Dallas

Odor Hits Two Home Runs, Rangers Beat Astros

Rougned Odor went 5-for-5, including an inside-the-park home run

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 18the 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.

ROSTER MOVES
DeShields was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock and RHP Ariel Jurado was recalled from Double-A Frisco. LHP Brandon Mann was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock.

TRAINER'S ROOM
Rangers: OF Ryan Rua (back spasms) after being scratched from the lineup prior to Friday's game was placed on the 10-day disabled list.

Astros: Carlos Correa (stiff back) took a full group of ground balls on the field early and it was "the most energy and the most progress" Hinch has seen to date even before they shut him down. Hinch said Correa would do that again on Sunday and after that they could establish a timeline . Jose Altuve (right knee soreness) is feeling better, bouncing around being himself according to Astros manager AJ Hinch. It was predetermined that he would be held out of the lineup again on Saturday.

UP NEXT
Rangers: LHP Mike Minor (6-6, 4.83 ERA) gets the ball against the Astros on Sunday seeking his first win since June 27. Minor is 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA in four starts in the month of July.

Astros: RHP Lance McCullers (10-5, 4.01 ERA) starts the Astros' final regular season game against the Rangers on Sunday. McCullers has lost his last two starts giving up a combined 11 runs in those losses.

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