Altuve's homer lifts Astros to sweep Rangers, take AL West lead

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a two-run home run and Jeremy Pena homered and doubled to help the Houston Astros complete a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 5-2 win Wednesday night.

The victory coupled with Seattle’s loss to Kansas City moves the Astros 1/2 game ahead of the Mariners for first place in the AL West.

The game was tied 2-2 when Carlos Correa singled to start the third. Altuve’s home run off Jacob deGrom (12-8) to the seats in left field put the Astros on top 4-2. Altuve has 37 homers and 100 RBIs in his career against the Rangers, which are his most against any team.

Peña connected off deGrom on his home run to the first row in right field to start Houston’s fifth and push the lead to 5-2.

Cristian Javier (2-3) allowed five hits and two runs in six strong innings for the win in his seventh start after missing more than a year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Bryan King pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

DeGrom yielded six hits and tied a season-high with five runs. He lasted just five innings after the Astros forced him to throw 35 pitches in the first.

Peña hit a leadoff double before a single by Correa. There were two outs in the inning when Yainer Diaz’s single scored them both to give Houston an early lead.

Alejandro Osuna singled with one out in the second and stole second base. The Rangers cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI double by Josh Jung. Cody Freeman singled with two outs to send Jung home and tie it.

The Rangers went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position as they lost their fourth straight game.

Key moment

Altuve’s home run that put Houston up for good.

Key stat

The win gives the Astros a 7-6 advantage in the season series against the Rangers. They’ve won the series, called the Silver Boot, every year since 2017.

Up next

Both teams are off Thursday before Texas hosts the opener of a three-game series against Miami on Friday night and the Mariners come to Houston to start a key division series that night.

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