Jose Altuve hit the first pitch of the game out of the ballpark, but the Houston Astros needed a sixth-inning rally to defeat the Texas Rangers 5-3 to open a four-game series on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
Trailing 3-1, the Astros scored a run on Altuve’s RBI groundout by Altuve in the fifth, and then completed the comeback one inning later.
Mauricio Dubon had a two-run double down the left field line, the second run coming when Yainer Diaz beat the Rangers’ relay throw home to score from first. Dubon then scored on a sacrifice fly by Jake Meyers.
The teams exchanged single runs in the first inning. Altuve sent a first-pitch fastball over the center field wall off Rangers starter Jon Gray. The Rangers evened it in the bottom half as Marcus Semien scored when Nathaniel Lowe grounded into a double play.
Texas took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on back-to-back home runs by All-Stars Josh Jung and Jonah Heim. Jung sent an 0-1 fastball over the right-center field fence, while Heim belted a 2-1 fastball out to center.
With their rally, the Astros evened the regular-season series at 2-2.
Astros starter Ronel Blanco (2-0) earned the win, allowing three runs on four hits with four walks and two strikeouts over five innings. Four relievers each threw a scoreless inning, including a 1-2-3 ninth by closer Ryan Pressly for his 16th save.
Rangers starter Gray (6-4) surrendered five runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over six innings. Gray finished the month of June by going 1-3 over five starts. He allowed at least five runs in two of those losses.
–Field Level Media
