Jose Altuve homers in first three at bats as Astros pummel reeling Rangers 14-1

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jose Altuve homered his first 3 times up, beginning with a pair off All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi in his return from the injured listing, and the Houston Astros pummeled the Texas Rangers 14-1 on Tuesday evening.

Altuve greeted Eovaldi with a leadoff homer, then ended the pitcher’s first outing since July 18 with one other drive into the seats in left area on the thirty fifth pitch with one out within the second.

The third homer – and fifteenth of the season for Altuve – was to heart area off Dane Dunning, a starter who got here out of the bullpen so the Rangers might get Eovaldi again on the mound with out a rehab look coming off a proper forearm pressure.

Martín Maldonado hit two homers and slugger Yordan Alvarez linked for his twenty fourth because the defending World Series champion Astros set a Globe Life Field file with six lengthy balls whereas wrapping up a 3rd consecutive collection win over the Rangers.

Texas, which hasn’t had a successful season since 2016, has misplaced 14 of 18 video games and is 2 again within the AL West for the second time since a run of 140 consecutive days atop the division led to late August.

Altuve homered in 4 consecutive at-bats going again to Houston’s 13-6 win within the collection opener Monday. The run ended with a groundout towards Dunning within the fifth. Altuve struck out within the seventh.

Houston’s star second baseman homered twice within the collection opener, giving him consecutive multi-homer video games for the primary time in his profession. He was the primary Astro to try this since Richard Hidalgo in 2000.

The Astros had back-to-back homers from the No. 9 and leadoff spots twice within the collection opener with Mauricio Dubón and Altuve. They did it once more within the third inning with Maldonado’s two-run shot and the third solo blast from Altuve, which put Houston up 9-0 and capped a 3rd consecutive three-run inning.

Framber Valdez (11-9) allowed one run on six hits with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts in seven innings. The All-Star left-hander ended a three-game shedding streak towards the Rangers.

Eovaldi (11-4) allowed 4 runs whereas getting 4 outs, with José Abreu and Chas McCormick driving in a run apiece within the first inning. It was anticipated to be a brief outing since Eovaldi hadn’t confronted dwell hitters since Aug. 21.

Eovaldi was main the AL in ERA and tied for the league lead in wins when he went on the injured listing following a victory in a begin towards Tampa Bay seven weeks in the past.

DEJA VU FOR HISTORY

Austin Hedges grew to become the primary place participant in Texas Rangers historical past to pitch in consecutive video games. The catcher, throwing pitches starting from 47.6 to 54.1 mph, recorded a scoreless the ninth after getting the ultimate two outs with out permitting a baserunner within the collection opener.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Ryne Stanek mentioned he anticipated to overlook no less than a few weeks after injuring his proper ankle masking first base within the ninth inning of the collection opener. He mentioned the ankle wasn’t damaged, and was ready for what an MRI would present.

Rangers: RHP Josh Sborz went on the 15-day injured listing with a left hamstring situation. The transfer got here a day after Sborz allowed six runs whereas getting only one out within the 13-6 loss within the collection opener.

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