Garcia hits grand slam as Texas Rangers rout Houston Astros 13-5
Adolis Garcia capped a seven-run fifth inning with a grand slam and the Texas Rangers scored 13 straight runs in a testy 13-5 rout of the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
Marcus Semien went 3 for 3 with a two-run homer, Nathaniel Lowe went deep and drove in three runs and Leody Tavares added three RBIs as Texas avoided a sweep and extended its AL West lead over Houston to two games.
Following his slam, Garcia exchanged words with catcher Martin Maldonado. That led to the benches and bullpens emptying, though no punches were thrown in the scrum around home plate.
Both benches were warned in the third inning after Houston’s Framber Valdez hit Semien in the left shoulder with a pitch. Rangers’ starter Andrew Heaney hit Yordan Alvarez on the right shoulder with a pitch in the first inning.
Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Yainer Diaz had a two-run shot in the ninth for the Astros, who had won three straight and six of seven to tighten the division race.
Texas scored four runs in the fourth to chase starter Framber Valdez, who allowed a season-high six runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Tavares singled home two runs before Semien connected for his 15th home run.
Sam Huff led off the fifth with his first home run of the season and Robbie Grossman tripled and scored on Tavares’ single. After Semien and Ezequiel Duran singled and Lowe’s walk forced in a run, Garcia belted his grand slam to make it 13-3.
Brewers’ Peralta overpowers Reds
Freddy Peralta tied a career high with 13 strikeouts over six innings and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 in an NL Central matchup.
Peralta scattered four hits without a walk and matched the 13 strikeouts he had in his major league debut at Colorado on May 13, 2018.
Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps and Devin Williams each worked one inning to complete Milwaukee’s 12th shutout of the season.
Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer for the Brewers, who won two of three in the series and opened a 1 ½-game lead over the Reds in the Central.
Red Sox rally past Braves
Justin Turner delivered a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied for their fourth straight win, 5-3 over the major league-leading Atlanta Braves.
Rafael Devers, Triston Casas and Adam Duvall homered to help Boston overcome a three-run deficit on Ozzie Albies’ three-run shot in the sixth inning.
Devers’ 25th home run got the Red Sox on the board in the bottom of the sixth and Casas’ shot in the seventh made it 3-2. After Conner Wong singled and Yu Chang reached on an error, Turner doubled off the Green Monster to put Boston on top.