Rangers 1, Astros 0 (12): Robinson Chirinos drove in Kevin Kouzmanoff with an RBI single in the 12th inning as host Texas posted its 12th straight victory over Houston.
After escaping a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the 10th, Brad Peacock (0-1) retired Prince Fielder to open the 12th before giving up a single to Kouzmanoff, who took second base on a wild pitch. Peacock struck out Mitch Moreland, but Chirinos delivered a groundball up the middle past a diving Jose Altuve at second base to deliver the winning run.
Jason Frasor (1-0) worked around a two-out walk in the 12th to give the Rangers their 18th win in the last 19 games against their American League West rival. Matt Dominguez singled in the sixth against Texas ace Yu Darvish and again in the 11th to account for the Astrosâ?? only two hits.
Houston starter Scott Feldman (two hits and four walks allowed over seven frames) and Darvish (one hit, one walk and nine strikeouts in eight innings) cruised through their respective outings, with Feldman wiggling out of two scoring opportunities before departing. Darvish retired the first 15 hitters he faced â?? seven by strikeout â?? before Dominguez ended his bid for a perfect game with a line drive into shallow center.
Feldman wasnâ??t nearly as dominant as his counterpart, but he stranded runners in scoring position in the second and left the bases loaded in the seventh when he struck out Josh Wilson. Houston reliever Kevin Chapman escaped a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the ninth when he got Elvis Andrus to ground out and Peacock followed suit one inning later by recording three straight outs after walking the bases full.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Rangers CF Shin-Soo Choo went 1-for-3 and drew three free passes; he has walked seven times over his last three contests. â? Prior to his sixth-inning single, Dominguezâ??s first three career hits off Darvish were home runs. â? Texas 3B Adrian Beltre (left quad strain) did not play; the Rangers plan on giving their three-time All-Star at least a couple more days before making a decision on whether or not to place him on the disabled list.
