Gonzalez grand slam lifts Astros over Rangers
HOUSTON -- Marwin Gonzalez cranked his first career grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning, lifting the Houston Astros to an 8-7 comeback win over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.
Gonzalez lofted a 2-1 fastball from Rangers right-hander Keone Kela (0-1) just inside the right field foul pole for his second home run of the night and seventh this season. Gonzalez also bashed a leadoff homer off Rangers spot starter Alex Claudio in the sixth and finished 2-for-3 with a career-high five RBIs.
Jose Altuve belted a two-run homer off Claudio in the fourth inning to kick-start the comeback as the Astros rallied from five runs down. Houston (18-9) recorded its 12th come-from-behind win off the season, rallying despite Texas belting four homers off Astros starter Mike Fiers.
Fiers settled down and logged six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. Right-hander James Hoyt (1-0) struck out five batters over two scoreless innings to pave the way for Houston to rally past Texas (11-16).
The Astros scored five runs in the seventh in the opener on Monday to rally to victory. Their five-run eighth inning on Tuesday included a crucial tack-on run supplied via a George Springer single, for the Rangers added a fifth home run in the ninth when Nomar Mazara smacked a two-run shot off Luke Gregerson.
However, Will Harris recorded his first save by striking out Carlos Gomez before catcher Evan Gattis tagged pinch runner Pete Kozma as he attempted to score on a wild pitch.
Given their respective starts, it was a surprise that Fiers outlasted Claudio. Texas bashed its way to a five-run lead by taking advantage of Fiers' primary weakness: a propensity to surrender home runs.
The Rangers inflicted damage immediately, with Delino DeShields opening the game with a homer off the left-field foul pole, his first of the season. With one out in the second, Joey Gallo went deep, blasting his eighth home run for a 2-0 lead.
The homers continued in the fourth inning when both Elvis Andrus and Jonathan Lucroy went deep, with Andrus' solo shot extending the lead to three runs before Lucroy delivered a two-run shot, his second, scoring Gallo.
For Fiers, that marked his major-league-leading 12th home run allowed. Just as suddenly, he retired eight consecutive batters as Houston began to chip away.
NOTES: Rangers LHP Cole Hamels was a late scratch due to right oblique tightness. He will return to Arlington on Wednesday for additional evaluation. LHP Alex Claudio made the spot start, his first start after 81 career relief appearances. ... Astros pitching prospect Brady Rodgers underwent successful UCL reconstruction on Tuesday morning and will miss the remainder of the season. Rodgers was the 2016 Astros Minor League Pitcher of the Year after going 12-4 with a 2.86 ERA over 22 starts with Triple-A Fresno. ... Astros OF Teoscar Hernandez continues to show signs of improvement with his left knee contusion, an injury he sustained on April 26 and that landed him on the 10-day disabled list. Hernandez increased his running workload and has been taking batting practice with his normal hitting group.