TEXAS RANGERS NOTES:

WINS AND LOSSES: Texas lost to the Astros last night, 4-3, as club has a 0-2 record on this 6-G, 7-day road trip to HOU (0-2 + tonight) and SD (3 G) with an off day on Thursday… TEX has dropped 2 straight and 4 of 5 after a season-high 6-G win streak (7/14-19) out of the break, club’s longest since going 6-0, 6/22-28/19…team’s 7-4 (.636) record to start the 2nd “half” is still 5th-best in A.L. and T5th-best in MLB…TEX is 8-6 in last 14, 9-10 in last 19 G, and 10-12 in last 22 G… team is 19-23 (.452) beg. 6/7, a stretch which came after club reached season high point at 20-over on 6/6 (40-20)…team’s 45-32 (.584) record since 4/28 is still 2nd-best in A.L. and 5th-best in MLB over that span (ATL: .644, 47-26; LAD: .608, 45-29; BAL: .592, 45-31; CIN: .590, 46-32)…TEX is 49-37 in last 86 G and 54-39 last 93 G (beg. 4/9).

• At 59-43 (.578), TEX owns the 3rd-best record in the A.L. and 5th-best in MLB (ATL: .646, 64-35; BAL: .614, 62-39; TB: .596, 62-42; LAD: .580, 58-42)…59 wins rank 3rd in A.L. and 4th-most in MLB (64-ATL, 62-BAL/TB, 59-TEX).
• The 59-43 mark matches the 3rd-best 102-G start to a season in Washington/Texas franchise history (see chart below).

SERIES STUFF: After dropping the 1st 2 G here at MMP, Texas has lost consecutive series…despite back-to-back sweeps to open 2nd “half” (vs. CLE and TB), club is now 2-5- 0 in last 7 series and 2-6-1 in last 9 series…TEX is 4-8-1 in last 13 series following a stretch of 6 straight series victories from 5/19-6/7, longest span for team since club-record 10 straight series victories from 5/20-6/20/16…is 19-12-2 overall in series this year, going 10-5-2 at home and 9-7-0 on the road…is 15-9-2 in last 26 series and 18-10-2 in last 30…on the road, team has lost 4 straight, 1-5-0 in last 6 road series.

ON THE ROAD: The Rangers have lost 4 straight away games to match longest road drought in ’23 (also 0-4, 4/24- 5/5)…last longer away drought was season-ending 0-5 span in 2022…TEX has also lost 6 of 7, 8 of 10, and 12 of last 18 away games…club is still 25-23 (.521) on the road this season, good for the 4th-best away record in the A.L. (BAL: .627, 32-19; HOU: .585, 31-22; TOR: .527, 29-26).

• Rangers rank 3rd in MLB in R/G (5.40) on the road this season (LAD-5.77, ARI-highest 5.40), but have 3-or-fewer runs in 6 of last 10 away tilts…club’s .750 road OPS is 3rd-highest in A.L. (.785-LAA, .766-TB), but still nearly 100 points lower than OPS at home (.849).

VS. HOUSTON: Texas is 3-6 vs. HOU in the 2023 Lone Star Series for the coveted Silver Boot, losing 5 of last 6…TEX has lost season series in 5 of last 6 years (tied 5-5 in 2020)… TEX is 4-7 in last 11 G vs. HOU, losing 11 of 15, 22 of 30, and 30 of last 40 G (beg. 6/15/21)…TEX is 7-32 (.179) in last 39 G at MMP since start of 2019, lowest win pct. at any A.L. park in that span.

CLOSE CALLS: Texas has endured a pair of one-run losses to open this series…the club’s 21 one-run games this season are tied for fewest in MLB (also LAD/PIT)…TEX has gone 7-14 (.333) in those one-run games, the 3rd-lowest win pct. in MLB to SD (.273, 6-16) and STL (.310, 9-20)…TEX went 5-7 in its 1st 12 one-run games in ’23, but has dropped 7 of last 9 beginning with a 1-0 defeat on 6/7 vs. STL.

• Each of the Rangers’ last 3 losses to the Astros have been by one run, and each of last 5 defeats vs. HOU have been by one-or-2 runs…TEX has a +2 run differential vs. HOU in ’23 despite a 3-6 record.

HEANEY AND ASTROS: Andrew Heaney enters tonight’s start with 10.0 scoreless innings over his 1st 2 starts against Houston in ’23…he is one of 10 MLB pitchers with at least 10.0 SHO IP vs. a single opponent this year, one of 3 pitchers on that list to be winless in those outings (also NYY’s Gerrit Cole, 11.2 SHO IP vs. TOR; and NYM’s Max Scherzer, 10.0 SHO IP vs. LAD)…the only other TEX pitcher with back-to-back scoreless starts vs. HOU was Kyle Gibson, 9/16-26/20…Gibson had a CG SHO in a 1-0 TEX win here at MMP on 9/16/20.

