Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Box Score on Sep 01, 2020

Scott Heineman scored on a balk and Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a throwing error in the top of the 10th inning as the Texas Rangers capitalized on a trio of mistakes to defeat the Houston Astros 6-5 on Tuesday at Minute Maid Park.

Heineman, who opened the 10th inning on second base and advanced to third on a groundout, scored the go-ahead run by bluffing Astros left-hander Blake Taylor (1-1) to illegally step off the rubber. Kiner-Falefa later reached on a throwing error by shortstop Carlos Correa, his first after 90 consecutive errorless games, and scored when catcher Martin Maldonado threw wildly past first baseman Yuli Gurriel in an attempt to erase Joey Gallo following his bunt attempt.

The Rangers (13-21), who snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Astros, forced extras when shortstop Elvis Andrus smacked a leadoff home run off Houston closer Ryan Pressly in the ninth. It marked the first home run for Andrus, activated off the injured list on Monday.

Jonathan Hernandez (5-0) earned the win for Texas. Rafael Montero notched his seventh save.

Michael Brantley, who drove home Jose Altuve with a single in the bottom of the 10th, rallied from an 0-2 hole against Rangers right-hander Nick Goody with two outs in the seventh, running the count full before turning on a slider for a three-run home run off the right-field foul pole that gave Houston a 4-3 lead. Goody had retired George Springer and Altuve upon entering in relief of right-hander Jordan Lyles with two runners on base.

Lyles pitched effectively in relief of opener Luis Garcia, who allowed one hit and issued one walk while striking out a pair of batters in his scoreless inning of work. Lyles allowed just one base runner over his first four innings, issuing a one-out walk to Springer in the bottom of the third.

But the Astros (19-15) scratched across a run in the sixth courtesy of a two-out single from Correa that cut the Texas lead to 3-1. Abraham Toro and Dustin Garneau stroked consecutive singles to open the seventh, Lyles departed, and Goody could not stem the tide.

Astros left-hander Framber Valdez survived a ragged first inning that featured a hit batsman, a wild pitch and a throwing error that yielded the first run of the game for the Rangers. Nick Solak tacked on an RBI single that scored Kiner-Falefa and stretched the Texas lead to 2-0.

Valdez escaped additional damage by inducing an inning-ending double play from Andrus. The Rangers hit into three double plays, all turned by Altuve and Correa, with Solak snuffing a two-on, no-outs rally in the seventh inning.

--Field Level Media