Wade Jr.'s Grand Slam Buries Texas; Astros Roll 9-3
LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a 400-foot grand slam in the third inning that swung Texas's win probability from 28% to 7%, and the Rangers never recovered. Houston pounded out a 9-3 final behind four home runs and a gem from Peter Lambert.
The Astros wasted no time. Yordan Alvarez opened the scoring in the first with a 425-foot shot to center that scored Peña, putting Houston up 2-0 before Texas could blink. Kumar Rocker was already in trouble, and the third inning finished him off. With Alvarez, Paredes, and Altuve all on base, Wade Jr. unloaded a 400-foot blast to right — a grand slam that pushed the lead to 6-0 and, in the process, collapsed Texas's win probability from 28% all the way down to 7%. That was the ballgame, functionally speaking. Christian Vázquez added a solo shot to left center in the fourth to make it 7-0, and Rocker's night ended at 5.2 innings having allowed 7 earned runs on 8 hits.
Peter Lambert was the story on the mound for Houston. He went 6.0 innings, surrendered just 3 hits and 1 earned run, walked one, and struck out 7. That's the kind of outing that makes a six-run cushion feel like ten. Ezequiel Duran gave Texas fans something to watch — he homered to right center in the fourth to get the Rangers on the board, and he went deep again in the ninth, a 372-foot shot to left that scored Cauley and made it 9-3. His final line: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI. On a night when his team got blown out, Duran looks like the one Ranger who showed up to compete.
The ninth inning was a strange coda. Houston tacked on runs via a balk — Paredes scored — and a sacrifice fly from Smith that scored Walker, pushing the lead to 9-1 before Duran's two-run homer closed the gap cosmetically to 9-3. AJ Blubaugh handled the final two innings for Houston, allowing 3 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 4. The final score flatters Texas slightly; this one was over by the third. Alvarez finished 2-for-3 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Paredes went 2-for-4 and crossed the plate twice. Houston's lineup top to bottom appears to be operating at a level Texas simply couldn't match on this Saturday night.