Jeremy Pena and Isaac Paredes homered and Spencer Arrighetti tossed six strong innings as the Houston Astros clinched a series win with a 5-1 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday in Arlington, Texas.
Arrighetti (7-1) allowed one run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts for Houston, which took three of four from Texas and has won six of its last seven games.
The Astros needed just three batters to claim a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Pena opened the game by depositing a 2-1 splitter from Nathan Eovaldi (5-6) over the left field wall for his second homer of the season.
After Yordan Alvarez walked, Paredes followed with a two-run shot to left field, his sixth homer.
Alvarez went 0-for-3 after hitting five home runs in his previous three games.
Josh Jung hit a solo homer for Texas, which was held to four hits and has lost six of its past seven to fall a season-worst six games under .500.
Astros right fielder Cam Smith had two hits and turned in the defensive play of the game in the bottom of the first, leaping high at the wall to rob Brandon Nimmo of a solo homer.
Texas got on the board in the second inning on Jung’s leadoff homer to left-center field. The 424-foot shot was Jung’s sixth this season.
Houston added to its lead with two runs in the third inning. Paredes drew a two-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Taylor Trammell’s double. Smith followed with an RBI single to center.
Eovaldi yielded five runs on four hits over seven innings. He walked two and struck out six.
The Rangers were unable to mount a comeback against Arrighetti, who won his third straight outing and lowered his ERA to 1.34 after eight starts.
Nate Pearson, Steven Okert, Enyel De Los Santos and Bryan Abreu followed Arrighetti with a combined three scoreless innings.
Houston won despite being held to two hits over the final six innings. Eovaldi retired the final 10 batters he faced after allowing Smith’s RBI single in the third.
