”He hadn’t gotten a hit in four at-bats,” manager A.J. Hinch said of the second basemen who led the American League in hits each of the past four seasons and is the MLB leader so far this year.
at-bat Wednesday night against the Texas Rangers. His 115th hit of the season was a one-out single off Chris Martin, who then hit Yuli Gurriel with a pitch before an errant pickoff throw allowed both runners to move up. That set up Evan Gattis‘ tiebreaking sacrifice fly in a 5-4 victory.
Gurriel homered, doubled and scored twice as the Astros overcame an early four-run deficit. His fifth homer, leading off the fifth against starter Mike Minor, tied the game at 4.
Josh Reddick also went deep for the Astros, who their eighth consecutive road game against Texas and are a majors-best 32-14 on the road this season. The Astros have a 12-4 advantage in the season series between the instate division rivals that has only a three-game set remaining in Houston later this month.
Shin-Soo Choo homered and had a single to extend his on-base streak to 44 games, the longest in his career and in the majors this season. That matches Otis Nixon’s streak in 1995 for the Rangers, and trails only Julio Franco’s 46-gamer in 1993 for the team record.
Texas led 4-0 after Choo’s one-out solo homer started a three-run outburst in the third off starter Gerrit Cole.
Collin McHugh (4-0), who won 48 games as a starter for the Astros the past four seasons, allowed only one hit over three scoreless innings. Ken Giles worked the 10th for his 12th save in 12 chances.
”You’re talking about a 19-game winner in the big leagues. Those don’t grow on trees,” said Astros reliever Will Harris Sheldrick Redwine Jersey , who worked out of a jam in the sixth before McHugh took over. ”He goes out there and he knows who he is. He mixes it up, he’s a strike thrower and he’s a fearless guy out there.”
MESSY MOUND
The start of the game was delayed for a few minutes after Minor had issues with the mound during warmups. The ground crew came out to work on the slippery dirt. Cole also was unhappy with the mound. Martin (1-2) slipped and fell down when throwing the pitch that hit Gurriel. The Rangers said afterward that Martin was being evaluated for a left groin issue.
”The mound early seemed to be slick,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.
DEEP ON THE ROAD
The Astros have homered in 24 consecutive road games, three short of the MLB record set by the Oakland Athletics earlier this season. Baltimore also went deep in 24 consecutive road games in 1996.
RACKING UP K’s
Cole, who threw 108 pitches to get through five innings, struck out seven to increase his season total to 158. The only Astros pitcher with more strikeouts before the All-Star break is Mike Scott, with 167 in 22 starts in 1986. Cole has made 18 starts, with two more scheduled before the break. … In four starts against Texas this season, Cole has 40 strikeouts in 25 innings.
FAR FROM PERFECT
Minor retired the first 19 San Diego batters he faced in his previous start a week earlier. The lefty allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits over six innings against Houston with four strikeouts and three walks.
”Probably not as sharp as he’s been,” Banister said. ”Looked like they were sitting on slider.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: Hinch said C Max Stassi was feeling better than expected after getting hit by a pitch on his right (throwing) wrist in the first inning Tuesday, on the same day starting catcher Brian McCann had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Rangers: 3B Adrian Beltre, baseball’s active career hits leader (3 http://www.brownsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-austin-seibert-jersey ,108), was scratched from the lineup about an hour before the game because of an infected tooth. He had a root canal and then traveled with the team to Detroit. … RHP Tony Barnette went on the 10-day disabled list. An MRI revealed a strained lat that will keep him from throwing for at least four weeks. He left Tuesday night’s game in the middle of a batter.
UP NEXT
Astros: Justin Verlander (9-4), who has lost his last two starts, is on the mound when the Astros return home for the opener Thursday night of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox.
Rangers: The Rangers open a 10-game, 11-day trip that will take them to the All-Star break when they play Thursday night at Detroit. Texas also plays at Boston and Baltimore before their next home game July 20.
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch pulled off a surprise when he orchestrated a trade for Pro Bowl defensive end Dee Ford in March. Lynch’s decision to take Ohio State’s Nick Bosa with the second overall pick in the draft Thursday was anticipated.The two moves give the 49ers a pair of bookend edge rushers who should immediately help a defense that generated 36 sacks and finished 23rd in the NFL last season.“It’s something that (coach Kyle Shanahan) and I had as a priority when we got here,” Lynch said. “Two of the first things we talked about is finding our quarterback and finding the guys to knock them down. Both in quality and quantity we have improved drastically in that respect. Now we have to go deliver. Nick really helps us in our ability to do that.”Ford is coming off the first Pro Bowl season of his career and is penciled in to start on the right side of San Francisco’s defensive line while Bosa is projected to start on the left.It marks the fourth time in five years that the 49ers took a defensive lineman with their first-round pick, all in hopes of improving a pass rush that has been mediocre for several seasons.Bosa, whose brother is Chargers star Joey Bosa, believes the quality of San Francisco’s line will make it easier for him to blend in.“It’s unbelievable just to be on a team that really shouldn’t have been this high in the draft with all the talent that they have,” Bosa said. “And then they add Dee Ford, which makes this D-line scary. It’s pretty impossible to double-team any of us because then you’re single-teaming one of us. It’s going to be fun.”Bosa had 17 ½ sacks and 29 tackles for loss in 30 games with the Buckeyes. He played in only three games as a junior before suffering a core muscle injury that required surgery. Although there was speculation Bosa would return to school Trysten Hill Jersey , he announced in mid-October that he would be concentrating on the draft.Bosa’s last game was on Sept. 15 when he had five tackles, a sack and a forced fumble against TCU.“I miss it a lot, man,” Bosa said. “You don’t realize it until you’re away from it for so long. I’m itching to get out there, I really am.”Prior to getting hurt, Bosa had four sacks, 14 tackles, six tackles for loss and a forced fumble and was in the early Heisman Trophy conversations.That came on the heels of his spectacular sophomore campaign when Bosa had eight sacks, 15 tackles for loss and was the Big Ten defensive lineman of the year despite starting only four of the 14 games he played.“When you’re watching players certain things jump out right away. Nick has a tremendous first step, he gains a ton of ground,” Lynch said. “A mix of speed and power and then he’s an absolute technician with his hands. He’s not only incredibly talented, powerful http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-connor-mcgovern-jersey , fast but he’s very efficient in the way he plays.”Shanahan believes his newest rookie can do more than just chase after quarterbacks.“I see him as a three-down player,” Shanahan said. “He’s got to come in and do it. His best strength is rushing the passer but he can play all three downs and can play in all situations.”Bosa does come with some baggage. He recently came under scrutiny for comments he made on Twitter regarding political and racial subjects. Bosa deleted some of them and told ESPN he did so because he might end up in San Francisco.“I love the Bay Area and I’m excited to play there,” Bosa said after being drafted. “I was a little insensitive in some of the things I said. I’ve learned a lot in the past few months. I’m just ready to move forward from that, put it in the past, and bring the faithful some wins.”Lynch said the 49ers spoke with several of Bosa’s teammates and coaches and had been made aware of the issues on social media.“As we do with all of our prospects, we do background checks and look at their social media,” Lynch said. “We choose to think more about what we’ve heard from people as to who the person really is. We’re going to give him a fresh start and we hope that everybody will.”The 49ers may be tempted to stay on the defensive side during the second day of the draft. San Francisco needs help in the secondary, although it has issues at receiver and with the depth of the offensive line.
