The Houston Astros are winning the Silver Boot Series. They’re also holding their breath about Jose Altuve.
Altuve left Saturday’s game after appearing to injure himself on a swing in the eighth inning, manager Joe Espada saying only that he “felt something on the left side.” Altuve is scheduled for imaging Sunday. It was the one sour note in an otherwise encouraging 4-1 win over the Texas Rangers at Daikin Park—Houston’s second straight victory in the series and just its third instance of back-to-back wins since the beginning of April.
The Astros are 19-28, having won the first two games of their first series win since taking two of three from Boston two weeks ago.
Four solo home runs off Jacob deGrom carried the offense. Altuve and Yordan Alvarez went back-to-back in the first inning, with Christian Walker and Zach Cole repeating the pattern in the fourth. It marked only the second time in deGrom’s 257 regular-season starts that he surrendered four home runs in a game.
Altuve’s leadoff shot—his fourth of the season and first since April 17, snapping a stretch of 94 plate appearances without one—came on a 97.3 mph fastball that deGrom left up in the zone after falling behind 2-0. It was the 42nd leadoff home run of Altuve’s career, trailing only Craig Biggio’s franchise record of 53. Alvarez followed with his 15th of the season, driving a 98 mph fastball 362 feet into the right-field seats.
Walker hit his 11th of the season in the fourth. Cole added his third.
Kai-Wei Teng gave Houston exactly what it needed: five scoreless innings on 76 pitches. He walked four and hit a batter but struck out seven, holding Texas to two hits and an 84.3 mph average exit velocity on balls in play. His ERA sits at 2.61 through 31 innings this season, and the question of whether he belongs in the rotation permanently is becoming harder to ignore.
He was not without drama. In the second inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, a bounced pitch caromed back to Christian Vázquez, who flipped to Teng covering the plate to catch Evan Carter trying to score from third. Teng stranded two more in the fourth and two in the fifth before exiting.
Five relievers finished the game. Bryan King defused a seventh-inning rally—Enyel De Los Santos had allowed three straight singles and a run before King entered to retire two of three batters—and Bryan Abreu stranded four runners across the eighth and ninth to earn his second save.
The Rangers, meanwhile, are playing without Corey Seager, sidelined by back spasms. Houston has held Texas to one run over the first 18 innings of the series.
Peter Lambert starts Sunday’s series finale.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.