Josh Hader moved into fifth place in franchise history with his 77th save, and the Houston Astros extended their lead in the American League West over the visiting Texas Rangers with a 5-4 victory on Saturday.
Hader worked a perfect ninth inning for his 15th save in 15 chances. The Astros preserved their one-run lead over the final three innings despite stranding 11 baserunners. They extended their division lead over Texas to 1 1/2 games with their 10th victory in 11 games, including five in a row.
LaMonte Wade Jr. supplied the Astros with a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when he roped a one-out single to right field that scored Jose Altuve, who worked a one-out walk and advanced to third base on a two-out single from Cam Smith.
Texas responded in the top of the third when Wyatt Langford lined his 13th home run just inside the left field foul pole, a solo shot off Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco that tied the game at 1-1.
The Astros answered back with a two-spot in the third courtesy of a two-run, bases-loaded single by Taylor Trammell off Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom.
Houston’s 3-1 lead didn’t last long, however, as Texas rallied for two runs in the fourth on an RBI single by Alejandro Osuna and a one-out sacrifice bunt by Elias Diaz that plated Ezequiel Duran.
Christian Walker chased deGrom an inning later with a run-scoring single that drove home Jeremy Pena, who doubled with one out. deGrom intentionally walked Yordan Alvarez after Pena’s double, and Alvarez later scored when Rangers reliever Cole Winn uncorked a wild pitch to Yainer Diaz, pushing the Astros to a 5-3 lead.
Right-hander deGrom (7-7) allowed five runs on seven hits and a season-high five walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings.
Blanco did not survive the fifth despite keeping the Rangers off the scoreboard in that frame. He recorded two quick outs, but his two-out walk to Corey Seager signaled an end to his outing. Blanco allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with four strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings.
Left-hander Bennett Sousa relieved Blanco, issued walks to Brandon Nimmo and Evan Carter to load the bases, but fanned Duran to preserve the two-run lead.
Diaz homered off Astros reliever Enyel De Los Santos with one out in the sixth, but three Astros relievers preserved the one-run margin, including left-hander Steven Okert (5-1).