BRADFORD BELIEVER: Cody Bradford (5.0 IP, 6 H, 2
R-ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 2 HR, 78 pitches) last night posted the longest outing by a Texas reliever in ’23, tied for club’s longest bullpen appearance since the start of 2022 (also Kolby Allard, 5.0 IP on 6/15/22 vs. HOU)…the last TEX relief app. of 5.0+ IP while allowing 2-or-fewer runs was by Jordan Lyles on 9/7/21 at ARI, as Lyles (W, GF, 7.0 IP, 1 R-ER) followed opener Spencer Howard in Rangers’ 3-1 win.

• Since taking the loss in his ML debut on 5/15 vs. ATL (5.0 IP, 6 R-ER), Bradford has gone 2-0, 3.66 (13 ER/32.0 IP) over his last 10 G/4 GS for Texas.

SEMIEN STILL GOING: Marcus Semien had 2 hits last night, extending his Minute Maid Park hit streak to 18 straight games beg. 5/7/21 (.315/.370/.548/.918)…it matches the 2nd-longest hit streak ever by an opponent at MMP: 23-Joey Votto from 4/20/09-9/17/13; 18-Logan Morrison from 4/8/11- 6/13/15…the only other hit streaks of 18+ G at this facility (2000-present) are by Lance Berkman (18 G from 7/26/10- 5/12/13 w/ HOU/STL/TEX) and Jose Altuve (18 G from 6/4- 7/29/15).

AGAIN?: For a 2nd straight series, TEX enters a series finale victory to avoid a winless series…this is just the 6th time in ’23 for Texas to lose the 1st 2 G of a series…the other 5: 4/3-5 vs. BAL (lost series, 1-to-2), 4/7-9 at CHC (lost series 1-to-2), 4/24-25 at CIN (swept, 0-to-3), 6/12-13 vs. LAA (lost series 1-to-3), 7/21-22 vs. LAD (lost series 1-to-2)…that series in Cincinnati is the only time for the Rangers to go winless this season.

AMERICA’S FINEST CITY: The Rangers are scheduled to fly to San Diego after tonight’s game and spend the Thursday off day in America’s Finest City ahead of Friday night’s series opener against the Padres…Texas has dropped 8 straight meetings vs. SD, with that streak beginning on a walk-off grand slam by Pads C Francisco Mejia (off Jeffrey Springs) on 9/16/18 at Petco in the waning days of the Jeff Banister era.

SHORTS: RHP Josh Sborz is likely to begin an injury rehab assignment with Round Rock (AAA) tonight at El Paso (7:35 pm CT first pitch)…Sborz is eligible to return from the IL beginning tomorrow…TEX is slated to face Yu Darvish in the reg. season for just the 2nd time, the other instance on 3/30/19 vs. CHC at Globe Life Park in Arlington in season’s 2nd game (ND, 2.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R-ER, 7 BB, 4 SO), an 8-6 TEX win…TEX batters’ 4 SO last night were fewest against Astros since 9/2/16 at GLPIA (3 SO)…last night was Rangers’ 19th game lasting 2:20-or-less, most in a season since 1985 (22)

TONIGHT’S STARTING PITCHER

44 Andrew Heaney, LHP (6-6, 4.58)

TONIGHT: The 32-year-old left-hander is scheduled to make his 20th start/appearance of the season in tonight’s series finale against the Astros…has the following ER totals allowed over his last 5 starts (in order): 6-0-7-0-4…has at least 5.0 SHO IP in 2 of his last 4 starts in July, and 12 R-11 ER allowed in the other (7/8 at WAS, Fri. vs. LAD)…is 1-2, 6.38 (17 ER/24.0 IP) last 5 starts to raise season ERA from 3.98 to 4.58…did not factor into decision his last start on Fri. vs. LAD, exiting after the 5th inning with the game tied at 4-4 (ND, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R-ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR, 72 pitches/44 strikes)…was on MLB Paternity List from 7/4-6 after his wife (Jordan) gave birth to twin daughters on 7/3…his 9.34 SO/9 would rank 14th in the A.L. if he qualified…is in his first season with Texas after signing a two-year free agent contract with the club on 12/9/22…is following a 2022 campaign in which he produced career bests in ERA (3.10), WHIP (1.087), and strikeout rate (13.6 SO/9) with the Los Angeles Dodgers despite being limited by a pair of Injured List stints…the 9-year MLB veteran has appeared in 155 games/144 starts with Miami (2014), Los Angeles-AL (2015-21), New York-AL (2021), Los Angeles-NL (2022), and Texas (2023)…an Oklahoma City native, Heaney pitched collegiately at Oklahoma State University before being selected by the Marlins in the first round (9th overall) of the 2012 MLB Draft…TEX is 10-9 in his 19 starts this season.

