Astros vs Rangers Recap: Astros dominate 9-0 in Week 61

The Astros came to Texas ready to fight back. After getting shut out 8-0 just a week before, Houston wanted revenge. The Rangers had won that first game, but today felt different. Jeremy Peña stepped up to the plate in the first inning. Kumar Rocker threw an 83-mile-per-hour slider. Peña didn't get a hit, but he made it count. He grounded out, yet the ball found its way. Yordan Alvarez watched from the dugout as Peña sprinted toward home. A sacrifice fly—a fly ball that lets a runner score. Peña crossed the plate, and Houston led 1-0. The Astros were on the board first. Texas needed to answer back, but the Rangers couldn't find their rhythm early.

Then Alvarez woke up. In the fourth inning, he stepped into the box facing Rocker again. The ball was screaming—a line drive that exploded over the center field wall. 415 feet of pure power. Alvarez rounded the bases as the crowd fell silent. Houston led 2-0. But the Astros weren't done. In the fifth inning, Christian Vázquez bunted his way to a single. Two runners were on base now. Jeremy Peña slapped a single to right field. Allen scored. The Astros had scored three runs in two innings. Then came the seventh. Christian Walker crushed a 401-foot bomb to left-center. Two more runs scored. Nick Allen added another single. Houston was running away with it. The score was now 9-0.

The Rangers simply could not catch up. They swung and missed. They struck out. They grounded out. Nothing worked. Houston's pitcher Tatsuya Imai was nearly unhittable. He threw six innings without giving up a single hit. No runs. Zero earned runs. Just pure dominance on the mound. The Rangers' lineup looked lost. Andrew McCutchen, Joc Pederson, Brandon Nimmo—all the big bats went silent. Kumar Rocker took the loss for Texas. He gave up nine runs in five innings. That was all she wrote. The final score: Houston 9, Texas 0. The Astros improved to 24-31 and now had won four straight games. The Rangers fell to 24-29. Houston had gotten their revenge and then some. This game proved the Astros could score in bunches when everything clicked into place.