Dustin Harris singled home Cody Freeman with the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning to lift the surging Texas Rangers to a 4-3 win over the slumping Houston Astros on Friday in the opener of a crucial three-game series between the American League West rivals in Arlington, Texas.
Harris, who was called up from Triple-A Round Rock prior to the game after outfielder Adolis Garcia was placed on the injured list, pulled a pitch from Lance McCullers (2-5) down the right field line that allowed Freeman to sprint to the plate. Harris had a least one hit in his previous 17 games at Round Rock before heading to Arlington.
The victory allowed the Rangers (73-69) to pull to within four games of Houston (77-65) in the AL West standings and to within a half-game of Seattle in the AL wild-card race with 20 games to play.
Texas snapped a two-game losing streak and has won 10 of its last 13 contests. The Astros dropped their second straight outing and have lost five of their past seven.
Robert Garcia (3-7), the fifth Texas pitcher, was the beneficiary of Harris’s walk-off hit after pitching a perfect 12th inning.
Both teams had nine hits, with Ezequiel Duran leading the way for Texas with three and Carlos Correa and Victor Caratini each recording three for the Astros.
Houston got on the board first as Caratini’s second-inning single drove home Jesus Sanchez, who had walked with one out and advanced to third on a throwing error by Freeman.
Texas answered in the bottom of the frame as Dylan Moore’s sacrifice fly to center field plated Josh Jung from third base. Jung reached with a one-out single to start the rally and moved to third on a single by Duran.
The Rangers jumped to the front in the third inning when Jake Burger ripped a one-out, two-run home run over the left field fence, with Wyatt Langford trotting home in front of him after reaching on a walk.
That lead lasted until the eighth. Correa clanged a two-out, two-run home run off the right field foul pole off reliever Chris Martin to drive home Jose Altuve (who had doubled) and tie the game at 3-3.
