(Houston) Jonah Heim homered and the Texas Rangers took advantage of a four-run first inning Monday, cruising to a 5-4 victory for a 2-0 lead in the League Championship Series American, against the Houston Astros.
Nathan Eovaldi struck out nine batters in six innings, allowing three runs and five hits.
In the fifth, the Astros loaded the bases via two singles and an error, with no outs. Eovaldi escaped with two strikeouts and a groundout.
He made his way to his third victory since the start of the series.
Adolis García, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe hit singles for a run in the visitors’ first at-bat.
The first point was scored by Marcus Semien, who started the game with a single.
Framber Valdez allowed five runs, seven hits and a walk, being chased after two and two-thirds innings.
The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez homered in the second, but Heim responded with a long ball in the next inning.
Jose Leclerc took care of the last four outs. Leading hitter in the bottom of the ninth, Jeremy Pena gave Astros fans some hope, but his ball was caught at the right field warning track.
Texas is 7-0 since the start of the playoffs, including six road victories.
The team swept the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles before posting a 2-0 victory on Sunday.
The third game will take place Wednesday evening in Arlington.
Alvarez also hit a solo home run in the eighth.
He became the sixth player in history with two more than one home run games in the playoffs in such a year. On October 7, he played the Minnesota Twins.
In the regular season, Houston had a very ordinary 39-42 record at Minute Maid Park. Since the start of the series, their record at home has pretty much reflected this (1-3).
