A couple of bizarre plays helped the Rangers score two runs in the top of the 10th inning, snapping Texas’ nine-game losing streak at Minute Maid Park with a 6-5 win over the Astros on Tuesday night.\n\nThe Rangers took advantage of a “go-ahead” balk and two Astros throwing errors in the 10th to earn their first win in three extra-inning games this year, all on the road. But there was nothing bizarre about how the Rangers got the game into extra innings.
Going into the ninth, the Rangers were trailing 4-3 going after Michael Brantley’s three-run run home run off the foul pole in the seventh had put the Astros ahead. But
“There are a lot of demons in this ballpark,” manager Chris Woodward said. “A big one, especially for \\[Andrus\\]. It was a huge lift for our team after the home run off the foul pole. That took the wind out of our sails a little bit. In this ballpark, it happens a lot of the time. For Elvis to say, ‘I gotcha,’ and tie the game and hand it off to our best pitchers was really cool.”\n\nThe game stayed tied in the bottom of the ninth only because third baseman
“It did save the game,” Woodward said. “He's been doing that all year for us … just shows you how athletic he is and how fearless the kid is.”\n\n• Rangers FAQ following Deadline, IL moves\n\nLeft-hander Blake Taylor pitched the 10th for the Astros, with
“Those are things I like to do,” Heineman said. “Kiner was having a great at-bat, the infield was in, they knew I was going on contact. We were just trying to stir it up. A lefty, kind of blinded, can’t see me, maybe get him to flinch a little bit. Full credit to Beasley, he called the play.”\n\nKiner-Falefa then reached on a throwing error by shortstop Carlos Correa.
“They shifted him, and Nick Solak is one of our better hitters on deck,” Woodward said. “Puts a couple of runners on and puts some pressure on. I didn’t mind it. Obviously, it worked out -- not the way we expected it to, but we ended up scoring a run.”
The run proved critical. Closer