Rangers get 15 hits, but lose to Astros

[July 18, 2015]  HOUSTON -- Houston Astros right-hander Collin McHugh set an ominous tone for the Texas Rangers with his sleight of hand in the first inning, and when Houston turned to its bullpen, Texas' trend of inefficiency continued.

While the Rangers made the least of their 15 hits, McHugh reached double figures in wins for a second consecutive season in the Houston Astros' 3-2 victory over Texas on Friday night at Minute Maid Park.

After the Rangers (42-47) failed to record an extra-base hit through the sixth inning, Astros right-handers Will Harris and Pat Neshek surrendered a triple and two doubles in two combined innings of work. But Harris stranded Texas second baseman Rougned Odor at third to end the seventh before Neshek capped the eighth with shortstop Elvis Andrus at second after Andrus' RBI double cut the deficit to one run.

"That was incredible to have that many hits and not create any runs for them," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We pitched out of a few jams. They swung the bats well; we swung the bats very well early in the game. That wasn't your typical 3-2 game. That was a very unique way to kick off the second half."

McHugh (10-5) worked six elusive innings, facing the minimum only twice. He needed a double play to erase Andrus' leadoff single in the second inning and struck out the side in an aberrant fourth. Otherwise, McHugh was effective enough to capitalize when gifted an early lead.

Right-hander Luke Gregerson earned his 19th save as the Astros (50-42) snapped a six-game losing skid. The Rangers stranded 10 baserunners and hit 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position, negating multi-hit games from the first five hitters in their batting order.

"It's been our nemesis throughout this stretch and not being able to get the big hit when we need it," Rangers manager Jeff Bannister said. "You have to believe if you put up 15 hits as a team, we are going to score some runs."

McHugh created a bind in the first by surrendering four consecutive singles. But what McHugh did not surrender was a run, buoyed by Odor being erased at second base following his single for the second out.

Texas followed with three hits that merely enabled each baserunner to advance one bag. When Rangers right fielder Josh Hamilton grounded out to first, he left the bases full and McHugh positioned to right his ship.

"Part of it is probably a little bit of luck," said McHugh, who allowed one run on 11 hits, all singles, with four strikeouts. "(Catcher) Jason (Castro) and I both pride ourselves on limiting the damage as much as possible. We got kind of fortunate because they were all singles."

The Astros committed their own baserunning gaffe in the third, but at least they squeezed a pair of runs from that five-hit frame. While second baseman Jose Altuve was cut down at home trying to score on a single to shallow center field by third baseman Marwin Gonzalez, Altuve doubled the Astros' 1-0 lead with his run-scoring double to right. Shortstop Carlos Correa added an RBI single for a 3-0 lead against left-hander Martin Perez.

Perez (0-1) limited the damage to three runs in his first start of the season and his first appearance with Texas since undergoing Tommy John surgery on May 19, 2014. Perez lasted five innings, allowing nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts on 86 pitches (54 strikes).

"I did a good job," Perez said. "I made a couple mistakes, but that was probably adrenaline. I did my best to compete. It's different here than in Triple-A. You can't miss a pitch here. That's when you run into problems."

NOTES: Mired in an 0-for-11 slump, Rangers OF Shin-Soo Choo opened the second half of the season on the bench. Choo, who played in 80 of Texas' first 88 games, is batting .157 over his last 24 games and just .221 overall, ninth lowest among American League qualified hitters. He is hitless in his last 14 at-bats with runners in scoring position. ... Astros INF Jed Lowrie is close to departing for a rehab assignment following a series of team workouts. Lowrie landed on the 15-day disabled list on April 28 with a right thumb ligament tear. ... Rangers C Carlos Corporan was placed on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to July 13) with a sprained left thumb. Texas C Tomas Telis was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to replace Corporan on the roster. Corporan is batting .178/.244/.299 as the primary backup to Robinson Chirinos.

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