50-42 - Rangers rally to beat Astros 9-8 in impromptu home run derby

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros found hitting in the summer air in Arlington to their liking tonight as the teams combined for nine home runs. For the Rangers, they coupled four solo shots with a clutch two-run bomb from Ronald Guzman to tie things in the eighth while the Astros slugged three solo bombs of their own and added a two-run blast for good measure to give themselves an 8-4 lead they would eventually relinquish with some more late-innings Rangers magic.

In the end, Texas didn’t even need a dong to win as a ninth inning single off the bat of cult hero Danny Santana followed a couple of baserunners to pull off the walk-off win. That was a fun one and the Silver Boot series is now tied in 2019.

Player of the Game: Danny Santana’s solo home run went off a girder on the second deck of the home run porch which is definitely what we all expected Danny Santana was capable of doing against Gerrit Cole.

He also reached four times overall tonight and his leadoff walk in the eighth gave the Rangers the runner they needed to tie the game with Guzman’s homer. And, you know, he hit the walk-off single because this is the Summer of Santana.

Up Next: The Rangers will send their All-Star starter Mike Minor out there with plenty of rest looking to secure a series win against LHP Wade Miley and the Astros. Saturday’s first pitch from Arlington is scheduled for 7:05 pm CT.