LAST START: Heaney did not factor into decision his last start on Fri. vs. LAD, exiting after the 5th inning with the game tied at 4-4 (ND, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R-ER, 3 BB, 3 SO, 1 HR, 72 pitches/44 strikes)…surrendered a game-tying solo HR to Freddie Freeman (his 18th HR allowed this season, T11th-most in the A.L.), just 2nd HR allowed to a LHB since beg. of 2022 (also J. Cronenworth on 9/11/22 w/ LAD)…it was his 2nd consecutive outing lasting at least 5.0 IP, although his 96.1 IP are the fewest among TEX starters that have made at least 19 starts this season (123.2-Eovaldi, 108.1-Gray, 102.2-Pérez).

VS. HOUSTON: Has gone 3-4, 3.04 ERA (24 ER/71.0 IP) in 13 career games/ starts vs. Houston…has managed to keep HOU scoreless during both starts (10.0 SHO IP, 5 H, 4 BB, 12 SO) against the this season…did not factor into the decision in his last start vs. HOU at Globe Life Field on 7/2 (5.0 SHO IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 8 SO)…started on 4/16 at Minute Maid Park earlier this season a scoreless “Sunday Night Baseball” outing on 4/16 (ND, 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 SO), helping Texas to a 9-1 series-clinching win at Minute Maid Park…at the time, marked just the 7th instance since the start of 2022 for an opposing starter to pitch at least 5.0 scoreless innings at MMP….he is still winless (0-3, 4.24 ERA) in his last 7 starts vs. Houston dating back to 2018, with his teams owning a 2-5 record in that span…his last victory against the Astros came on 8/30/18 at HOU w/ LAA (W, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 SO).

ON THE ROAD: Has seen better ERA results in his 7 starts on the road (2-3, 3.99 ERA) than in his 12 starts in Arlington (4-3, 4.97 ERA) this season…has logged at least 5.0 IP and allowed 3-or-fewer runs in 6 of 7 away starts…opponents are slashing .220/.290/.454/.744 (31-141) with 8 HR in his road outings compared to .261/.352/.456/.808 (59-226) with 9 HR at Globe Life Field.

TOUGH ON LEFT: Although left-handed batters are 6-for-12 against Heaney in his last 3 starts, LHB have still slashed just .204/.358/.352/.710 (11-54) with 5 extra-base hits against him in 2023…all 5 XBH have come in this last 3 starts (2 2B, 1 3B, and 1 HR)…Heaney has held lefties to a .217/.333/.357/.690 (25-115) slash line and just 2 HR allowed (Freddie Freeman last Fri. vs. LAD and Jake Cronenworth on 9/11/22 at SD w/ LAD) over the last 2 seasons (beg. 2022).

STREAKING STRIKEOUTS: Earned the win in his 2nd start as a Ranger on 4/10 vs. KC, recording strikeouts of 9 consecutive batters faced from the 1st through 4th innings…the 9 straight K’s marked the most successive strikeouts by a pitcher in Rangers history, snapping the single-game record of 7 set by Nolan Ryan on 7/7/91 vs. LAA and the overall high of 8 done by Joe Barlow from 7/24-8/2/21… according to Elias Sports Bureau, it matched the American League record for successive strikeouts, as he became just 3rd A.L. pitcher to do it…the others: DET’s Tyler Alexander on 8/2/20 vs. CIN-G1, and DET’s Doug Fister on 9/27/12 vs. KC…Heaney recorded 10 total SO, 18th double-digit SO game of his career (last 10 on 8/24/22 vs. MIL w/ LAD)…the last left-handed Rangers pitcher with 10+ SO in a single game was Mike Minor on 8/11/19 at MIL (11 SO)…it also marked the 6th instance in club history (beg. 1972) for a pitcher to punch out 10-or-more batters in 5.0-or-fewer innings, last Dane Dunning on 5/9/21 vs. SEA (5.0 IP, 10 SO).

2023: Opponents are batting .245 (90-367) w/ 18 HR, including a .204 (11-54) mark with 5 XBH (HR, 3B, 3 2B) for LH batters…31 of 54 runs allowed in ‘23 have come in the 2nd (13) or 3rd (18) inning…opp. BA/OPS by time through lineup: 1st (.267/.794), 2nd (.230/.726), 3rd (.232/.888)…18 HR allowed are T-most among Rangers (also Pérez) and T14th-most in A.L…Jonah Heim has caught 15 starts (3.63 ERA), and Sandy León (7.59 ERA) and Mitch Garver (11.37 ERA) have each caught 2 starts…is scoreless in 2 G/GS (10.0 IP) vs. HOU in 2023…has posted 5.0 SHO IP in both starts vs. Astros (4/16 at HOU; 7/2 vs. HOU) and taken no decision in both outings…earned 1st road win of season on 5/27 at BAL (W, 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R-ER), posting lone ultra-quality start…held O’s scoreless over 1st 6 frames…matched career high w/ 8 R allowed 7/8 at WAS, same week he was on Paternity List (7/4-6) for birth of twin daughters.

HOUSTON ASTROS NOTES:

No team release available.