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 A day after Yu Darvish came within one out of a perfect game, Alexi Ogando and four Texas relievers shut out the Astros again, combining for a five-hitter in the Rangers' 4-0 win over Houston on Wednesday.
It's the most strikeouts a pitching staff has combined for in the first three games of a season in major league history, and the most since Cleveland fanned 42 in the first three of the 1966 season.
The Rangers are also the fourth team in major league history since 1916 to start the season by striking out 10 or more batters in each of their first three games.
Carlos Pena, one of Houston's only veterans, said it's important not to make too much of what happened in the last two games.
"Just a couple of rough games. You just leave it at that," he said. "They pitched well. We weren't facing easy ... pitchers. These guys are good. It's no secret they have a pretty good pitching staff."
Lance Berkman doubled in a run for the Rangers a day after they blanked Houston 7-0 behind Darvish's nearly historic gem.
"Yesterday, it was more about their guy, and today it was more about our guys," Houston manager Bo Porter said of the strikeouts. "We just had our guys expanding the zone way too often. We need to make an adjustment and do a better job. The fastballs that we had an opportunity to do something with, we either fouled them off or didn't get them (in play)."
Ogando (1-0) allowed four hits with a career-high 10 strikeouts in 6 1-3 innings. The young and inexperienced Astros have struck out 43 times in their first three games.
Relievers Robbie Ross, Tanner Scheppers and Michael Kirkman allowed one hit combined in the final 1 2-3 innings. Closer Joe Nathan struck out the side in the ninth.
Houston starter Philip Humber (0-1) yielded five hits and a run in 5 2-3 innings in his Astros debut.
Nelson Cruz and A.J. Pierzynski had two hits apiece and drove in a run each for the Rangers.
Ogando returned to the rotation this season after spending last year in the bullpen, where he had a career-high 58 relief appearances.
He retired nine straight Astros before Pena singled with two outs in the sixth inning. Chris Carter lined out to end that inning, and Houston's next hit, a one-out single in the seventh by Justin Maxwell, chased Ogando.
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Humber had retired 10 of 11 batters before walking Berkman to start the sixth inning. Adrian Beltre and David Murphy followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Nelson Cruz grounded into a double play that sent Berkman home to give Texas a 1-0 lead and chase Humber.
"You're never happy unless you win the game; it's a team effort," Humber said. "Walking Berkman there to lead off the sixth kind of cost us there. I will try to be better next time, just like I know we all will."
He was replaced by Wesley Wright, who retired Pierzynski to limit the damage
Humber, who threw a perfect game for the White Sox last season, helped nearby Rice University win a national championship in 2003.
Berkman's RBI double to left-center in the eighth inning made it 2-0. Cruz singled in a run before Beltre scored on a sacrifice fly by Pierzynski to push the lead to 4-0. Carter got an error on the play when he missed the catch despite being right under it.
After going 26 outs before getting a hit Tuesday night, the Astros got their first knock out of the way immediately on Wednesday when Jose Altuve hit a leadoff double.
They weren't able to build off the strong start though, as Ogando retired the next seven batters, with four strikeouts.
Humber got into trouble in the second when he allowed consecutive one-out singles to Cruz and Pierzynski. He struck out Mitch Moreland before plunking Leonys Martin in the right foot to load the bases. But he was able to retired Rick Ankiel to escape the jam.
The Astros haven't scored since the eighth inning of an 8-2 win in the season opener on Sunday night, when they overcame for a night having the majors' lowest payroll and a roster full of replacement-level players.
NOTES: Both teams are off on Thursday. Texas LHP Derek Holland takes the mound against Jason Vargas on Friday in the Rangers' home opener against the Angels. Houston continues its homestand on Friday when Brad Peacock faces Oakland's Dan Straily in the opener of a three-game series. ... The two triples Andrus had on Tuesday night tied a franchise record for triples in a game. It was the first time it had been done since Michael Young had two on Sept. 3, 2002 at Baltimore. Andrus has 25 career triples, tied for fifth most in team history.
[Associated
Press; By KRISTIE RIEKEN]
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