Behind Bradford's brilliance, Rangers blow out Astros in ALCS rematch

ARLINGTON -- Cody Bradford shook hands with Bruce Bochy and walked off the mound at Globe Life Field to a standing ovation of the 34,583 fans in attendance.

Bradford had never pitched into the sixth inning in any of his previous nine big league starts. But on Friday, the Aledo, Texas, native did all that and more, pitching 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball as the Rangers cruised to a 10-2 win over the Astros to open the four-game set at Globe Life Field.

Including last year’s American League Championship Series, Houston had won eight consecutive games at Globe Life Field dating back to July 1, 2023, the longest win streak by an opposing club at this ballpark (opened in 2020). Behind Bradford’s career night, the Rangers put that business to rest.

“It's good to set the tone against the Astros and they kind of worked our butts here last year,” Bradford said. “It means a lot. I grew up in the area and there's a lot of emotions from my hometown and and my family. We want to beat the Astros just as much as everybody else does. It’s just really special and I feel really honored to give the team so many innings tonight.”

Bradford allowed a leadoff single to Jose Altuve to start the game, but from there, he didn’t allow another baserunner until Yainer Diaz reached via Jared Walsh's throwing error in the fifth. He was removed at 97 pitches in the seventh after surrendering a two-out single to Jeremy Peña, just Houston’s second hit of the game.

Bradford said he realized he was in a groove around the third or fourth inning as he started hitting all his spots and keeping the hitters off balance. He then pointed to an at-bat against José Abreu in the fifth.

With a runner on first and one out, Bradford had Abreu in a 3-2 count. Catcher Jonah Heim called for a cutter. Bradford's offering, which Baseball Savant tagged as an 85.5 mph slider, hit the location down in the zone, getting Abreu looking for the second out of the inning.

“After that, we were just rolling,” Bradford said.

He wouldn’t allow another base runner until Peña’s hit in eighth.

The Astros got on the board in the eighth after Jake Meyers homered off Yerry Rodríguez, who relieved Bradford, but by that point, the Rangers’ offense did more than enough to support their starter, scoring early and often to give Bradford some breathing room.

The Rangers struck first with a two-out RBI from Corey Seager in the second inning and never looked back. Adolis García and Marcus Semien homered, and every batter in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit.

“It just helps me go out and throw strike one to every batter,” Bradford said of the offense. “It gives me a little bit of confidence to just go out there and trust my stuff and not be too fine with it.”

At 26 years and 43 days old, Bradford became the Rangers' youngest pitcher to post seven innings, two or fewer hits and no walks since Martín Pérez on Aug. 2, 2015 against the Giants (24 years, 120 days).

So, what was working so well for the young lefty against a lineup that has more or less terrorized this ballpark for four years?

“What wasn’t working for Cody today would be a better question,” Heim said. “He had all pitches working. He was throwing everything for strikes. We’re really happy with how his curveballs progressed, and it buys us a lot options early, with early strikes. He made some really good pitches when he needed to execute it and it was a lot of fun out there.”

Bradford re-introduced the curveball to his arsenal during Spring Training after scrapping the pitch following his Draft year in 2019. This season, he's thrown 27 curveballs -- 18 against the Astros and nine in his first start against the Cubs.

“I’m a lot more [confident in the pitch now] than I was in the spring,” Bradford said. “For sure, I’m definitely trying to use it in all counts now. It's just a great way to slow a guy down, get them on the front foot. It sure helps the 90 mph fastball play up.”

Despite a low-90s fastball, when Bradford commands the ball as well as he did tonight, he can compete with any team in the big leagues. The addition of the curveball makes him that much better.

“There's still room for a guy that can pitch,” Heim said of Bradford’s velocity. “It doesn't matter if you throw 90 or 100. If you can do what you want with the baseball, you're gonna have some good success."