ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre left Thursday's game with a hamstring strain after chasing a slow-bouncing ground ball in the seventh inning in what would become a 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros at Tropicana Field. The Rangers mounted no offense before the injury and seemed to be too shell shocked afterward to do anything. They fell back below .500 to 66-67.
Nomar Mazara, who has struggled on the road this year, had a ground ball RBI in the first inning and later doubled. That was as good as it got for the Rangers on a dark day.
Right-hander Nick Martinez gave the Rangers an adequate start on the heels of his seven-inning return from Round Rock. He allowed a two-out, first-inning homer to Jose Altuve and an RBI single by Josh Reddick in the fifth. Martinez threw 50 of 75 pitches for strikes and allowed two earned runs and five hits over five innings.
The Astros added two runs against Jose Leclerc and one run against Alex Claudio.
Not counting the season opener, the Rangers have now played 16 games when their record was at .500 this year. They have lost 11 of those games. They have won just one of seven such games since the All-Star break.
