Rangers start rookie RHP Jack Leiter to close set vs. Astros

Texas rookie right-hander Jack Leiter will look to make his first impact in the Battle for the Silver Boot when the host Rangers play the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a four-game set in Arlington, Texas.

Leiter (3-2, 4.34 ERA) will start for the Rangers in the clash between the Lone Star State rivals, while Houston will counter with left-hander Framber Valdez (2-4, 3.54).

The Rangers go for their third straight series win after beating Houston 5-1 on Saturday and taking a 2-1 lead in the series. Joc Peterson and Wyatt Langford had home runs to back the continued strong pitching of Tyler Mahle for Texas in a 5-1 victory on Saturday.

Texas has won seven of its past eight outings while Houston is 3-2 in its past five games.

Leiter was spectacular in his most recent start, allowing one run on two hits and three walks over six innings as the Rangers beat Colorado 4-1 on Tuesday. He struck out five and got through six innings for the first time in his career while recording his first quality start.

“I still could’ve done a better job of it and potentially pitched deeper into the game,” Leiter said after the victory over the Rockies. “When you know the bullpen is kind of light, you’ve got to attack even more and do everything you can to get deep into a game. That’s what I tried to do.”

Leiter’s performance versus the Rockies was the bounce back he needed after losing his previous two starts in which he surrendered 10 earned runs over 9 2/3 innings.

Leiter has never faced the Astros in his 15 career appearances.

Valdez has won just once in his eight starts since March. A loss on the road to the hapless Chicago White Sox and a win at Milwaukee preceded a no-decision in his most recent appearance, a game the Astros won 2-1 at home over Kansas City on Tuesday.

In that game, Valdez went eight innings, allowing one run on six hits and a walk while striking out seven.

“Making less mistakes has been my focus,” Valdez said after the Kansas City game. “When you have less mistakes, you have better results for your team. I’ve been working on keeping the ball low in the zone.”

Valdez has faced the Rangers 17 times (14 starts) and has forged an 8-5 record with a 2.83 ERA in 92 1/3 innings. He’s allowed 35 runs (29 earned) on 68 hits with 94 strikeouts and 39 walks.

Houston has scored in just two of the 27 innings of the series — racking up six runs in the seventh inning on Friday to beat the Rangers 6-3 and tallying in the first inning on Saturday before succumbing. The Astros were shut out 1-0 in the first game on Thursday.

“We had something going on (on Saturday), but we just couldn’t get enough,” Astros manager Joe Espada said about his team’s scoring issues. “I thought we had some pretty good at-bats (in the series). We are in game 45 of the season. You know, it takes a while for some of these hitters to get going.”

–Field Level Media