The Houston Astros pounded the Texas Rangers 11-2 on Friday night at Daikin Park, retaking first place in the AL West for the first time since early April and clinching the season series over Texas in the process.
Houston struck early against Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi in the second inning. After a leadoff strikeout, Taylor Trammell doubled, and Yainer Diaz and LaMonte Wade Jr. followed with RBI hits to put the Astros ahead 1-0. After Jeremy Peña was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Yordan Alvarez lined a two-run single to make it 3-0. The Astros added a run in the fourth when Cam Smith tripled and scored on a Peña single, then broke the game open in the fifth with back-to-back solo homers from Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker to push the lead to 6-0.
Texas got on the board in the sixth on a Joc Pederson solo homer and an RBI single from Evan Carter that scored a run charged to Hunter Brown, who was pulled after 5⅔ innings having thrown 104 pitches. Brown allowed two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five, earning his 12th win of the season.
Houston’s offense kept rolling from there. The Astros scored four more in the seventh off Rangers reliever Luis Curvelo, highlighted by a Diaz home run, a two-run double from Peña, and an RBI single from Paredes. An eighth-inning RBI single from Lucas Spence capped the scoring at 11-2.
Diaz finished with a career-high four hits, going 4-for-5 with a homer and two runs scored. Paredes drove in two runs on a solo homer and an RBI single, and Peña went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a hit-by-pitch, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. With the outcome well in hand, Houston turned to AJ Blubaugh and Bryan King to cover the final two innings, allowing the bullpen’s top late-inning arms an extra day of rest with two more games left in the series.
The win improved Houston to 56-55 on the season, a half-game ahead of the Rangers in the AL West, having won nine of its last 10 games. Friday’s victory was Houston’s seventh over Texas in 11 meetings this season, clinching both the season series and the Silver Boot trophy. The Astros have now claimed the season series over the Rangers in nine of the past 10 years, and the Silver Boot has remained in Houston every year since 2017.
Alvarez’s two-hit, two-RBI night pushed his batting average to .324 with 35 home runs and 82 RBIs, giving him a commanding lead in all three American League Triple Crown categories.
Houston continues the series against Texas on Saturday at 6:10 p.m. Central, when Ronel Blanco is scheduled to face Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom.
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