ARLINGTON — Cody Freeman rounded third base, and Globe Life Field — which had been relatively quiet all afternoon — grew louder and louder. Freeman slid into home plate before screaming toward the Rangers’ dugout with all of the energy of one of the youngest players on the roster.
Freeman’s two-out single off Framber Valdez in the sixth inning ignited a two-out rally for the Rangers. He went first to home to score on a Josh Jung double, and Jake Burger capped off the frame with a two-run home run, his second of the series.
Coming off an 11-run defeat on Saturday night, the Rangers answered back to beat the Astros, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon to secure a much-needed series victory.
“Having Freeman do what he did — get on base — he’s kind of our ‘Go guy’ right now,” Burger said. “[Jung] coming up with a big hit, and Freeman sliding in and giving me a big ‘Let’s go!’ that gets it going.”
Rangers starting pitcher Patrick Corbin cruised through the first four innings, allowing just one baserunner — a Yordan Alvarez walk — while collecting four strikeouts. He allowed a Jake Meyers single in the fifth inning, and the Astros got on the board in the sixth after a Maricio Dubón double and a Jeremy Peña single.
Corbin then turned it over to the bullpen, which allowed one run over the final 3 1/3 innings.
The Rangers have won 11 of their last 15 games, narrowing the gap in the AL West to four games behind the first-place Astros. They also kept pace in the AL Wild Card race, remaining 1 1/2 games behind Seattle while jumping Kansas City among the pursuers.
“Honestly that’s the beauty of baseball,” Freeman said. “You get 162 games. I couldn’t even tell you that we lost 11-0 yesterday. It’s already flushed down the toilet. Today was a chance for us to win the series, and we did.
“We have three more against them that are going to come up in a week. But right now, we’re worried about tomorrow against Milwaukee.”
The 24-year-old Freeman has been at the center of it all over the past couple of weeks. The Rangers’ plethora of injuries is no secret, with Marcus Semien and Evan Carter virtually done for the year and Corey Seager at least a week away after an appendectomy.
But Freeman and a fleet of rookies have stepped up to provide the energy in their absence.
“He is a catalyst,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s a spark for the club with the way he plays. Sure, you can look at the average, whatever, but there’s always more to that story. I think that’s the case with him. …
“We want our guys to go out there and play with fun and play with passion. He certainly does that. I think that’s contagious, just like hitting or pitching. He’s bringing that every day.”
The Rangers entered the day 1-for-37 with runners in scoring position dating back to Tuesday night in a loss to the Diamondbacks. The lone hit was Dustin Harris’ walk-off double in the 12th inning in the series opener against the Astros on Friday night.
Texas didn’t have many opportunities on Sunday but went 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position. It was just enough to get the job done. Five of Texas’ six games this month have been decided by two or fewer runs.
“The young guys are bringing a lot of energy, and we’re always believing in ourselves,” Burger said. “I think at the end of the day, it’s believing that we are a good ball club and believing in each guy in here. I think our pitchers are giving us a chance day in and day out. It’s good energy just across the board.”
The Rangers have shown a tremendous amount of resilience over the course of the season. But with three weeks left, every game is increasingly important.
The road to the postseason doesn’t get any easier, with the Rangers facing three more teams in playoff position — the Brewers, Mets and Astros again — over the next 10 days.
“I think we all know the implications of every single game at this point in the season,” Burger said. “I think there’s no words that need to be spoken. I think we all have that understanding throughout all of us. Every single pitch, we got to win.”
