Jose Altuve hits 3-run homer and Astros beat Rangers 6-3
Associated Press
HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer, Hunter Brown struck out five over six innings and the Houston Astros won their 10th straight home game, 6-3 over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
“How pretty is that swing, it never gets old,” Astros manager Joe Espada said about Altuve’s homer. “Big homers, big moments, he hits it. The way the ball carries, it’s exciting. I’ve been seeing it for years.”
Alex Bregman and Jake Meyers also homered while Josh Hader converted his 18th straight save opportunity. The Astros have the best record in the majors since June 1 at 25-11.
Holding on to a 3-2 lead in the sixth, Altuve crushed a 1-1 changeup from Texas reliever José Ureña 365 feet into the left field seats to make it 6-2.
“(I was looking for) a pitch I could hit, something up and in the middle,” Altuve said. “I was chasing all day long pitches out of the zone. So, I really focused on getting one pitch to hit.”
Houston’s defense kept the scorecard clean early for Brown. With two on in the first, Chas McCormick ended the inning with a diving grab in right field. The Astros then turned a pair of inning-ending double plays in the second and third innings.
“Those were huge,” Brown said. “With the first-inning pitch count kind of getting up there, those were big time for the overall feel of the game. Get out with two quick ones there and projected us into a good spot.”
Brown (7-6) held the Rangers to two runs on five hits and walked two for his sixth win in his last seven starts.
“I thought that was a heck of an outing,” Espada said. “His stuff was explosive and was pretty good. He made some really good pitches … We needed an outing like that.”
Hader struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth inning. This was his second-straight game with a save and his sixth in July.
“He’s coming at you with heat,” Espada said.
Texas starter Andrew Heaney (3-10) gave up three runs (two earned) on five hits, walked two and struck out five in five innings. It was Heaney’s fourth loss in his last seven starts.
“He kept us in the game,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Overall he gave us a chance. That’s a good-hitting ball club. I thought he had good stuff, so overall I thought he threw fine.”
Corey Seager hit a two-run homer, his 18th of the year, and went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Marcus Semien went 3 for 3 for Texas in the leadoff spot.
Five of the Rangers’ seven hits came from Seager and Semien at the top of the lineup. The rest of the lineup went 2 for 25 with two singles. Texas left six runners on base.
“That’s probably what did us in tonight, we had a tough time getting some guys on base after those two,” Bochy said. “Corey got us back in the game, it’s a one-run game. We like our chances there but they answered back with a two-out rally in the sixth.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Rangers: RHP Tyler Mahle (right UCL repair surgery) will pitch three innings in his third rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League … RHP Dane Dunning (right shoulder tightness) threw a live batting practice in Anaheim on Wednesday.
Astros: DH/OF Yordan Alvarez returned to the lineup on Friday after missing Thursday’s game due to hip tightness … RHP Luis Garcia (Tommy John surgery) didn’t throw his scheduled bullpen on Friday. Garcia is throwing off flat ground and Astros manager Joe Espada doesn’t consider this a setback in his rehab process …OF Kyle Tucker (right shin contusion) played catch on the field for a second straight day on Friday.
UP NEXT
Houston RHP Spencer Arrighetti (4-7, 5.96 ERA) faces Texas RHP Nathan Eovaldi (6-3, 3.10 ERA) when the series continues Saturday afternoon.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
