Brandon Nimmo’s walk-off single capped off a 3-for-5 game for the Texas Rangers, who scored a 6-5 victory over the Houston Astros Sunday and won two of three during the weekend series in Arlington, Texas.
Nimmo also had an RBI triple as Texas won despite giving up a three-run lead. Kyle Higashioka homered for the Rangers, who enter the All-Star break winners in four of six.
Cam Smith hit his 12th home run of the season and Jose Altuve blasted his 11th for Houston. Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-3 with a pair of intentional walks.
The Rangers’ first three batters got hits off Josh Hader (3-1) in the ninth. Wyatt Langford singled and advanced to second when leftfielder Zach Dezenzo mishandled the ball. Josh Jung followed with a base hit, but Langford stopped at third despite being waved home by third base coach Corey Ragsdale.
That became moot after Nimmo hit a bouncer up the middle past a drawn-in infield.
Jacob Latz (2-1) allowed a hit and a walk in the top of the ninth, but a double play helped him keep the game tied.
Texas jumped on Astros starter Cristian Javier in the second to take the lead. Nicky Lopez hit a one-out RBI single, and an out later, Joc Pederson hit a shot to the right-center gap that Houston center fielder Taylor Trammell nearly hauled in as he slid on the warning track. Instead, it bounced off the wall, making it 3-0.
Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore, returning to the mound on three days’ rest, lasted only four innings, but he was effective. The left-hander retired 10 of the last 11 he faced, giving up only Altuve’s two-out homer in the fourth in that stretch.
Nimmo’s triple in the fifth restored the Rangers’ three-run advantage at 4-1, but that only lasted an inning and a half.
The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the seventh. Jeremy Pena hit a sacrifice fly, and Isaac Paredes followed an Alvarez intentional pass with a two-run single up the middle.
Smith gave the Astros their first lead in the eighth with his homer off Ben Peoples, but Higashioka responded with his blast with two outs in the next half-inning off Bryan King.
