ARLINGTON, Texas — One night after being silenced in a no-hit performance, the Texas Rangers answered with an avalanche.
Texas stormed out with an eight-run first inning Wednesday night and never looked back, snapping a four-game skid with a chaotic 10-7 victory over the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field. The Rangers matched their season high in runs and delivered one of their most explosive offensive frames in recent memory.
The turnaround was immediate.
After managing nothing at the plate the previous game, Texas sent 11 batters to the box in the opening inning and scored eight runs before Houston could settle in. The outburst marked the Rangers’ highest-scoring inning of the season and their biggest first inning since 2012.
Jake Burger started the damage with a two-run single through the left side before Evan Carter ripped a two-run triple into the gap. Ezequiel Duran added an RBI double, and Joc Pederson delivered the crushing blow — a three-run homer into the right-field seats that sent Globe Life Field into a frenzy.
Texas became just the second team in Major League history to score at least eight runs in the first inning immediately after being no-hit the game before.
“It was about responding,” one Rangers player said afterward. “Nobody wanted to carry last night into today.”
The Rangers’ offense didn’t completely stop after the opening barrage. Carter continued his breakout night in the third inning when he launched a solo homer to right-center, giving him a career-high six home runs on the season. The center fielder finished 3-for-4 and fell a double shy of the cycle.
Burger added to his club-leading RBI total with another productive night, while Duran continued his recent hot stretch with two more RBIs.
Texas starter Jack Leiter finally had enough breathing room to work with.
Leiter battled through six innings to earn his first win since Opening Weekend, allowing four runs while striking out four. The right-hander had entered the night stuck in a lengthy winless stretch despite several solid outings, largely due to minimal run support. This time, the Rangers handed him a cushion almost immediately.
Houston tried to claw back behind Yordan Alvarez, who reminded everyone why he remains one of baseball’s most feared sluggers.
Alvarez crushed a towering 449-foot three-run homer in the third inning that landed beyond the Rangers bullpen in right-center. He later added another blast in the eighth for his 23rd career multi-homer game.
Cam Smith also connected on a mammoth solo shot to the second deck in left field, measuring 457 feet — one of the longest home runs hit at Globe Life Field since the park opened.
But the Astros could never fully recover from the opening inning disaster.
Houston starter Jason Alexander was tagged for eight runs in the first but remarkably stayed in long enough to complete six innings, settling down after Carter’s homer in the third. By then, however, the damage had already defined the night.
Jeremy Peña added a ninth-inning homer for Houston, but Texas closed the door to secure the win and tighten the season series between the division rivals.
The Rangers improved to 25-29 with the victory and moved back within four games of .500, while Houston saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
