Astros topple the Rangers 11-2 to claim the Silver Boot

The Silver Boot, although rather meaningless, could be the first of numerous pieces of hardware to be claimed by the Astros this season.

As the world continues to turn, the Astros are still in the business of playing regular season games. There aren’t many left, which is why yesterday’s game was imperative for a specific reason.

AMERICAN LEAGUE SUPREMACY!

Yes, the Astros trailed the Cleveland Indians by 2.5 games entering Monday. Cleveland had the day off so Houston had a chance to close the gap by a half-game.

And the Astros did just that as they best the Rangers to the score of 11-2.

Thanks to solid effort by starting pitcher Collin McHugh, who threw five innings of two-run ball, the Astros’ offense were able to pounce on the mistakes of the Rangers’ pitching staff. For example, Houston’s offense did most of its damage in the fourth inning by driving in eight runs. And seven of those were unearned off of Andrew Cashner. Marwin Gonzalez, in particular, had a notable game going 4-for-5 with a solo home run. His two-run single in the fourth inning helped open this game for the Astros.

Outside of Gonzaelz and his performance at the plate, there were quite a few notable moments for both sides despite the lopsided final result.

For example, Rangers slugger Joey Gallo got a hold of a McHugh mistake in the second inning.

Goodness gracious, baseball! That was absolutely crushed. Even though the Astros and Rangers are rivals, you can’t help but admire power like that. Mercy.

Then you have this dust up between McHugh and Carlos Gomez. The former Astro and current Ranger apparently had an issue where the pitches were thrown.

There was also a scary moment for the Astros as Jose Altuve was struck by the pitch on his left wrist-area.

Thankfully for Altuve, the x-rays came back negative and the All-Star second baseman is listed day-to-day.

One byproduct of this September victory over the Rangers was winning the Silver Boot. In fact, this is the first time since 2014 and only the fifth time overall since 2001 that Houston came away with the Silver Boot. Yes, the Lone Star Series has overwhelming been in the Rangers favor more years than not.

Anyway, the Silver Boot is all about pride and what not. It doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of baseball glory.

Next: Astros lose to Angels; fall further behind for AL supremacy

The primary, and most immediate, goal now is to gain ground on the Indians with six games remaining in the regular season. Yes, only six games remain. This is gonna to be fun!

**Statistics courtesy of MLB.com**