ARLINGTON — Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve spiked his bat into the dirt as the chorus to Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” that pumped through Globe Life Field’s speakers barely matched the praise its attendees offered a stone-faced Shawn Armstrong while he marched off of the mound.
No gangsters could be reached for comment.
Armstrong’s teammate will need to suffice.
“I mean,” Texas Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka said. “That’s who you want in those situations.”
Rangers
Armstrong, the Swiss Army knife reliever-turned-quasi-closer for the Rangers, has been thrust into different roles and excelled in all of them more often than not lately. He recorded the final four outs of Sunday’s 4-2 win vs. the Houston Astros to earn his fifth save of the season and extend what has been a near-perfect second half of the regular season.
Related
The 34-year-old right-hander, who also notched four outs in the 10th and 11th innings of Friday’s 4-3 win vs. Houston, has operated as the team’s bullpen ace with a 0.83 ERA in 21⅔ innings since the All-Star break. Only eight other American League relievers have a sub-1.00 ERA since July 14, and none has pitched in more games than he has in that span.
“This guy,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Saturday afternoon. “He has been saving games for us, but, he has saved us, really. He’s been steady, so consistent, and a guy that we have so much trust in.”
Armstrong is 4 for 4 in save opportunities in the season’s second half and has gotten an extended run in the ninth-inning role since left-hander Robert Garcia was demoted to a lower-leverage position early last month. Bochy hesitated to classify Armstrong as the full-time closer but acknowledged the Rangers “are certainly comfortable with him closing” when needed.
He’s been needed everywhere else, too, and has pitched in every inning but the fourth (thanks to a two-game stint as an opener) this year. He has a 1.56 ERA in the eighth inning, a 1.59 ERA in the ninth and a 1.42 ERA in extras.
“Any opportunity you get, you try and take advantage of it,” Armstrong said. “I think that [the coaches] have done a really good job of expressing to myself, [Chris] Martin and Phil [Maton] that it’s any time, sixth through nine, depending on matchup. We’re ready.”
His matchup, specifically, is right-handed hitters. He’s held them to a .106 batting average this season, the third-lowest among all relievers in baseball, and his four-seam fastball carries a league-best .080 batting average against when used on righties.
On Sunday vs. the Astros, he faced four of them. He entered with two outs and a runner at third base in the eighth and struck out Altuve on three pitches. In the ninth, against third baseman Carlos Correa, first baseman Christian Walker and center fielder Jake Meyers, he needed just 10 pitches to retire the side and clinch the team’s first home series win against the Astros in more than four years.
“Obviously, when Houston comes into town, we know how much these games mean and especially with where we stand in the standings,” Armstrong said. “Every out matters.”
His teammate, left-handed pitcher Patrick Corbin, had recorded plenty of those before Armstrong entered. Corbin held the Astros hitless through 4⅓ innings before Meyers singled up the middle with one out in the fifth. He allowed one run in the sixth, on a run-scoring single from shortstop Jeremy Peña, before Maton relieved him.
Corbin’s start gave his teammates enough time to figure out tricky left-hander Framber Valdez. The Rangers scored three runs vs. Valdez, an All-Star who’d historically performed well against them, in the sixth to take a lead.
“That’s just kind of how this staff has been this season,” Corbin said. “Go out, do our job and let somebody on the offensive side be the hero.”
The hitters were heroes Sunday.
The pitchers — like Armstrong and Corbin — have saved them, though.
Burger blast: Photos from Jake Burger’s big day in Rangers’ win over Astros
View Gallery
Twitter: @McFarland_Shawn
‘High-energy’ Cody Freeman finds himself in the middle of another Texas Rangers win
The Rangers won three games this week, and Freeman played a significant role in all of them.
Texas Rangers claim crucial series win over Houston Astros
The win Sunday marked the club’s first home series win over the Astros since 2021.
Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter