Andrew Heaney

Before Anthony Santander homered off David Robertson in the eighth, he hit balls 393 and 371 feet off Heaney. Both of those turned into outs, however, even though the latter was meant to be a homer in 15 ballparks. Heaney earned his third win in 19 starts this year and fourth overall. He has a 2.60 ERA since picking up the first of those on May 28. Before that, he was 0-6 with a 4.69 ERA.

Eovaldi, whose name has surfaced in recent trade rumors as a possible target for the Red Sox in their quest to win the AL East, draws the starting assignment for Friday's series opener against a star-studded Baltimore lineup to be followed over the weekend by veterans Max Scherzer and Andrew Heaney.

The two long flies Heaney allowed would have been homers in 19 and 16 ballparks, respectively. Alas, they were both homers in Houston, while only one would have been a homer in Arlington. Heaney fell to 3-10 in spite of his solid 3.79 ERA. He'll probably log some bullpen time in the second half, if only because the Rangers figure to get Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom back from Tommy John at some point.

The 27-year-old slugger was pulled from Wednesday's game due to tightness in his right hip and sat out Thursday's ballgame as a precautionary measure. He's feeling much better on Friday though and will return to the Astros' lineup as their designated hitter. Alvarez will bat third against Rangers' left-hander Andrew Heaney on Friday evening in Houston.

The Rangers have been playing better of late, but they are 7 1/2 games back in the race for the third American League wild card with playoff odds hovering around 10 percent, so Rosenthal believes the team will be open to trading players on expiring contracts like Max Scherzer, Michael Lorenzen, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson, and Kirby Yates. With Tyler Mahle and Jacob deGrom also inching closer to second-half returns, the Rangers could deal from their starting rotation and not lose much. Rosenthal also suggests that the Rangers could listen on deals for Nathaniel Lowe, Leody Taveras, and "perhaps even Adolis Garcia, all of whom are performing below expectations and under club control at rising salaries for two more seasons." Trades would drastically impact the fantasy value of most of these players, which makes the Rangers perhaps the most interesting team at the trade deadline.