Astros right fielder Cam Smith robs the Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo of a first-inning home run during Houston’s 5-1 win Thursday night in Arlington.
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Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes celebrates a home run with Houston Astros’ third base coach Tony Perezchica during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – MAY 28: Evan Carter #32 of the Texas Rangers slides safely into third base before Spencer Arrighetti #41 of the Houston Astros applies the tag during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field on May 28, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
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ARLINGTON, TEXAS – MAY 28: Cam Smith #11 of the Houston Astros goes up to catch a deep fly ball off the bat of Brandon Nimmo #24 of the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field on May 28, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
ARLINGTON, TEXAS – MAY 28: Spencer Arrighetti #41 of the Houston Astros pitches against the Texas Rangers during the second inning at Globe Life Field on May 28, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Ron Jenkins/Getty Images
Houston Astros’ Bryan Abreu pitches during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ Bryan Abreu pauses before pitching during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes catches a ball at first base during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ right fielder Cam Smith reaches for a ball hit by Texas Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo during first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Texas Rangers’ Ezequiel Duran steals second base during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ Spencer Arrighetti pitches during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ Nate Pearson pitches during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ right fielder Cam Smith catches a ball hit by Texas Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo during first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ right fielder Cam Smith celebrates with center fielder Taylor Trammell (26) during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ right fielder Cam Smith celebrates during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
Houston Astros’ Spencer Arrighetti pitches during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Thursday, May 28, 2026, Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Jessica Tobias/AP Photo/Jessica Tobias
ARLINGTON — Brandon Nimmo attacked a fastball from Spencer Arrighetti and arced it to right field. Off the bat, Arrighetti said, he anticipated nothing special.
“It didn’t sound like he really got it,” Arrighetti said. “And then it just kept going.”
The baseball left Nimmo’s bat at 94.1 mph but carried through the air at Globe Life Field as Cam Smith gave pursuit. With a glance at the wall as he neared the warning track, the Houston Astros‘ right fielder gathered his feet and leapt, glove outstretched.
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“Cam jumped and I was like, ‘Oh great, just gave up a homer,’” Arrighetti said. “And then he came back down, didn’t really do much.”
Smith landed and looked at his glove. Back still turned to the infield, he flipped the ball inside it into his right hand. He began to jog toward the infield, holding it at about chest-height, head down.
“He tried to act cool, no emotion, like he does it all the time,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said, deadpanning. “I was like, bro, celebrate a little bit, you know?”
Said Smith, the second-year right fielder who moved from third base last spring: “Honestly, I didn’t even know how to react. I’ve never done that before. But it was pretty cool. I’m glad I could do it for Spence.”
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Eleven days earlier, after taking a no-hit bid to the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Daikin Park, Arrighetti had joked: “I’m sure there’s too many pictures of me going like this (looking shocked) because my outfielder made a catch that I didn’t think they could possibly make.”
Thursday night delivered another. Arrighetti stood near the mound staring toward Smith, both hands on his head and mouth slightly agape, as the right fielder jogged in, his robbery finishing the first inning and guarding a three-run lead the Astros never yielded in a 5-1 win over the Rangers.
“We score three, we want to keep the momentum on our side,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “That ball leaves the yard, they get a run back. But Cam makes that play.”
Keeping momentum is the Astros’ current mandate. A third of the season elapsed with a depleted club displaying little ability to sustain any. Sweeping a series at Wrigley Field last weekend presented its first legitimate spark since perhaps the first homestand of the season.
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Houston followed up by taking three of four games from its intrastate rival at Globe Life Field, capturing consecutive series for the first time all season and playing more of the complementary baseball that for most of two months seemed so elusive.
The Astros are still 26-32. That is as close as they have been to the .500 mark since April 23, however, and as of Thursday night put them 2 ½ games out of first place in the American League West, as they returned to Houston having concluded a 7-3 road trip.
“This a good catapult for us to keep moving forward,” Smith said. “It’s been fun to be a part of. And you’ve seen the character of this team. Even with guys down, you’ve seen the character of us continuing to battle.”
Smith may personify that description. His first half has been a struggle. After posting a .941 OPS over his first 15 games this season, Smith compiled a .434 OPS over his next 34 games. He has continued to see regular playing time in right field but was absent from the lineup three times over a seven-game span in mid-May, a hint that could be tenuous.
