HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve homered off Nathan Eovaldi in his first two at-bats and Cristian Javier pitched seven strong innings to lead the Houston Astros to an 8-5 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.
After dropping the series opener 12-8, the Astros have won back-to-back games following a 4-11 start that left them seven games under .500 for the first time since 2016. They improved to 4-3 against AL West rival Texas this season.
Javier (2-0) allowed five hits and two runs with five strikeouts to give Houston a second straight solid pitching performance after dismal outings by its starters in the previous three games.
Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer off Seth Martinez with two outs in the ninth to cut the lead to 8-5. Josh Hader struck out Corey Seager to end it.
It was the 11th multi-homer game for Altuve, and his seven career home runs off Eovaldi are his most against any pitcher.
Saudi Arabia is going to sponsor the WTA women's tennis rankings under a new partnership
Hong Kong calls for respect of its overseas
Incyte, Squarespace rise; Chimera Investment, Amazon fall, Monday, 5/13/2024
76 years of Nakba: Palestinians fear a repeat of their painful history
Insider Q&A: CIA's chief technologist's cautious embrace of generative AI
Arkansas and coach John Calipari will face former team at Kentucky in SEC next season
GOP attorneys general sue Biden administration and California over rules on gas
Paige Bueckers and UConn to host JuJu Watkins and USC in December
The fightback begins: Boss of London's Queen Mary University tells pro
Hedge fund operators go on trial after multibillion
The government wants to buy their flood
Michael Jordan weeps during grand opening of his third clinic with his mom in North Carolina