Jesus Guzman and George Springer hit consecutive home runs in the first inning, Jonathan Meyer had a grand slam in the fifth and a Houston Astros split squad rolled to a 13-6 victory over the Texas Rangers in the Alamodome on Saturday.
"I was seeing the pitches good today and trying to put the ball in play. It worked," Guzman said.
Nolan Fontana added a three-run shot in the seventh to help the Astros sweep two weekend games in the Alamodome, designed primarily for football and special events such as the NCAA Final Four. With an odd configuration for baseball, the building hosted Rangers spring training games for the second straight year.
Leonys Martin hit a solo shot to right-center for Texas, which opens the regular season Monday afternoon at home against the Philadelphia Phillies.
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Houston plays El Aguila de Veracruz in its exhibition finale Sunday before hosting the New York Yankees in the season opener Tuesday night.
Rangers: Joe Saunders stayed in the game after taking a ball off his left knee on a hit by Marwin Gonzalez, the second batter he faced, and giving up the home runs to Guzman and Springer.
"My knee bothered me a little bit, but I told myself that you can't come out of this game," he said. "You have to get your pitches in and get your work done. You can't come out after the first two batters."
Saunders gave up seven runs on eight hits and two walks in 4 1-3 innings. He struck out seven.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
