Astros show off their bats again to beat Rangers 5-2

On Saturday night, the Astros kept it rolling against the Rangers and won the second game (5-2) to secure the series. This time, they ambushed starter Kolby Allard early in the contest while Framber Valdez was dealing on the mound.

After zeros for both sides in the first, Yordan Álvarez hit a rocket over the center-field fence for his fifth home run in his last eight games. It was a solo shot to crack the scoreboard and record his 27 to tie his season-high mark and also keep leading the Astros in that department.

In the same inning, Alex Bregman drew a walk and Kyle Tucker got a single to serve the table for a Martín Maldonado two-run single to make it 3-0, a key connection for Houston in the game and maybe the most clutch hit of the contest for Dusty Baker’s squad.

Right before the end of the first third of the game, Carlos Correa hit a laser shot to left field, a solo jack for his 20th home run of the year, getting closer and closer to his season-high (24). Enjoy…

Valdez got in trouble in the fourth, when he allowed a hit, plunked DJ Peters, and walked Andy Ibáñez, but fortunately, the lefty got out of the jam surrendering only one run. In general, Framber was pretty sharp tonight, with his second straight outing of seven innings.

The southpaw won for the ninth time in the campaign (9-4) and lowered his ERA to 2.91. He only accepted three hits, two earned runs, gave up one walk, and struck out seven. He’s won his two against the Rangers in 2021, going 13 frames of three hits, two earned runs, seven bases on balls, and 11 punchouts.

After one more run produced by José Altuve and a home run by Adolis García in the sixth inning, Kendall Graveman had another scoreless appearance as an Astro and Ryan Pressly was as nasty as always to record his 21 save of the year and maintain his good August: 9 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 SO, 1.00 ERA.

This was the seventh consecutive win against Texas and guess what… The Astros will have the chance to sweep the Rangers once again, when Zack Greinke takes the ball on Sunday (1:35 pm CT) to face lefty Taylor Hearn.

VIDEOS AND BOX SCORE AVAILABLE HERE.