Houston Astros at Texas Rangers
· Major League Baseball
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Burger and Jung get to Valdez as Rangers beat Astros 4-2 to keep pace in AL wild card
The Rangers (74-70) remained 1 1/2 games behind Seattle (75-58), which won at Atlanta, for the final AL wild-card spot. Texas is four games behind the AL West-leading Astros (78-66) with 18 games remaining.
Valdez (12-9) was pitching for the first time since crossing up César Salazar and hitting his catcher with a pitch Tuesday in an incident that was perceived as intentional after the left-hander had given up a grand slam. Salazar wasn't in the lineup.
With two outs and the bases empty in the sixth, Cody Freeman singled and scored from first on Jung's liner into the gap in left-center field. Burger's 14th homer went to the opposite field in right three pitches later.
Phil Maton (3-5) allowed a run in 1 1/3 innings, and Shawn Armstrong retired the last four Houston hitters for his seventh save.
Texas starter Patrick Corbin didn't allow a hit until the fifth but quickly lost a 1-0 lead to start the sixth when Mauricio Dubón doubled and Jeremy Peña singled him home.
Valdez allowed five hits and four runs — three earned — with five strikeouts in seven innings.
Rangers: LHP Jacob Latz (1-0, 3.15) is set for the opener of a three-game home series against Milwaukee on Monday.
How can I watch Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers?
- TV Channel: Astros at Rangers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Scoring Summary
 |
9th Inning | Meyers grounded out to third. |
|
9th Inning | Walker grounded out to shortstop. |
|
9th Inning | Correa popped out to second. |
 |
9th Inning | Smith at shortstop. |
|
8th Inning | Jung grounded out to shortstop. |
|
8th Inning | Freeman popped out to shortstop. |
Statistics
 HOU |
 TEX |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 14 | Ground Balls | 12 |
| 8 | Strikeouts | 5 |
| 2 | Runs Batted In | 3 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 5 | Hits | 5 |
| 1 | Stolen Bases | 2 |
| 1 | Walks | 2 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 2 | Runs | 4 |
| 0 | Ground Into Double Play | 2 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
| 32 | At Bats | 28 |
| 0 | Home Runs | 1 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 11 | Runners Left On Base | 6 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 2 | Doubles | 1 |
| 10 | Fly Balls | 11 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 124 | Pitches | 117 |
| 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 | 1 |
| 7 | Total Bases | 9 |
| 33 | Plate Appearances | 30 |
| 0.0 | Projected Home Runs | 162.0 |
| 2 | Extra Base Hits | 2 |
| 0.9 | Runs Created | 1.7 |
| .156 | Batting Average | .179 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
| .219 | Slugging Percentage | .321 |
| .125 | Secondary Average | .286 |
| .182 | On Base Percentage | .233 |
| .401 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .555 |
| 1.4 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 1.1 |
| 0.9 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 1.8 |
| 18.0 | Batter Rating | 26.0 |
| 0.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 28.0 |
| 1.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
| 3.76 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.90 |
| .063 | Isolated Power | .143 |
| 0.13 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.40 |
| .030 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .067 |
| -.031 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .107 |
| 4.0 | Runs Produced | 7.0 |
| 1.0 | Runs Ratio | 0.8 |
| 0.2 | Patience Ratio | 0.4 |
| 0.2 | Balls In Play Average | 0.2 |
| 66.8 | MLB Rating | 74.0 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 35,449 | Capacity:
2025 American League West Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston |
- | 66 | L1 | 0.5416667 | 78 |
 Seattle |
2.5 | 68 | W2 | 0.5244755 | 75 |
| Texas |
4 | 70 | W1 | 0.5138889 | 74 |
 Los Angeles |
10.5 | 76 | W1 | 0.46853146 | 67 |
 Athletics |
12 | 78 | L1 | 0.45833334 | 66 |