HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros will have an overabundance of outfielders when George Springer and Dexter Fowler come off the disabled list. Robbie Grossmans big Friday night could help his case for staying in the majors. Grossmans two-run homer put the Astros ahead in the eighth inning and they held on for 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night. "They know that we have two of our regular guys coming back and at some point decisions are going to be made," Houston manager Bo Porter said when asked about Grossmans future in the crowded outfield. "These guys will continue to battle and continue to play well to put themselves in position to stay here on the active major league roster." Chris Carter hit his 25th home run for Houston, which trailed 2-1 entering the eighth inning. Carter is the first Astro to hit at least 25 homers in consecutive seasons since Hunter Pence in 2009-10. Jon Singleton singled with no outs and Grossman, who finished with three hits, launched a 92 mph fastball from Neal Cotts (2-6) into the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out to put the Astros on top. "He just didnt make some pitches that he shouldve made," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "He just missed with his pitches." Gregorio Petits double with two outs added an insurance run. Jose Veras (2-1) threw a perfect eighth for the win. Chad Qualls allowed a run in the ninth and there were runners at first and second with one out when Daniel Robertson grounded into a double play to end the game and give Qualls his 13th save. The win extends Houstons streak over the Rangers to six games, the longest in franchise history. The Astros are 7-3 against Texas this season and remain ahead of the last-place Rangers in the AL West. J.P. Arencibia hit a two-run homer in the first for Texas. Carter cut the deficit to one with his two-out shot in the fifth. Carter, who homered twice Thursday night, has 12 home runs since July 4 and has upped his batting average from .181 to .225 since July 1. Houston starter Brett Oberholtzer allowed six hits and two runs in seven innings. Miles Mikolas yielded four hits and a run in five innings for the Rangers. Houston second baseman Jose Altuve left the game with discomfort in his neck. Altuve didnt appear to be injured when he batted in the fifth inning, but was replaced by Petit for the start of the sixth. He said after the game that he thinks he may have slept on it wrong and expects to be back in the lineup on Saturday. Altuve leads the majors with 158 hits and his 45 steals are tops in the American League. He entered the night tied with Seattles Robinson Cano for the AL lead in hitting at .335, but went 0 for 3 Friday night to leave him at .333. SOTOS RETURN Texas catcher Geovany Soto (groin) was activated from the disabled list on Friday and started his first game since July 21. It was just his fourth game after missing the first part of the season following surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee in March. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. TRAINERS ROOM Rangers: Outfielder Alex Rios did not play Friday and will also be out of the lineup Saturday after he re-aggravated a sprained right ankle on Wednesday. "I could play on it, but Id rather give it a little rest to make it feel better," Rios said. Washington said Rios was available to pinch-hit and he will definitely be back in the lineup Sunday. Astros: Fowler (back) and Springer (quadriceps) are inching closer to being activated from the disabled list. Fowler went 2 for 3 with an RBI in the start of a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday night and Springer was back in Houston after returning from a rehabilitation assignment at Single-A Quad Cities. UP NEXT Yu Darvish will start for Texas against Scott Feldman on Saturday. Darvish is 3-0 with a 1.52 ERA in three career starts at Minute Maid Park. He came within one out of a perfect game in Houston on April 2, 2013. He has a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts to lower his ERA to 2.82. Feldman, who spent his first eight seasons with Texas, threw the third complete game of his career in his last start, allowing eight hits and one run in a 6-1 win over Toronto. Per Mertesacker Jersey . -- Derek Jeter spoke for 25 minutes, 44 seconds and answered 26 questions about his decision to retire at the end of this season. Sead Kolasinac Jersey . CEO Steve Koonin on Tuesday told the Hawks flagship radio station that he made the decision to discipline Ferry but allowed him to keep his job managing the team. He did not say what the punishment was, but noted that he relied on a law firms three-month investigation of Ferry and him describing Deng as someone who has a little African in him. http://www.arsenalsoccerproshop.com/Authentic-David-Ospina-Arsenal-Jersey/ . Scheffler told The Associated Press on Wednesday he made the choice because he had three concussions over the past four years. Santi Cazorla Jersey . 3. Trevor Ariza left them talkin about 40. Ariza made eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 40 points to help the Washington Wizards win their sixth straight game, 122-103 over Philadelphia on Saturday night. Nacho Monreal Jersey . They probably ruined Tim Duncans hopes of a career change, though. Duncan wants to be a point guard, coach Gregg Popovich revealed Saturday, a wish that wont be granted. It appears as if the Toronto Maple Leafs did not have to look too far to find Randy Carlyles new assistant coaches. Speaking Thursday on TSN 1050, Steve Simmons of Sun Media and TSNs The Reporters, said a decision on the Leafs coaching staff is expected to be made next week, with Steve Spott, Derek King and Gord Dineen – all currently employed behind the bench by the Toronto Marlies – as the leading candidates. “All of the promotions will be from within the organization,” Simmons said. “I believe two of them will come from that group of three.” Despite rumours of major changes following the Leafs late-season collapse, that were thought to be reinforced by Tim Leiwekes promise of a culture change within the organization, it seems as if the current management team of Brendan Shanahan and Dave Nonis are focused on ttweaking the teams roster as opposed to a major overhaul.dddddddddddd Thus far in the off-season, Nonis has made only depth signings, keeping his core group of players intact. According to Simmons, the Leafs are putting the focus on Carlyle to make the adjustments himself, as opposed to having the new assistants force it upon him. “I dont know how any of them will change him, he has to change himself,” Simmons said. “He has to coach this hockey team differently because what he did last year wasnt successful.” The hiring of new assistants was necessitated after the Leafs announced on May 8 that Carlyles former coaching staff, consisting of Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon would not be retained, while the head coach received a two-year extension. 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