How Many O's in Oooof? Jose Altuve, Astros Embarrass Texas Rangers

Jose Altuve homered in his first three at-bats as the Houston Astros pounded the Texas Rangers Tuesday night.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Texas Rangers are in a free fall and there is no sign of it stopping.

The Houston Astros are making sure of that.

The Astros blasted the Rangers for the second consecutive night, 14-1 to push the Rangers further back in third place in the AL West and potentially behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild card race.

Toronto, which is tied with Texas in the wild-card standings, can move a half-game ahead with a win late Tuesday in Oakland. With the win and a Seattle Mariners' loss, the Astros have a one-game lead in the division.

Rangers pitching allowed a season-high 20 hits, including six homers. The Astros have outscored the Rangers 27-7 in the first two games of the series, the final regular-season meeting of the teams,

The Rangers (76-62) have lost 10 of their last 14 games and the defending World Series champion Astros (79-61) have taken them to the woodshed the past two nights.

Most specifically, Jose Altuve exploded for three home runs in his first three plate appearances Tuesday. Between Monday's 13-6 Astros win and the first three innings Tuesday, Altuve was 7 for 9 with five homers, five RBI, and six runs scored in a 12-inning stretch.

The Astros his six homers, including two, two-run shots by Martin Maldonado in the third and seventh innings, and a two-run shot by Yordan Alvarez in the seventh.

Astros 14, Rangers 1

Here are the key moments from Tuesday's Rangers-Astros game:

Jose Altuve Is a Cyborg

Jose Altuve homered in five of six consecutive at-bats against the Rangers, including in his first three ABs Tuesday. He's the fourth Astros batter with multiple homers in consecutive games and the first since Richard Hidalgo on Sept. 9-10, 2000.

Altuve is the 18th player with at least three homers in a game against Texas and the first since the Orioles' Pedro Severino in 2019.

Closer Austin Hedges

Back-up catcher Austin Hedges is the first position player in Rangers history to pitch in consecutive games. And he's actually been more effective than most of the regular bullpen arms. He pitched 2/3 scoreless innings in Monday's loss and allowed two hits in a scoreless inning on Tuesday.

Hello and Goodbye, Nathan Eovaldi

Nathan Eovaldi lasted only 1 1/3 innings and 35 pitches. He allowed four runs on five hit and a walk. Jose Altuve led off with a homer in the first and ended Eovaldi's night with solo homer in the second.

During a 27-pitch first inning, the first seven Astros reached base.

It was Eovaldi's first start since July 18 and second since the All-Star break. He was placed on the injury list on July 30 (retroactive to July 27)

In his last start before going on the IL, Eovaldi held Tampa Bay scoreless over six innings.

Extra-Helping of Corey Seager

Corey Seager's team-leading 63 extra-base hits are the most by a Rangers batter through 94 games in franchise history. The previous record was 58 by Juan Gonzalez in 1996. Seager's 61 homers, including two on Monday, since joining the Rangers before last season are the most by a shortstop in that span. The Brewers' Will Adames is the next-closest with 53 homers.

Up Next

Rangers right-hander Max Scherzer (12-5, 3.55) faces Astros right-hander Justin Verlander (10-7, 3.34) in the series finale at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday.

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You can follow Stefan Stevenson on Twitter @StefanVersusTex.

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