Cody Bradford pitched into the eighth inning, Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien each hit three-run homers, and the host Texas Rangers routed the Houston Astros 10-2 in the opener of a four-game series on Friday in Arlington.
Garcia also singled in a run and Semien finished with three hits and three runs scored for Texas, which collected 16 hits and received a stellar outing from Bradford (2-0).
Bradford allowed one run on two hits with no walks and four strikeouts over a career-high 7 2/3 innings in his 10th career start.
Bradford settled in after Jose Altuve singled to begin the game and did not allow another hit until Jeremy Pena singled with two outs in the eighth inning.
Houston scored its lone run with two outs in the eighth inning when Yerry Rodriguez replaced Bradford with Pena at first base and allowed Jake Meyers’ two-run homer to right field.
The Rangers jumped to a 5-0 lead in the second inning after sending nine batters to the plate against Hunter Brown (0-1).
Corey Seager doubled in a run with two outs, Wyatt Langford followed with an RBI single and Garcia hit a three-run blast to right-center field. The 375-foot homer was Garcia’s fourth of the season.
Brown was pulled after giving up five runs on eight hits over three innings. He walked four and struck out three.
Texas added to its lead with two outs in the fourth inning when Josh Smith doubled in a run against Brandon Bielak.
Semien drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, moved to second on Seager’s groundout and scored on Garcia’s two-out single against Bielak.
The Rangers capped their scoring with one out in the sixth inning on Semien’s three-run homer to left field against Bielak. Semien reached base five times in the game with two walks.
Evan Carter and Jonah Heim had two hits apiece for Texas, which had lost its past eight meetings against Houston at Globe Life Field.
Rangers second baseman Justin Foscue flied out in his only at-bat after making his major league debut as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning.
–Field Level Media
