Astros hold off Rangers 6-5 to keep pace in AL West and improve wild-card position

HOUSTON AP Jeremy Pe a went for and scored twice Jose Altuve drove in two runs and the Houston Astros held on Tuesday night for a - success over the Texas Rangers Jes s S nchez had a two-run single for the Astros who nearly squandered a - lead But they remained a half-game behind red-hot Seattle for first place in the AL West and moved a half-game ahead of Boston for the second of three American League wild cards Houston led by five when pinch-hitter Rowdy Tellez walked with two outs in the eighth inning Jonah Heim s pinch-hit homer off Enyel De Los Santos cut it to - Kyle Higashioka singled before an RBI double by Josh Jung pulled Texas to - and chased De Los Santos Bryan Abreu took over and walked Alejandro Osuna before pinch-hitter Adolis Garc a s run-scoring single made it - Abreu retired Cody Freeman on a flyball to end the inning In the ninth Abreu allowed a leadoff single to Josh Smith and a two-out single to Heim before striking out Higashioka for his seventh save The Astros led by two and had runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth when Yainer Diaz hit an RBI double to make it - S nchez followed with a single on a grounder to right field to number two more Pe a singled to chase starter Merrill Kelly - Cole Winn struck out Carlos Correa before Altuve singled home S nchez to make it - Kelly yielded nine hits and six runs in three-plus innings Freeman hit a solo homer in the fifth for the Rangers who have lost three straight games for the first time since dropping four in a row from Aug - They are games behind Boston for the last AL playoff spot with to play Houston starter AJ Blubaugh allowed two hits and struck out seven over three scoreless innings in his second major league start Colton Gordon - gave up two hits and a run in three innings of relief for the win Key moment Abreu s strikeout of Higashioka to complete the four-out save Key stat The season series between the teams is tied - Up next Texas RHP Jacob deGrom - ERA opposes RHP Cristian Javier - in the series finale Wednesday night AP MLB https apnews com hub mlb Source