The Houston Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 11-2 on Friday night at Daikin Park, moving into sole possession of first place in the American League West.
With the win, Houston improved to nine victories in their last 10 games and now holds a half-game lead over Texas.
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The Astros also clinched the regular-season series tiebreaker against their state rivals.
Starter Hunter Brown earned the win, allowing two runs on six hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi took the loss after giving up six runs on 10 hits in five innings.
Offensive Explosion
The Astros tied a season high with 18 hits.
Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning, while Yainer Diaz added a solo homer and four hits.
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LaMonte Wade Jr. opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning.
Yordan Alvarez followed with a two-run single, and Jeremy Peña contributed an RBI single in the fourth, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
Joc Pederson hit a solo home run and Evan Carter added an RBI single for the Rangers in the sixth, but Houston answered with a four-run seventh inning to seal the victory.
In a separate roster move on Friday, the Astros re-signed infielder Braden Shewmake to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Sugar Land, as reported by Brian McTaggart of MLB.
com.
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Shewmake returns after briefly electing free agency from the Milwaukee Brewers, who had designated him for assignment earlier in the week.
