The Houston Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 11-2 on Friday night, taking the lead in the AL West. Yainer Diaz homered and tied a career high with four hits, while Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker also went deep.
Astros’ Offense Explodes
Jeremy Peña had three RBIs and Yordan Alvarez added two as the Astros tied a season high with 18 hits. The team’s ninth win in 10 games moved them a half-game ahead of Texas atop the division.
LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled to make it 1-0 in the second, and Nathan Eovaldi plunked Peña on the arm to load the bases with two outs. Alvarez followed with a single on a grounder to left field to score two and push the lead to 3-0.
Cam Smith tripled with two outs in the fourth before Peña extended his hit streak to 12 games with a single that made it 4-0. Paredes and Walker hit back-to-back home runs off Eovaldi to open the fifth inning and leave Houston up 6-0.
Joc Pederson homered and Corey Seager doubled and had two hits for the Rangers in his return after missing 23 games with inflammation in his lower back. Pederson’s home run to right-center field cut the lead to 6-1 in the sixth.
Diaz’s solo homer was the first of four runs Houston scored with two outs in the seventh that pushed the lead to 10-2. Houston starter Hunter Brown yielded six hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
