Astros rise to 'playoff' atmosphere in key series opener

ARLINGTON -- Astros left fielder Chas McCormick took a moment to look around the stands at Globe Life Field and soak in a sellout crowd, many of whom were clad in Houston orange. The roar of the crowd at key moments Friday night brought to mind a playoff atmosphere, which helped the playoff-tested Astros get up for the challenge in their biggest series of the season.

The Astros began the second half of their regular-season schedule five games out of first place in the American League West -- a position they haven’t been in this deep in the season since 2016 -- and played like a team looking for a fight en route to a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over the Rangers in a doozy of an opener in a Lone Star Series showdown.

Mauricio Dubón, starting at shortstop in place of Jeremy Peña (stiff neck), ripped a two-run double into left field to put the Astros ahead and came around to score in Houston’s three-run sixth inning. Houston’s bullpen was tremendous, with Phil Maton, Hector Neris, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly retiring 12 of the final 13 Texas batters.

“We played inspired baseball,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.

Indeed. The Astros won their third game in a row to get within four games of the Rangers in the AL West with three games in the series remaining. Houston improved to 13-4 in its last 17 games at Globe Life Field since 2021.

“This club can run off on you over here, so we want to keep them within striking distance,” Baker said. “You always want to win that first game because that puts you on a confidence high for the second game, and hopefully you can do the same thing for a second game. Four-game series are tough. They’re very tough. It was very important for us to win that first game.”

The tone was set Friday night by -- who else? -- Jose Altuve, who crushed the first pitch of the game from Rangers starter Jon Gray and sailed it 421 feet over the wall in center field for his 34th career leadoff homer. The thousands of Astros fans in the stands erupted as Houston drew first blood.

“It felt like a playoff game tonight, and Altuve hitting the first pitch dead-center was pretty awesome,” McCormick said. “For him to be back in the lineup and get us going, that’s pretty special for him to do. He’s a great player and that’s what great players do.”

Baker called it “vintage Altuve.”

“We’ve seen it a whole bunch of times,” he said. “I don’t know how many homers he’s hit to start the game. It didn’t matter how far, just as long as it clears the fence."

There was some confusion in the sixth inning, though, when Dubón tried to put down a bunt with runners on first and second base and no outs and tapped it foul. Two pitches later, he ripped a double to left to score José Abreu from second, and an aggressive send by third-base coach Gary Pettis paid off when Rangers All-Star catcher Jonah Heim couldn’t handle the relay throw and Yainer Diaz scored the go-ahead run from first.

“I wanted him to swing in that situation,” Baker said of Dubón. “He was trying to play baseball. I just tell him, ‘You let me do the thinking, you do the playing.’”

Baker and Dubón later hashed out the miscommunication in a conversation at the dugout railing.

“I was trying to put it down, trying to advance the runners, trying to do my job,” Dubón said. “I couldn't do it, and I ended up getting rewarded with a double.”

The Astros will try to match their energy and effort for the rest of the series, knowing there will be a two-game swing in the standings in each of the remaining three games in Arlington.

“It was pretty fun to be playing in that game, and it looked like there’s a lot of Astros fans,” McCormick said. “I’m just happy we won. It was a really good game by us. We have three more to go, but tonight was huge.”