Altuve’s 4 hits help carry Astros past Rangers in 11

Jose Altuve capped his 30th career four-hit game with an RBI double in the 11th inning in the visiting Houston Astros' 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday in Arlington, Texas. The Astros fashioned a two-out rally against Rangers left-hander Brett Martin (1-1), starting with a George Springer walk. Altuve (4-for-6, three runs) followed with a double to left field to score Springer from first base, with Altuve taking third on the throw to the plate. Myles Straw added a run-scoring single that plated Altuve with a critical insurance run. In the bottom of the 11th, the Rangers sent six batters to the plate against Houston closer Roberto Osuna.

Osuna surrendered a run but recorded his 20th save, stranding two runners as Houston set the table to split the series with a victory in the finale Sunday. Josh James (4-0) earned the win. What was a promising first inning for Houston turned on its ear when the Rangers came to bat that same inning. The Astros scored twice off Texas left-hander Mike Minor in their first at-bat, with Springer (walk) and Altuve (single) reaching safely. Springer scored on a Michael Brantley sacrifice fly and Altuve came home on Yordan Alvarez's RBI double to right for a quick 2-0 lead.

But two batters into the bottom of the first, the Rangers pulled even. Shin-Soo Choo struck a leadoff homer for the second time this series, his 15th home run of the season on his 37th birthday. Danny Santana followed with his second home run in as many games, and the two-run cushion for Astros left-hander Wade Miley vanished. Houston pushed ahead 3-2 on a Brantley RBI single that scored Altuve in the top of the third, but its defense collapsed behind Miley in the bottom of that frame, surrendering two runs on three errors as the Rangers claimed a 4-3 lead without the benefit of a hit.

Miley recovered and carried a 5-4 lead into the seventh. The Astros got an Alex Bregman home run, his 24th, in the fifth and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Springer in the sixth to reclaim the lead, but Miley surrendered a home run to Delino DeShields in the seventh. DeShields' blast capped a second consecutive game where Texas recorded three solo homers off an Astros starter. The Rangers did so against Gerrit Cole on Friday. 

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