ARLINGTON, Texas - Except for Josh Hamilton extending his hitting streak to 19 games with three more hits, things went pretty poorly for the Texas Rangers.
Their 11-game winning streak is over after a 7-4 loss to the Houston Astros on Friday night. The game featured Ian Kinsler getting ejected while walking away from the plate, two Rangers errors on one play and Texas manager Ron Washington getting upset after a fastball from one his pitchers knocked plate umpire Eric Cooper to the ground.
"They beat us," Washington said. "We move on."
Still, there were some strange moments in the Rangers' first loss in two weeks to end the longest winning streak in the majors this season.
Kinsler angrily flipped his bat, helmet and shin guard away after taking a called third strike for the third out in the third.
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He had his back to Cooper and was headed to second base when he realized he had been tossed, then turned around and yelled at the umpire.
Then in the ninth, Cooper got hit directly on his facemask by a high fastball from Rangers reliever Alexi Ogando. Catcher Max Ramirez was set up for a slider, but instead Ogando threw a fastball that went right over the top of the mitt when Ramirez reached up to try to get it.
As the rest of the umpires checked on Cooper, who stayed on a knee for only a short time before getting up and gathering himself, Ramirez tried to tell the umpires there was a miscommunication on the signals. He was shooed away, which drew the ire of Washington, who immediately came out of the dugout.
"One of the umpires getting out of control, had to get him back in control," Washington said.
Geoff Blum had the go-ahead RBI double among his three hits and scored twice for the Astros.
Blum had the third consecutive double for the Astros to start the sixth for a 4-3 lead and chase Colby Lewis (7-5), who pitched a two-hitter at Houston last weekend. Blum then scored when Texas made two errors on the same play.
Chris Johnson had four hits and drove in three runs for the Astros, while Lance Berkman ended an 18-game homerless drought with a 422-foot solo blast. Carlos Lee had three hits, including two doubles.
Texas' last loss was 6-2 at Milwaukee on June 11, the start of a 15-game stretch against NL teams that included a three-game series sweep at Houston last weekend.
It was only the second time in franchise history the Rangers won at least 10 consecutive games. The other was their team-record 14 in a row in May 1991.
