Houston’s offense stalled again in Arlington as Jose Altuve’s potential tying run came up empty in the eighth, and Texas nabbed a 4-2 win to trim Houston’s AL West lead to 2.5 games. The Astros managed five hits and produced only two runs, with Peña driving in the lone other run on a sixth-inning RBI. Framber Valdez offered six solid innings before a two-out, three-run sixth doomed him, and Houston’s lineup still hasn’t found consistent rhythm against lefties this series.

Meanwhile, Jake Burger supplied the big swing for Texas with a two-run homer in the sixth that erased much of the evening’s tension, and Texas bullpen kept Houston at bay the rest of the way. The matchup ping-ponged back to the Rangers’ favor as Houston must rekindle its approach at the plate and find better at-bats to sustain a late-season run. The club is 6-7 in a 13-game stretch with off days, and the urgency to reset grows after another quiet day at Globe Life Field.