Odor Hits 2 Home Runs, Rangers Beat Astros 7-3
HOUSTON (AP) — Rougned Odor hit two home runs, including one inside-the-park, and went 5-for-5 as the Texas Rangers beat Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros 7-3 on Saturday.
Odor's strong effort backed a stellar start from Ariel Jurado (1-1), who was called up from Double-A Frisco for this start. He set down 12 of the first 13 batters he faced.
The only blemish through his first four innings was a solo home run hit by George Springer in the fourth. It was Springer's 18th of the season. Jurado gave up one run on two hits, struck out two and walked one in six innings for his first major league win.
Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa added homers for the Rangers to back Jurado.
Kiner-Falefa hit his fourth home run of the season in the second inning off Verlander (10-6) and went back-to-back games with a home run for the first time in his career.
Odor rocketed a ball to right-center field in the fifth inning, which Springer made a leaping attempt on but missed. The ball ricocheted off the wall and rolled along the warning track. Odor raced around the bases and beat the throw home for his first career inside-the-park home run.
This marked the 28th in Rangers franchise history and the first since Delino DeShields hit one on September 26, 2017 against the Astros.
Odor hit his second home run of the night in the seventh off new Astros reliever Ryan Pressly. It is the ninth multi-home run game of Odor's career and first since August 19, 2017 against the White Sox.
Gallo extended the Rangers lead with a three-run homer in the ninth, his 26th of the year.
Verlander gave up two runs on nine hits, struck out seven and walked one in five innings.
In his last 11 starts, Verlander has given up 13 home runs, compared to the five he gave up in his first 12 starts of the season.
Alex Bregman hit his 22nd home run of the year in the ninth inning. The Astros have lost four of their last five.
(© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)