Texas Rangers left fielder Choo Shin-soo argues a called strike on Wednesday. The Korean went 0 for 5. ( AP-Yonhap)
HOUSTON (AP) ― Matt Dominguez hit an RBI single off the right-field wall in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 Wednesday night to win a series against their in-state rivals for the first time since 2008.
The Astros took two of three after losing 15 straight series to the Rangers. Houston overcame a four-run deficit to win.
Dexter Fowler singled with one out in the ninth, Jason Castro drew a walk and Dominguez hit a long fly ball off Nick Martinez (0-1).
Chad Qualls (1-1) got the last two outs in the ninth for the win.
Alex Rios hit a solo homer, Adrian Beltre had three hits and Prince Fielder drove in two runs for Texas.
The Astros trailed 4-0 before scoring two runs in the sixth. Rookie George Springer tied it with a two-run homer in the seventh.
Jose Altuve singled to start the seventh before Springer launched his third career home run ― and first at home ― into the back of the seats in the Crawford Boxes in left field to make it 4-all.
A pair of walks and a single by Dominguez loaded the bases for Houston with one out in the sixth inning. Pinch-hitter Jesus Guzman cut the lead to 4-1 with an RBI single to shallow center and Chris Carter drove another run home with his single that dropped just inside the left-field line.
Rios gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the second. Fielder hit the third of three straight singles to send a run home and make it 2-0 in the third.
Yankees’ Tanaka tosses shutoutNEW YORK (AP) ― Masahiro Tanaka has been every bit the ace the New York Yankees went shopping for last winter.
Tanaka pitched a four-hitter for his first major league shutout and the Yankees got home runs from Yangervis Solarte and Mark Teixeira on Wednesday night, snapping a four-game skid with a 4-0 victory over the Mets.
“Overall, I think that today was my best day,” Tanaka said through a translator.
Brian Roberts tripled twice and the Yankees finally beat their crosstown rivals after dropping six straight meetings.
The Mets took all four Subway Series games last year and won two slugfests in the Bronx this week. Back home at spacious Citi Field, however, their bats went silent again.
“You asked me about the home run barrage? We hit three of them tonight. They were just in the wrong park,” manager Terry Collins said.
Tanaka (6-0) overwhelmed the Mets with his vast assortment of pitches while spoiling Rafael Montero’s big league debut. The latest to arrive in a line of touted Mets pitching prospects, Montero threw six competitive innings but was no match for the $155 million rookie from Japan.
“In some ways, this is a David-and-Goliath matchup. One guy’s never lost and the other guy’s never pitched,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said before the game. “So, it’s interesting. We’ll see how many rocks Rafael’s got.”
Detroit 7, Baltimore 5
LA Angels 3, Philadelphia 0
Kansas City 3, Colorado 2
Chicago White Sox 4, Oakland 2
Tampa Bay 2, Seattle 0
Washington 5, Arizona 1
San Francisco 10, Atlanta 4
Cleveland 15, Toronto 4
Pittsburgh 4, Milwaukee 1
Boston 9, Minnesota 4
Miami 13, LA Dodgers 3
Chicago Cubs at St. Louis ppd.
San Diego at Cincinnati ppd.