Rangers sweep Astros with 6-2 win Thursday

ARLINGTON, Texas The biggest difference over the last seven weeks for the Rangers as they steadily tracked down the Houston Astros was the remaking of the bullpen.

It was the biggest difference between the two teams this week as well, as the Rangers not only caught Houston, but passed them and then kicked a bit of red dirt in their faces by completing a four-game sweep Thursday night.

A 6-2 win turned on the Rangers’ ability to shut down Houston late with waves of fresh arms. The Astros, who didn’t invest nearly as big in the bullpen at the trade deadline, couldn’t do the same. As a result, the Rangers lead in the AL West grew to 2 1/2 games with 16 to play.

A decided edge in the bullpens led directly to three of the Rangers’ four wins. The Rangers scored two in the eighth to win on Monday and posted a walk-off win on Tuesday. After a bludgeoning of Houston starter Dallas Keuchel on Wednesday, the Rangers bullpen locked down the sweep-clincher.

Since the Rangers overhauled the roster on Aug. 1 and added both Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson, the reorganized bullpen has a 3.18 ERA, second best in the AL. Only Toronto is better. By 0.02. Diekman, Dyson and Keone Kela have given the Rangers a whole new outlook on the back end of games. At the same time, Houston’s big bullpen acquisition was veteran lefty Oliver Perez.

In the four-game series, the Rangers relievers combined to allow two runs in 10 1/3 innings and those two came after the Rangers had a huge lead on Wednesday. Houston’s bullpen allowed 13 runs in 11 innings.

On Thursday, the difference was quite evident. By the seventh inning both starters Colby Lewis for the Rangers and Lance McCullers for the Astros were gone and the game was in the hands of the relievers. The Rangers held a one-run lead and turned the ball to Keone Kela. While Kela has been a key member of the bullpen all year, he got a 10-day break at the start of August after the Rangers acquired Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson in trades. Since returning, he had gone 12 1/3 innings without allowing a run.

On Thursday, it looked like the streak might be about to end when he allowed a leadoff single to No. 8 hitter Luis Valbuena and then walked No. 9 hitter Jason Castro. But Kela fed Jose Altuve three straight curveballs and got the aggressive fastball-hunter to hit over the top of one and into a third-to-first double play. Then he started George Springer off with a handful of curveballs to get ahead 0-2 before overwhelming him with a 95 mph fastball and a skip-jump off the mound.

In the bottom of the inning, the Astros turned to Josh Fields and Tony Sipp. The Rangers began the inning with a single and a sac bunt against Fields. Pinch runner Drew Stubbs then stole third base against defensively-challenged catcher Hank Conger, who had entered the game after the Astros pinch ran for Jason Castro in the top of the inning. Then Stubbs scored the fourth run of the game on a wild pitch that Conger couldn’t keep in front of him.

Adrian Beltre added a run-scoring double in the seventh and the Rangers added three more runs in the eighth.

And when the ninth rolled around, Ross Ohlendorf put the Astros away uneventfully as the crowd chanted “Sweep, sweep, sweep.”

The bullpen was the difference in that sweep.

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