Marcus Semien went 3-for-3 and scored three runs prior to his ejection in the fifth inning and Adolis Garcia capped a seven-run deluge with a grand slam that same frame as the Texas Rangers averted a series sweep with a 13-5 pummeling of the host Houston Astros on Wednesday.
The Rangers extended their lead in the American League West to two games over the Astros by inflicting massive two-out damage in the fourth and fifth innings, first against Houston ace left-hander Framber Valdez (8-7), and then off right-handed reliever Seth Martinez.
Semien was the central figure for Texas, and when Valdez plunked him with a pitch with one out in the top of the third — seemingly in response to Rangers left-hander Andrew Heaney hitting Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez with a pitch in the bottom of the first — the Rangers were ignited.
Two batters after Semien reached, Nathaniel Lowe blasted a two-run, two-out homer to right field that pulled Texas to within 3-2.
Valdez appeared to steady himself after Lowe belted his 12th home run, recording two quick outs to open the fourth. But the next six batters reached. The bottom third of Texas’ order kickstarted the rally when Robbie Grossman followed a Mitch Garver single with a double before nine-hole hitter Leody Taveras gave Texas a 4-3 lead with a two-run single to right.
Semien then added a two-run home run, his 15th, that extended the lead to 6-3. Semien exchanged words with Valdez and Astros catcher Martin Maldonado as he rounded the bases, and while Valdez was long gone by the time Semien singled and scored in the fifth, Maldonado was still around as Semien crossed home on the Garcia homer off Martinez.
Martinez surrendered a home run to Sam Huff in the fifth but retired Garver for the second out before Grossman tripled, Taveras added an RBI single and Semien, Ezequiel Duran and Lowe all reached in succession as Texas pushed to a 9-3 lead.
Garcia followed with his 25th homer, a 448-foot moonshot to left-center. When Garcia reached home, Semien and Maldonado were in a heated discussion as both benches and dugouts emptied.
Semien and Maldonado were subsequently ejected, but the damage was done. The Rangers sent 19 batters to the plate while scoring 11 runs in the fourth and fifth.
Heaney (7-6), meanwhile, stabilized after surrendering a three-run home run to Alex Bregman in the first. He worked five innings and allowed three runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
Valdez gave up six runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. He fanned one and walked two.
–Field Level Media
