 clinch second place in the AL West. Their three-year reign in the division was already ended by Oakland in the pandemic-shortened season.''Who cares?'' said Pressly, who had his fourth blown save in 16 chances. ''We've got to take care of business first.'' The loss meant Houston had to wait to see if Dusty Baker would become the first manager to lead five different franchises to the playoffs.Hired just before spring training after AJ Hinch was fired almost immediately after Major League Baseball suspended him for a year over Astros' sign-stealing scandal, Baker has already taken San Francisco, the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati and Washington to the postseason.''We were so close to clinching it,'' Baker said. ''It doesn't hurt any more than the rest of them. But there's nothing we can do now.'' Rookie catcher Sam Huff homered twice, his second and third, for the first two Rangers runs. The 22-year-old Huff is the second-youngest Texas catcher with a multihomer game, behind Jarrod Saltalamacchia in a 30-3 win over Baltimore in 2007.''I want to keep proving and keep going and do my thing,'' Huff said. ''I'm trying to stay consistent, have a good thought and have fun.'' Alex Bregman homered in the sixth and had a sacrifice fly that put the Astros ahead 4-3 in the top of the 10th. Houston's first run came on George Springer's RBI triple.Nick Solak matched Bregman's sacrifice fly to get the last-place Rangers even in the bottom of the 10th. Gallo's grounder was fielded by Jose Altuve, but the second baseman's desperate throw home was wide, allowing pinch-runner Andrew Romine to score.Bregman was as disinterested as Pressly about what was going on two time zones away.''I'm going to go to bed,'' Bregman said. ''I'm going to call my family and just try to get a good night's sleep and come back ready to play tomorrow.'' Enoli Paredes (3-3) walked Isiah Kiner-Falefa to start the Texas 10th, and the bases were loaded after first baseman Yuli Gurriel's throw to second was wide on a sharp grounder from Willie Calhoun.Brett Martin (1-1) got the win, giving up a single to Kyle Tucker after Bregman's sacrifice before getting a popout from Gurriel, who put the Astros ahead 3-2 in the eighth on a soft single inside the bag at first with Guzman playing well off the line on a shift.Guzman's fourth homer of the season barely cleared the wall down the line in right.''It was right where I wanted to throw it, actually,'' Pressly said. ''Your team goes out there and gives you a chance to win and you come in a get beat on a pitch like that is very frustrating. Flush this out of your brain.'' 3,000 STRAIGHT FOR PA MANChuck Morgan of the Rangers is set to call his 3,000th consecutive game as a major league public address announcer Saturday. Morgan has spent 37 of his 38 seasons with Texas. The other was in Kansas City. It's hard for him to call it a celebration in a season without fans.''It would really be much better for me tomorrow night if we had 40,000 people in the ballpark,'' Morgan said. ''I don't like it, but I accept it.'' TRAINER'S ROOMAstros: Baker said C Martin Maldonado got his legs tangled on the final play at the plate, but he hoped he would be OK. Maldonado stayed down on the field as the Rangers celebrated before walking off slowly on his own. ... RHP Josh James was placed on the 10-day injured list for an unspecified reason, and RHP Chase De Jong was brought up from the taxi squad.Rangers: Manager Chris Woodward said rookie 3B Sherten Apostel won't play again this season after leaving Thursday's game with back spasms following an awkward dive to field a ball.UP NEXTThe Astros were waiting for the LA outcome to decide who would start the third game in the four-game series to finish the regular season. RHP Kyle Gibson (2-6, 5.87 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Rangers.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Astros hope booming win over Rangers is only the beginningThe Houston Astros' long-lost offense reappeared at an opportune time Thursday and moved the club within a win of securing a fifth postseason berth in six seasons.The visiting Astros (29-28) bashed four home runs in their 12-4 victory over the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas, and reduced their magic number to clinch second place in the American League West to one. Second-place teams qualify for the postseason in this pandemic-shortened season.Any combination of one Houston win or one loss by the Los Angeles Angels, who will face the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, would net the Astros the eighth and final postseason slot in the AL.Houston third baseman Alex Bregman finished a single shy of the cycle and homered. George Springer, Jose Altuve and Josh Reddick also hit homers in the Astros' first double-digit scoring performance for the Astros in a month. Houston had scored more than three runs just four times over their previous 16 games and five series."I think that's what we should be doing," Bregman said. "We're a very good offense. Now it's time to repeat, repeat and repeat. Keep doing that." Right-hander Jose Urquidy (1-1, 2.78 ERA) is set to start for Houston in Friday's second game of the four-game series. He has posted three consecutive quality starts, going 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA during that stretch with 10 strikeouts against five walks and a .490 OPS allowed over 19 innings.Urquidy pitched effectively against Texas on Sept. 15, allowing one run on three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over seven innings in a 4-1 victory in Houston. He is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in two career starts against the Rangers with 16 strikeouts and no walks over 14 innings.Rookie right-hander Kyle Cody (1-1, 1.53 ERA) will oppose Urquidy for the second time.It will mark the fifth start and eighth appearance of the season for Cody, who limited the Astros to one run on four hits and two walks with one strikeout over three innings on Sept. 15. Cody is 1-1 with a 2.03 ERA over four starts this month, recording 11 strikeouts against seven walks while limiting opposing batters to a .648 OPS over 13 1/3 innings.Mired in last place in the AL West, the Rangers (19-38) are left playing the role of spoiler over the remaining three games of the series. Aside from clinching a playoff berth, the Astros need another victory to lock up the Silver Boot Series."Obviously, it's let's keep these guys from getting to the playoffs," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "It's as simple as that. It's obviously a good test for us. I think we've actually played decent against these guys all year; I know we've pitched well against them at times. It's a good way to end it."We've played well at home. Hopefully, we can get some positive things moving ... and win the series and end the 2020 season on a positive note. That's the biggest thing," Woodward said.--Field Level Media
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