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.245
.320
1948
258
478
90
3
76
247
193
463
20
10
21
Trammell
.359
.419
39
6
14
3
1
0
5
4
13
1
0
1
Alvarez
.307
.419
205
37
63
11
0
20
39
37
42
1
0
1
Allen
.295
.354
44
10
13
1
0
1
4
3
9
1
0
0
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Loperfido
.276
.348
58
7
16
5
0
0
7
6
19
1
1
1
Shewmake
.257
.264
70
7
18
3
0
3
8
1
12
0
0
1
Peña
.256
.311
82
12
21
4
0
2
6
4
13
2
0
2
Walker
.255
.330
208
33
53
10
0
15
40
21
45
0
0
0
Vázquez
.250
.308
108
10
27
4
0
4
17
9
19
0
0
0
Altuve
.245
.326
163
27
40
10
0
4
12
19
35
1
2
2
Paredes
.241
.333
187
21
45
8
0
6
22
19
33
0
0
2
Diaz
.238
.255
101
7
24
5
0
2
14
3
16
0
1
0
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Smith
.215
.305
186
24
40
7
0
5
19
21
58
7
1
4
Matthews
.206
.261
141
14
29
4
1
4
14
11
49
2
3
1
Dezenzo
.205
.271
44
5
9
4
0
1
2
4
17
0
0
0
Meyers
.197
.265
61
7
12
2
0
2
5
5
15
1
2
0
Cole
.157
.189
51
3
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.118
.167
17
1
2
0
0
1
4
1
9
0
0
0
Salazar
.063
.211
16
0
1
0
0
0
1
2
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
26
32
5.05
58
58
15
508.1
466
295
285
74
276
477
Pearson
0
0
0.00
3
0
1
2.2
1
0
0
0
2
2
Santa
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
1
VanWey
0
0
0.00
2
0
0
2
1
0
0
0
0
3
Brown
1
0
0.84
2
2
0
10.2
5
1
1
0
6
17
Arrighetti
7
1
1.34
8
8
0
47
27
9
7
2
26
43
Teng
3
3
2.19
17
4
0
37
24
9
9
3
15
36
King
0
1
3.04
21
0
6
23.2
22
10
8
1
10
19
De Los Santos
0
1
3.47
22
0
4
23.1
19
10
9
1
5
22
Okert
0
0
3.75
27
1
0
24
17
10
10
3
8
21
Lambert
3
4
3.79
7
7
0
40.1
29
17
17
2
18
40
Blubaugh
2
2
4.81
22
0
0
33.2
26
18
18
5
21
24
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Burrows
3
6
5.40
11
11
0
63.1
71
38
38
13
21
54
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Imai
2
2
6.17
6
6
0
23.1
17
16
16
4
18
23
Abreu
2
2
6.50
20
0
3
18
15
14
13
4
20
23
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.15
7
0
0
11.1
16
9
9
0
7
5
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Sousa
0
0
8.10
5
0
0
3.1
3
3
3
0
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Javier
0
1
12.54
3
3
0
9.1
13
13
13
2
9
4
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
As it did for the Astros, the road trip held potentially encouraging signs for Smith. He went 10-for-33 over 10 games, collecting a hit in all but one of his starts. The numbers are modest but notable for a player whose hold on a roster spot may be shakier if not for attrition and his elite defense. Smith is 23 but still a regular in a lineup seeking sources of production.
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“He needs to continue to grind through this,” Espada said Tuesday night. “The length of the season can wear you down. But this young man continues to fight.”
Smith homered Tuesday for the first time since April 30, a soaring 457-foot blast that offered a reminder of his tantalizing ability. He went hitless in four at-bats Wednesday. With both Christian Walker and Jake Meyers off in Thursday’s series finale, Smith slotted fifth in the Astros’ lineup and struck two hits, an RBI single off Nathan Eovaldi in the third inning and an infield single in the ninth.
“I feel good,” Smith said. “As long as I’m in there and getting opportunities, there’s really nothing I can complain about. More opportunities to help these guys win.”
He drove in Houston’s fifth run against Eovaldi — Peña and Isaac Paredes homered in the first inning — but Smith’s catch in the first was arguably his most impactful moment, saving a run on a night Arrighetti admitted he felt under the weather and “didn’t have it.” Arrighetti still allowed only a Josh Jung home run in six innings before four relievers combined to work the final three scoreless.
Astros pitchers own a 3.80 ERA this month after compiling a 6.08 ERA through the end of April. Arrighetti threw their 10th quality start this month; they had six before it. Their offense has still scored the seventh-fewest runs in the majors in May but has mustered five or more in four of five games after doing so twice in a 21-game span to begin the month.
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“Feel like we’re clicking on all cylinders,” Peña said, “and we’ve just got to keep bringing that to this homestand.”
Peña, whose return from the IL along with Meyers last week bolsters the Astros’ defense, turned a neat double play in the fifth inning Thursday, bare-handing a flip from second baseman Brice Matthews. The shortstop deemed Smith’s first-inning catch “amazing.”
“Cam Smith is such a great athlete,” Peña said. “Second-best athlete on the team — I don’t have to say who’s first. But great catch.”
Nimmo, ironically, had robbed Yordan Alvarez of a home run with a leaping catch at Daikin Park on May 17 in a Rangers shutout. Smith responded with his own to help Houston cap an encouraging road trip.
“I did see it float in the air for a while,” Smith said. “I said, ‘I’ve got to get this one, I haven’t got one yet.’”