Yordan Alvarez hit a 117 mph home run, the hardest of his season, and Yusei Kikuchi struck out eight while pitching into the sixth inning as the Astros defeated the Rangers 6-4 on Wednesday.
With this win, the Astros secured the season series for the eighth year in a row. This was the last regular-season game between these teams, who met in last season’s AL Championship Series and have both won recent World Series titles. The teams had split their previous 12 meetings, including the first two games of this series.
Last year, the Silver Boot trophy was important because it helped Houston get the tiebreaker and avoid the wild card after tying with Texas atop the AL West. The Rangers ended up taking the longer route to win their first championship.
Victor Caratini also hit a home run, and Jeremy Peña, Mauricio Dubón, Jose Altuve, and Alex Bregman each drove in a run for Houston. The Astros started the day just half a game behind Seattle in the division, with Texas five games back.
Astros manager Joe Espada said, “It’s important. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next 50 games. We just want to put our club in a good position to win the West. It matters.”
Kikuchi (5-9) kept Texas scoreless for five innings before Marcus Semien hit a solo home run in the sixth. Kikuchi gave up four hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings, one day after Framber Valdez lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning on Corey Seager’s two-run homer in the Astros’ 4-2 win.
This was Kikuchi’s first start since setting a franchise record with eight consecutive strikeouts in his Houston debut after being traded from Toronto. His last win was on June 11 with the Blue Jays, and the Astros are 2-0 in his starts.
Kikuchi said through an interpreter, “I feel like I’ve been settling in and getting used to my surroundings. But getting those two wins definitely eases the pressure.”
Houston closer Josh Hader, pitching for the third day in a row, struck out Seager to start a perfect ninth inning, earning his 24th consecutive save and matching Brad Lidge’s single-season franchise record from 2005.
Alvarez hit a solo home run, his 22nd of the season and second in consecutive games. The ball was a low liner that traveled 415 feet into the Texas bullpen in deep right-center field, giving Houston a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
“I really didn’t think that was going to be a homer,” Alvarez said through an interpreter. “I was running hard and then I looked up and the ball was gone, and I was like, ‘Oh, wow.’”
In the first inning, Peña’s fielder’s choice brought in Bregman against José Ureña (3-7), who allowed two runs on six hits and three walks in four innings.
“We move on,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “I keep saying that. It’s all you can do. It was a tight series. That’s always tough when you lose a series to the team you’re chasing.”
Houston’s Zach Dezenzo doubled in the second inning for his first major league hit while playing first base, a day after going 0 for 4 in his big league debut as the designated hitter.
Dezenzo singled and scored from first base on Dubón’s double after Caratini’s solo home run, his sixth of the season, in a three-run sixth inning against José Leclerc. Dubón then scored on Altuve’s single.
Dezenzo reached base a third time with an eighth-inning walk and scored on Bregman’s single.
“Yesterday was yesterday. A lot of emotions. Pretty overwhelming,” Dezenzo said. “Today I felt a lot more like myself, just playing the game again, enjoying it, having fun with the guys.”
Nathaniel Lowe had an RBI triple for Texas, and Jonah Heim drove in a run with a single.
