Texas Rangers hold off Astros to tie series on Nathaniel Lowe’s single

HOUSTON — The defending World Series champion Texas Rangers are fighting to stay relevant ahead of the July 30 trade deadline.

On Saturday afternoon at Minute Maid Park, they recaptured some of their postseason mojo from last season to defeat the Houston Astros 2-1 in 10 innings.

Nathaniel Lowe, who was mired in an 0-for-14 streak since a three-hitter Monday, broke out by serving a 3-2 pitch opposite left-center field to score Josh Smith with the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the 10th.

“I’ve been struggling lately. I feel like I’m trying to do more because you see the All-Star guys doing their thing and the guys around the league having a lot of success, so you feel like the tide is going to turn a little bit,” said Lowe, who is hitting .264. “Instead of sticking to my approach, I’ve been trying to do more. And (this at-bat), I just got back to being comfortable and just hitting the ball.”

Right-handed pitcher Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn his 15th save. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 10 straight appearances and in 17 of his last 18 appearances.

It was Lowe’s ninth career hit and gave his team the lead in extra innings.

“A tough game. There was no avoiding it. Both teams had to throw a lot of pitches with the game on the line,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “For Nate, it was a tough day up until that at-bat. He was out of sync. He wasn’t seeing the ball well, that was pretty obvious. He kept battling, and with two strikes, he did a great job of striking out two.”

Nathan Eovaldi had one of his best outings of the first half of the season, holding the Astros to one run on eight hits and no walks in seven innings. Eovaldi struck out seven batters, including five in a row between the fourth and sixth innings. Eovaldi allowed four of his eight hits and his only run in the first inning. He struck out 14 of his next 15 batters in the sixth inning.

The Rangers allowed a season-high nine walks Saturday. Their previous high was seven walks, which they did three times, most recently on May 18 against the Angels. Seven of the nine walks came between the sixth and ninth innings.
Houston’s nine walks allowed tied the season record for Astros pitchers.

Max Scherzer (1-2, 3.09) will face Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco (9-3, 2.53) in the series and the final game of the first half at 1:10 p.m. Sunday. This is Scherzer’s fifth start since returning from injury June 23. Right-hander Jon Gray, who is also on four days’ rest, is available in relief if needed, Bruce Bochy said.

You can follow Stefan Stevenson on X @StefanVersusTex.

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