ARLINGTON -- The Astros pulled off perhaps their biggest win of the season on Sunday afternoon, and manager Joe Espada was stuck watching it from his office inside Globe Life Field after being ejected in the third inning for arguing balls and strikes.
That did nothing, though, to diminish his enthusiasm and excitement after the never-say-die Astros overcame their manager’s first ejection of the year and 6 2/3 no-hit innings from Rangers starter Jack Leiter to rally for a 4-3 win when Isaac Paredes hit a three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning.
“I’d rather be in the dugout,” Espada joked. “I want to say how proud I am of our team. Great teams, they never give up. They play 27 outs. They never stop leaning on one another. You fight to the end, and that's another comeback win. We are never out of a game, and I commend our players for being so good and staying in the fight.”
The Astros, held scoreless through five innings for the 17th time in 46 games, posted their second late two-out rally in three days to beat the Rangers and split the four-game series. Trailing 3-1 in the eighth, Paredes clubbed a three-run home run with two outs off reliever Robert Garcia for his first road homer of the season.
It was the Astros’ 13th come-from-behind win this year, which is tied for the most in the American League. Houston has outscored opponents 64-33 in the seventh inning or later this year.
“This is a team that’s proven it can rally,” Paredes said. “No matter what, we can’t lose our confidence. We know we’re able to come back and rally in whatever game and take those wins.”
Houston’s offense, which has been without slugger Yordan Alvarez (right hand muscle strain) for nearly two weeks and rested leadoff hitter Jeremy Peña for the first time this season, didn’t get a hit against Leiter until catcher Yainer Diaz hit an opposite-field homer to right-center field with two outs in the seventh. Leiter retired 19 of the first 21 batters he faced.
“He’s got good stuff,” Espada said. “Explosive fastball, sliders. He works on the edges. He was efficient. But never give up on our guys. We’re going to give you a run for your money, that’s for sure.”
The Astros trailed, 3-1, when Jake Meyers and Cam Smith chased Leiter with consecutive singles to start the eighth. Reliever Chris Martin threw one pitch and left with an injury and was replaced by Garcia, who got two outs before Paredes took him deep to put Houston ahead, 4-3. The Statcast-projected 352-foot homer barely cleared the left-field wall.
“It’s like he wants to be in that spot,” Espada said. “I told him today, ‘You’re leading off, not because of your speed, [but] because you’re going to come up at a certain point in a big spot.’”
Astros starter Framber Valdez, who came within one out of a no-hitter in his previous start in Arlington on Aug. 6, 2024, held the Rangers to three runs and six hits in seven innings while striking out eight batters. Valdez allowed three singles to start the fourth, and all three batters scored to put the Rangers ahead, 3-0.
“I felt like I had seven very good innings,” said Valdez, who improved to 5-0 with a 2.06 ERA in six games in his career at Globe Life Field. “I felt like they had a lot of luck in that fourth inning.”
Both games the Astros won in the series came on late rallies with two outs. On Friday, Paredes had a two-run single with the bases loaded, which was followed by a three-run homer from Christian Walker to score six runs in the seventh inning in a 6-3 win.
“Great teams do that,” Espada said. “We’re never out of it. You always wish we would come out doing that, but that’s not the case. Leiter has got really good stuff. He’s commanding his stuff, he’s pounding the zone, he’s getting help from someone else [umpires], and then you keep fighting to the end. You find yourself in a position where you have big hitters coming up in big spots in the game and getting big swings.”