HOUSTON _ It was the type of win that can coalesce a champion and wilt an also-ran.
The Texas Rangers' extra-inning 5-3 win over the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon left most inside Minute Maid Park drained.
The rubber match finale took on the vibe of a playoff game and for the Astros, desperately holding on to hopes of catching the Rangers in the American League West, it really was.
The Rangers took two of three in the series, and Sunday's win was especially debilitating for Houston, who now trails Texas by 7 { games in the division and dropped to third place behind the Seattle Mariners, who are seven games back. The Astros are also four games back and at pulling up the rear of a five-team scrum for two wild card spots.
They meet six more times in September, but the Rangers, now 11-2 against the Astros, have taken much of the tension out of those coming showdowns.
"They've earned the right to lead the division," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said.
Yu Darvish pitched his best game since returning from Tommy John surgery in May, but didn't factor in the decision. He left after seven scoreless innings with a 1-0 lead. He struck out eight, walked none and allowed five hits, including four singles. Only once did the Astros get a runner past second base against Darvish.
After the Rangers took a 3-0 lead with two runs in the seventh, the Astros scored twice against reliever Jeremy Jeffress in the bottom of the inning. The Astros tied with a run in the ninth against closer Sam Dyson, who walked A.J. Reed with one out. Carlos Gomez pinch ran for Reed and scored on Tony Kemps' single. It's Dyson's first blown save since June 29 and third blown save in 27 chances.
"This is the type of game good teams need to win," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "Good teams continue to battle even though it's a back and forth game."
The Rangers had the bases loaded with one or no outs in both the 9th and 10th innings but failed to score. Astros closer Ken Giles struck out Shin-Soo Choo, Ian Desmond and Jurickson Profar in the 9th. In the 10th, Chris Devenski struck out Nomar Mazara and got pinch hitter Carlos Beltran to fly out to escape the jam.
"You want to cash them in, but at the same time the good thing is you're getting guys on base. That's a good sign," said Desmond, who is 4 for 27 in the first six games in August. "Earlier in the season, we had similar issues. We were getting guys on base and we weren't pushing them across and we all sat here and said, 'Don't worry, we're going to drive them in' and that's what we've been doing."
In the 11th they did. Choo led off with a double and scored on Desmond's single to left. Desmond scored on Rougned Odor's double off the wall in right to make it 5-3. The clutch hits overshadowed a dismal day with runners in scoring position for the Rangers, who were 6 for 21 and left 13 runners on base.
"You keep giving away those type of opportunities these types of games can come back and get you. But this is a group of guys that continues to fight," Banister said. "They're trying to put together the best at-bat they can. We got a little anxious in some of the at-bats. We needed that big one and Desmond was able to come through for us."
Matt Bush pitched two scoreless innings of relief and earned the win. He struck out George Springer with the tying runs on in the 11th with a 97 mph fastball.
"Two Texas teams going at it you could definitely feel the energy and what's to come down the stretch," said Bush, who improved to 5-2.
