Texas Rangers Finally Give Yordan Alvarez & Astros Something Real to Worry About — Houston’s Cat Toy No More?

The postgame music is merry, Bruce Bochy looks as chill as ever and all is right in the Texas Rangers world. In Houston no less. This is no small accomplishment for the Houston Astros’ longtime cat toy, the thing that Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Co. batted around in the air and played with for years.

Rangers 6, Astros 2 means something more for the team Bochy is charged with making believe. It should get the Astros’ attention too. For the first time since 2016 really, the other team in Texas looks like a real threat to Jim Crane’s dynasty. The American League West is not going to be a gimmie this season. Yes, it’s only 14 games into the season and the Astros’ 6-8 record isn’t close to a true reflection of their talent.

But the Rangers 8-5 mark may be just the start for them too. You get the idea that there could be much better things to come for this Rangers team too. One thing’s for certain. Taking the first of what will now only be 13 games against the Astros is no small step in making Nathaniel Lowe and friends believe.

“Yes absolutely,” Lowe says without a second’s hesitation when asked if this win, this start to the season against the Astros, means something more. “You don’t want to pay too much attention to the other side, but I saw the graphic on our track record here. And seeing how poor it is, you kind of want to get the monkey off your back.

“And I think we made a right stride today.”

The Astros have long loomed over the Rangers like a bully in the schoolyard. Charlie Brown’s had more luck kicking that football from Lucy than Texas has had against Houston. The Astros went 14-5 against the Rangers in 2022. And it’s even worse at Minute Maid Park where Houston’s enjoyed a 29-5 run against North Texas’ baseball team since the 2018 season.

That’s an 85 percent winning percentage. In the last several seasons if you wanted to be all but assured of seeing the Astros win, going to a home game versus the Rangers was your ticket.

Things could be different this season though. The winds of change might actually be in the air in the American League West. The Rangers have Jacob deGrom leading a real pitching staff and while deGrom may remain antiques store fragile, he looks great so far. And this Texas team looks different.

More confident. More capable. Much more well constructed.

“This is one game, but it’s a great start,” Bochy says. leaning back in a chair in the visitors clubhouse. “These guys — and I’m not going to say hopefully — I think they know if they play like they’re capable of playing, they can play with anybody.”

That newfound confidence shows in this first game of the season against the Astros. Marcus Semien gets on base three times, scores two runs. Lowe drives in three runs. Adolis Garcia hits a big home run that goes almost 400 feet.

Even the guy who runs onto the field in the top of the ninth inning, holding a tall boy beer (until he slides down for security to grab him and that can goes flying into the outfield grass) and wearing a Kyle Tucker jersey cannot shake the Rangers’ concentration.

Maybe this will turn out to just be a Luis Garcia starting this game thing. Garcia is one pitcher who seems to clearly have been negatively affected by the new pitching clock and almost universally beloved speed up the game rules. Without being able to use his rock the baby windup, Garcia has now given up 12 runs in 14 innings pitched this season.

If the Astros can beat the Rangers on Saturday night with Hunter Brown on the mound, they know they have Framber Valdez set to go on Sunday Night Baseball.

These Rangers still need to win this series to prove anything’s different. But a night where Martin Pérez limits the damage against the Astros to two solo home runs, any night where Adolis Garcia can match Yordan Alvarez in big blows, a night when the Rangers strike first against their bully, is no small thing.

“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse, but going up 1-0 in our first inning here is important,” Lowe says. “And we had an opportunity to do it, and we did it.”

The Rangers’ Confidence Grows

The more confidence the Rangers can get now, the more dangerous they’ll be for the Astros later in the season. You can’t win a division in April. But the Rangers know plenty about losing much of their hope in this month the last few seasons.

“You don’t want to pay too much attention to the other side, but I saw the graphic on our track record here. And seeing how poor it is, you kind of want to get the monkey off your back. And I think we made a right stride today.” — Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe

When you’ve lost 196 games over the last two seasons, beating the Astros in the first Lone Star State series of the season would mean plenty. Just getting off to a 1-0 start is no small step forward.

“It’s big,” Pérez says. “Especially from last year to this year we have a better team. We’re pitching better. We make plays. And if we do that every night, we’re going to win a lot of games.”

Bochy, the three time World Series winning manager the Rangers hired to be their Yoda, is already doing his part to downplay any notion of Minute Maid Park or Astros demons.

“Only because somebody did tell me before the game their record,” Bochy says when someone asks if he’s familiar with his new team’s Astros futility. “Well, you know what? They’re world champs. That shouldn’t be a big surprise. They’ve dominated a lot of teams. That’s how good they are.

“. . . I can’t say that should surprise to anyone.”

Bochy shrugs. It’s only one game, but things already look a lot different in this Astros v. Rangers dynamic. The longtime cat toy suddenly seems to have some real bite of its own.