HOUSTON (AP) — When manager Chris Woodward took the mound with two out and two on in the ninth inning, Texas Rangers starter Martin Perez wasn’t worried about being eliminated.
“He just told me, ‘You got it.’ And I said, ‘Yes, I have it,'” Perez said.
Of course.
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Perez pitched his first shutout since 2014, scattering seven singles as the Rangers beat Houston 3-0 on Friday night, ending the Astros’ nine-game home winning streak.
It was the first complete-game shutout for Texas since Kyle Gibson beat the Astros 1-0 on Sept. 16, 2020.
“In an age of following the numbers, follow this, follow your gut on that,” Woodward said. “Something special could happen there. Maybe not, you never know. It’s life, but at the same time, I trusted Martin to make pitches there. He did it.”
Pérez (3-2) struck out five, walked one and threw 108 pitches. The left-hander won his third straight start and has a 1.64 ERA in eight starts this season.
“Throw strikes,” Perez said of what he has done differently this year. “I’m not 21; I’m not 22. I’m 31 and I’ve been learning a lot from a lot of guys… Now, I understand how hard it is to hit the ball, so throw your shots.” Throw the pitch wherever you want, and it’s not easy. The hardest thing in baseball is hitting the ball, and when you go out there and throw your pitch where you want, good things will happen.”
Pérez last shutout on April 23, 2014 against Oakland. He spent his first seven seasons with Texas and then played for Minnesota and Boston before joining the Rangers this year.
“When you’re young, you try too many things and sometimes you just want to go out there and throw hard,” Perez said. “It’s not how hard you throw. It’s how you mix your shots and where you throw the ball.”
Pérez retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced before Jeremy Peña had Houston’s first hit in the fifth with a two-out single.
With two outs in the ninth inning for Houston, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker singled. But Pérez flied out Yuli Gurriel to left field to finish it off.
“That’s his game,” Woodward said. “That’s how I look at it. He had Gurriel out. That was the fourth time he’s faced him, but he deserves that opportunity. Those things don’t happen very often: shut out the entire game.
“Maybe all the analytics will tell you to take him out right there, but he’s been so good for us. He’s built a lot of trust with me in a short period of time, so I felt like I owed him to go.” him over there.”
The Rangers snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Astros in Houston, winning for the first time at Minute Maid Park since Sept. 16, 2020.
“He threw a good game against us,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said. “He was keeping the ball down. He was cutting some. He was sinking others, which creates a double play, and he had a really good changeup. He didn’t use his breaking ball a lot, but he was splitting the plate. He can shoot.”
Kole Calhoun gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the fourth with a home run.
The Rangers added two more runs in the eighth. Mitch Garver scored on a missed throw to third by reliever Rafael Montero on an Eli White bunt attempt. Two batters later, Marcus Semien added an RBI single.
Cristian Javier (2-2) allowed one run on three hits for a career-high tying nine strikeouts in six innings. Javier bounced back nicely after being tagged for seven runs in 3 2/3 innings in his last outing against the Nationals on Saturday.
“He improved his placement because he was falling behind in the last (game),” Baker said. “He was throwing that high fastball (in the last game), but it was too high. This time he was in the strike zone. He threw the ball well … He was amazing tonight.”
COACHES ROOM
Astros: RHP Jake Odorizzi, who was placed on the disabled list Tuesday, played before Friday’s game. Odorizzi was not wearing boots four days after injuring his left lower leg and falling to the ground.
LIST MOVEMENTS
The Rangers recalled RHP Rick Snyder from Triple-A Round Rock and sent RHP Josh Sborz to Round Rock.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Houston RHP Justin Verlander (5-1, 1.38 ERA) will look for his sixth straight win when he starts Saturday against Texas RHP Jon Gray (1-1, 5.73).
Reference-www.cbsnews.com