– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Houston Astros’ offense had a devil of a time trying to generate momentum the first time it ever laid its eyes on Texas Rangers rookie pitcher Glenn Otto. On Thursday, the Astros went on a hellacious tear at the plate in the fourth inning to knock Otto and the Rangers out early.
Carlos Correa hit a three-run homer off of Otto in the fourth inning, the first runs scored in a seven-run fourth as the Astros defeated the Rangers 12-1 to end the Lone Star State season series for 2021. Houston pounded out seven extra base hits in support of their rookie starter, Luis Garcia, as the Astros reduced their magic number to win the American League West to 10 with 16 games left to play.
The 12 runs scored punctuated a dominating series for the Astros, winning three of four this week while scoring 35 runs in the process.
“We always talk about passing the torch to the next guy, trying to just string together good at-bat after good at-bat,” Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said. “When we do that, I think we’re an extremely good offense.”
That explosive offense was blunted by Otto in his Major League debut on August 27, when he allowed just two hits and struck out seven Houston batters in earning a no decision in a game the Astros ended up winning 5-4. Otto held the Astros scoreless through three innings last night before Yuli Gurriel and Kyle Tucker started the fourth with a single and double, respectively, to put runners on second and third. Up came Correa, who launched an 0-1 pitch from Otto over the 410-foot sign in left-center field for his 23rd long ball of the season.
Alex Bregman added a two-run single and Yordan Alvarez contributed an RBI double later to knock out Otto and give the Astros a 6-0 lead. Yuli Gurriel finished the scoring barrage in the inning with an RBI single to center.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s contest, with photos taken by ALOST photographer Ross James. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are XX pictures in total.
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