ARLINGTON, Texas _ The Astros won their ninth consecutive game with a 6-5 win Saturday night over the Rangers at Globe Life Park. The Rangers have lost three straight and nine of their last 11 games.
Rangers starter Andrew Cashner was on the ropes after the Astros scored four runs in the third to take a 5-1 lead but battled to pitch six innings. He was charged with five earned runs on 11 hits and a walk. He struck out two. Six consecutive Astros reached in the third, including an RBI single by Jose Altuve and a two-run single by Carlos Beltran. Beltran's solo homer in the second tied the game at 1. Jose Leclerc pitched a scoreless seventh and Keone Kela followed with a scoreless eighth. Kela had to work around a lead-off walk to Alex Bregman, a balk that moved Bregman to second and a wild pitch strikeout that allowed Bregman to move up to third with one out. Kela got George Springer to pop out to shallow left and Josh Reddick to pop out to third base to strand Bregman at third base. Altuve's solo homer off Kela in the ninth gave the Astros a two-run cushion.
Shin-Soo Choo singled and scored on Elvis Andrus' single in the first inning but Astros' starter Lance McCullers held the Rangers in check over the next three innings. In the fifth, trailing 5-1, the Rangers finally put together a rally. Ryan Rua, who entered the game in place of Mike Napoli, who left with back spasms, led off with a walk. Jared Hoying reached on a fielder's choice and Rua was safe at second when Carlos Correa dropped the throw from second baseman Altuve. Andrus drove in both with a double to left-center field to pull the Rangers to with 5-3. After Nomar Mazara walked, Adrian Beltre singled in Andrus to make it 5-4. Chris Devenski replaced McCullers and struck out Rougned Odor and Jonathan Lucroy to end the inning and preserve the Astros' one-run lead. The Rangers had two on with one out in the seventh but Will Harris replaced Luke Gregerson and struck out Odor and Lucroy to hold the one-run lead. Andrus walked with one out in the ninth and scored on Beltre's single through the left side to pull the Rangers to within 6-5. Closer Ken Giles struck out Odor to end the game.
Beltre collected his 2,950th career hit with a single in the fifth and single in the ninth. He's five hits from tying Willie Keeler for No. 33 on the all-time list.
The Rangers struck out 18 times.
