.
After getting sobering news that slugger Yordan Alvarez will be out indefinitely after suffering a severe ankle sprain while stepping onto home plate in Monday’s series opener, the Astros weren’t about to feel sorry for themselves. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead through four innings and were leading 6-1 going to the eighth before nails began to get chewed and edges of seats became the preferred method of sitting.
The Rangers scored four times in the eighth off reliever Enyel De Los Santos, forcing Espada to get Abreu into the game with the tying run at the plate. He gave up an RBI single to Adolis García before getting Cody Freeman to pop out to end the eighth. The Rangers put two on in the ninth before Abreu struck out Higashioka.
“Whenever I got in, they had the momentum and they were rallying,” said Abreu, who earned his seventh save since taking over at closer for the injured Josh Hader last month. “I was out there trying to compete and trying to stop that offense. I executed pitches the best I could and kept everything under control. That’s the main thing I was thinking about when I was out there.”
While Astros fans may have had their nerves frayed when Abreu was in the game, those playing behind him had all the faith in the world.
“Bryan Abreu’s elite and he deserves a lot of credit,” said shortstop Jeremy Peña, who went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. “He’s done it year in and year out. He’s very reliable and every time he steps out there I think the game’s over and he comes in and shuts the door.”
Astros rookie starter AJ Blubaugh struck out a career-high seven batters in three scoreless innings, and tandem starter Colton Gordon held the Rangers to one run and two hits in three innings in relief. The Astros built a 6-0 lead by scoring four times in the fourth inning off Rangers starter Merrill Kelly, who gave up five consecutive hits to start the inning, including a two-run single by Jesús Sánchez.
Kelly held the Astros to one run and five hits in seven innings Sept. 5 in Arlington, but couldn’t get an out in the fourth inning Tuesday.
“We had a pretty good game plan,” Espada said. “He missed more in the middle of the plate and we were ready and we didn’t miss our pitches. I thought in Arlington he executed his changeup better. I thought today we waited for him to make some mistakes and we took advantage of them.”
If the Astros finish off the sweep Wednesday, they’ll push the Rangers closer to elimination while keeping the pressure on Seattle.
“Right now every win is huge,” Espada said. “And this was a big one.”
