Astros 5, Rangers 4. Former Ranger (and prize free agent acquisition) Scott Feldman started the game for Houston; Nick Tepesch, making his first start of the year, opposed him.
Feldman set the Rangers down 1-2-3 in the first. Tepesch worked through the first two hitters, then allowed a single to Dexter Fowler and a double to Jason Castro before striking out Matt Dominguez to leave them on second and third. The Rangers opened the scoring in the next half-inning when Alexis Rios homered, threatening further damage with singles by JP Arencibia and Leonys Martin before stranding them. After an easy second by Tepesch, Texas extended its advantage in the third on hits by Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, and Prince Fielder. Rios hit into a double play to bail Feldman out of the inning with the deficit still at a manageable size.
Tepesch worked around a Fowler walk in the bottom of the third; Texas then put Mitch Moreland and Martin on base via a walk and a single in the fourth, advancing them as far as second and third but no further. After a spotless bottom of the fourth from their starter, the Rangers' 2-3-4 hitters struck again in the fifth, as Andrus doubled, Beltre singled him home, and Fielder doubled Beltre in for a 4-0 lead. Tepesch was immaculate once more in the fifth; Darrin Downs relieved Feldman in the sixth and hit Rougned Odor with a pitch, then saw him caught stealing.
Tepesch retired the first Astro hitter in the sixth, then walked Fowler, and then was removed from the game despite not having allowed a hit since the first inning. That proved to be a fateful decision. Aaron Poreda issued a walk to Castro and allowed a Dominguez single to load the bases; Jesus Guzman and Chris Carter followed with RBI singles to cut the lead in half. Jason Frasor relieved Poreda and struck out the next two hitters to salvage a slight positive out of the inning, but after Paul Clemens worked around a Beltre double, Frasor started the bottom of the seventh by allowing a Jose Altuve single and a George Springer homer to tie the game at 4. Neal Cotts replaced Frasor and allowed singles to Fowler and Castro before settling down to retire the next three hitters and keep the game tied.
Tony Sipp and Nick Martinez each worked a perfect half of the eighth. Sipp combined with Chad Qualls on a spotless top of the ninth; Martinez then allowed a single to Fowler, a walk to Castro, and a walkoff hit to Dominguez.
Two things stand out in this game. First, the Astros' 3-4 hitters, Fowler and Castro, combined to go 5 for 6 with 4 walks and a double, scoring three of the team's five runs and putting them in position to have scored considerably more if their teammates had converted.
The second:
Runs scored while a starting pitcher was on the mound - Texas 4, Houston 0
Runs scored while a reliever was on the mound - Houston 5, Texas 0
The Astros have a 5.73 bullpen ERA this year, which is impressive in the wrong way - but Texas's relief corps, while better, doesn't really qualify as good (4.51). It is, in fact, the kind of bullpen that will sometimes lose you a game like this, especially when you yank your starter after 5.1 solid innings and 104 pitches.
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