07/11/26 09:11:00
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07/11 21:10 CDT Alvarez hits AL-leading 31st homer, Wade has first career grand
slam and Astros beat Rangers 9-3
Alvarez hits AL-leading 31st homer, Wade has first career grand slam and Astros
beat Rangers 9-3
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Baseball Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) --- Yordan Alvarez had another moonshot for his
AL-leading 31st home run, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit his first career grand slam and
the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 9-3 on Saturday night.
The Astros led for good after Alvarez, also the AL leader with 70 RBIs, hit a
two-run homer 425 feet to straightaway center in the first inning, a night
after a towering 455-foot blast pulled to right in the series opener. The
American League All-Star starting designated hitter is one behind National
League All-Star DH Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead in homers.
Peter Lambert (8-5) pitched three-hit ball over six innings while striking out
seven and walking one. The right-hander, who didn't make the Astros roster out
of spring training, is 6-1 with a 2.84 ERA over his last nine starts.
Ezequiel Durn homered twice for the AL West-leading Rangers (48-47). He had a
solo shot off Lambert in the fourth, and added a two-run homer in the ninth.
Wade's slam in the second was his 57th career homer and his second in nine
games with the Astros (47-50). Christian Vzquez went deep leading off the
third to make it 7-0, when they already had eight of their 10 hits.
All three Houston homers came off Texas starter Kumar Rocker (2-8), who struck
out six, but walked two and also hit a batter over 5 2/3 innings.
Alvarez, now with 201 career homers, also had a double and walked twice. He has
hit .455 (10 of 22) with seven homers and 11 RBIs in six games this season at
Globe Life Field.
Up next
Neither team had named a starting pitcher for the series finale Sunday going
into the All-Star break, the last time the instate rivals play in Arlington
this season. The Rangers go to Houston for a series July 31-Aug 2.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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