Michael Brantley homered twice on Sunday while Rogelio Armenteros pitched five solid innings to earn his first major league win as the Houston Astros downed the Texas Rangers 5-3 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, completing a sweep of the three-game series.
In his first MLB start, the 25-year old Armenteros (1-0) permitted just two hits and a run, walking two and fanning six. Four relievers obtained the last 12 outs, with Roberto Osuna pitching the ninth to garner his 22nd save despite allowing a one-out solo homer to Logan Forsythe, his sixth of the year.
Lance Lynn (12-6) pitched well but suffered his second straight loss for Texas despite striking out a season-high 12 batters over seven innings. Lynn gave up seven hits and four runs, issuing a pair of walks, and became the first starter to log 10 strikeouts in multiple starts against the Astros this year.
But Houston managed to do enough damage against the hard-throwing Lynn to beat him. It started in the first when Brantley ambushed a first-pitch fastball down the middle, ripping it 404 feet into the Astros' bullpen in right-center with Alex Bregman aboard.
The Rangers pulled within 2-1 in the third when Danny Santana reached on an infield single, scoring Jeff Mathis. But Jose Altuve got that run back in the fifth when he also got hold of a first-pitch fastball from Lynn, drilling it 403 feet to the Houston bullpen for his 14th homer of the season.
Yordan Alvarez made it 4-1 later in the fifth with an RBI single to center that plated Bregman. Nomar Mazara pulled Texas within 4-2 in the sixth with an opposite-field homer to left, his 13th of the year.
The Rangers got the tying runs aboard in the eighth, but Will Harris fanned Joey Gallo to quell the threat, pumping his fist in a rare show of emotion as he left the mound.
Brantley followed with his second homer of the day and 15th of the year leading off the bottom of the inning.
--Field Level Media
