ARLINGTON, Texas _ The Rangers on Friday night handled a task that often overwhelmed them last season.
They carried a lead through the final four innings to defeat Houston, 5-1, at Globe Life Park.
Four relievers followed starter Doug Fister and shut out the Astros for the final four innings. The turning point came in the sixth inning, when Chris Martin and Alex Claudio kept Houston from scoring after it loaded the bases with one out.
The odds were against the Rangers doing this last season. They were the worst team in the American League when it came to protecting a lead for the final four innings.
The Rangers had an AL-high 18 losses when taking a lead into the sixth. They were 60-18 in that situation for the league's lowest winning percentage, at .769.
Baltimore and the Los Angeles Angels had the fewest losses with eight. Cleveland had the best record at 83-9 for a .902 winning percentage. Houston, the reigning World Series champion, was 77-13 for an .856 winning percentage.
Pitching was a problem for the Rangers, but the offense was not blameless. Among other failings, the Rangers were the lowest-scoring team in the AL for the seventh inning with only 55 runs.
They reversed that trend, for at least one game, by scoring twice in the seventh. Joey Gallo, with the Astros forced to play him straight, powered a run-scoring double off the top of the center-field wall. Elvis Andrus followed with an RBI single.
They are called "tack-on runs." They give the bullpen more room to maneuver.
Keone Kela pitched the final inning, but there was not a save opportunity. Manager Jeff Banister hinted beforehand that Kela is in line to get the first ninth-inning save chance.
"I think he's got enough bulldog in him to handle the situation," Banister said.
The sixth was the most difficult inning. Poor defense put the Rangers in a bind.
Right fielder Nomar Mazara played Jose Altuve's liner into a single. That was the warm-up act.
Andrus, at shortstop, went behind the bag to reach Alex Bregman's one-out grounder and tried for a force at second with an off-balance feed. The Rangers did not get the out, and second baseman Rougned Odor made an awkward and ill-advised throw well wide of first rather than holding the ball.
This type of play illustrated why Odor led major-league second basemen in throwing errors with nine last season.
The misplays put runners at second and third with one out, and Martin loaded the bases by walking Marwin Gonzalez. Martin rebounded to strike out Evan Gattis on a curveball.
Banister went to Claudio with the full knowledge Astros manager A.J. Hinch would use a right-handed pinch-hitter: J.D. Davis. Claudio got him to chase two sinkers in the dirt for an inning-ending strikeout. It was the first of four consecutive outs by Claudio.
Fister did not have his usual command. He allowed three walks, well above his career rate of 2.0 per nine innings.
Fister's salvation was the cut fastball, which turned into a double-play pitch. He got two double plays with the cutter.
The more important double play came in the fourth. With runners at first and second and none out, Fister got Bregman to try to pull the pitch that was running away from him. Bregman bounced it directly to Andrus, who started the double play.
Mazara twice hurt Houston starter Dallas Keuchel.
Mazara lifted a sinker for a homer in the second. He walked in the fourth as the Rangers loaded the bases with none out. They scored on sacrifice flies by Robinson Chirinos and Odor, who came back from a 0-2 count.
