Rangers 2 - 4 Astros
Final
  for this game

Castro's slam leads Astros over Rangers

Aug 29, 2014 - 7:21 AM Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Castro's fifth-inning grand slam lifted the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the Texas Rangers in the opener of a four-game set at Minute Maid Park.

Collin McHugh (7-9) yielded two runs on eight hits and struck out six over seven innings. McHugh improved to 3-0 in six August starts.

Roman Mendez (0-1) took the loss after giving up two runs in the fifth in relief of starter Nick Tepesch, who was charged with two runs on five hits over 4 1/3 innings.

"Long innings, no clean innings," Tepesch said. "A lot of pitches per innings. It's tough to pitch deep into the game throwing so many pitches."

With one out in the fifth and Houston trailing by two, Jose Altuve singled, Chris Carter walked and Dexter Fowler singled to load the bases. Mendez, who came on for Tepesch after the walk to Carter, served up Castro's slam to right and the Astros took a 4-2 lead.

"(Castro) to come up with a big hit there was not only good for the team, it was good for him," Astros manager Bo Porter said.

Josh Fields pitched a scoreless eighth before Tony Sipp came on in the ninth and nailed down his second save of the season, fourth of his career.

Houston has now taken eight of its last nine games against the Rangers. Texas had won three of four overall entering the contest.

Earlier, Leonys Martin and Elvis Andrus each singled to begin the game which gave Texas runners at the corners. McHugh got a double play in the following at-bat from Mike Carp, but Martin crossed home to open the scoring.

Robinson Chirinos, Martin and Andrus all singled to load the bases with no outs in the third. Carp followed with a sacrifice fly to give the visitors a 2-0 lead. McHugh then struck out Adrian Beltre and Jim Adduci to end the inning. The Rangers would get just two hits off of McHugh the rest of the way.

Game Notes

Adduci left the game after an awkward collision in the fourth inning. With two outs in the frame, Jake Marisnick popped a fly into foul territory on the right side, where Adduci made a running catch but was undercut by second baseman Rougned Odor and fell to the ground on his back. Adduci walked off the field on his own power, however, and was lifted in the following inning ... Carter had his three-game home run streak halted in the win ... Tepesch entered the game 2-0 with a 3.31 ERA in three starts against Houston ... Castro has 50 RBI this season.






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