HOUSTON — Jonah Heim homered, Nathan Eovaldi pitched six effective innings and the Texas Rangers beat Framber Valdez and Houston Astros 5-4 on Monday for a 2-0 lead in the AL Championship Series.
Adolis García, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe each hit an RBI single during Texas' four-run first inning against Valdez, and José Leclerc closed it out for the Rangers after Yordan Alvarez powered an Astros rally.
Eovaldi struck out nine, including two in a row after Houston loaded the bases with none out in the fifth. He was charged with three runs and five hits in his third win this postseason.
The Rangers improved to 7-0 in the playoffs, including six wins on the road. They swept the Rays in the Wild Card Series and the Orioles in the Division Series and then posted a 2-0 win at Houston in the ALCS opener.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night in Arlington.
Alvarez hit two solo home runs to become the sixth player in MLB history to have two multihomer games in one postseason. The second one was off Aroldis Chapman, trimming Houston's deficit to 5-4 with two out in the eighth.
Leclerc then came in and walked José Abreu and Michael Brantley, but Chas McCormick grounded out to end the threat.
Jeremy Peña flied out to deep right field for the first out in the Houston ninth. Yainer Diaz then grounded out and Jose Altuve flied to center, giving Leclerc his second save of the series.
The Astros, who went 39-42 at home in the regular season, continued to struggle at Minute Maid Park. The defending champions fell to 1-3 at home in the playoffs this season.
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The Rangers jumped all over Valdez. Semien smacked the first pitch to center field for a single. Corey Seager sent his next pitch to left field for another single before Valdez made two errors on the same play on a ball hit by Robbie Grossman.
Valdez bobbled a chopper hit by Grossman for an error that allowed him to reach first and Semien to score. His second error occurred when he badly overthrew first to move Grossman to second and Seager to third.
Valdez put his hands on his knees and shook his head at the end of the play.
García then hit a liner to right field to score Seager. Garver singled home another run before Valdez finally got his first out when he struck out Heim.
The Rangers weren’t done yet.
Lowe singled on a ground ball to left to make it 4-0. Valdez retired the next two batters to end the inning.
Alex Bregman also connected for the Astros, who went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Alvarez, who is dealing with an illness, looked much better than he did in Game 1 when he went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
Valdez (0-2) allowed seven hits and five runs — four earned — in 2 2/3 innings in his second loss this postseason. He also took the loss in Game 2 of the Division Series against Minnesota.
The Astros missed a huge opportunity in the fifth. Brantley and McCormick hit back-to-back singles to open the inning before Peña reached on an error by third baseman Josh Jung.
But Eovaldi escaped the jam by striking out pinch-hitter Diaz and Altuve before Bregman grounded out.
Alvarez walked with one out in the sixth before scoring on a two-out double by Brantley. Alvarez also hit a leadoff homer in the second into the second deck in right field.
Heim homered high off the wall in left field to push the lead to 5-1 with no outs in the third.
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Max Scherzer will start for Texas in Game 3 after sitting out since Sept. 12 because of a muscle strain in his shoulder. It will be the fifth different team that the three-time Cy Young Award winner has pitched for in the postseason.
The Astros haven’t announced their starter.
First inning
Texas 4, Houston 0
Marcus Semien singled on the first pitch of the game and Corey Seager reached on a bloop single to left on the second pitch. Robbie Grossman hit a ground ball to Valdez, who threw the ball away trying to get Grossman at first. Semien scored, Seager moved up to third and Grossman got to second.
Adolis García singled to right on the first pitch he saw making it 2-0 Rangers still with no outs.
Mitch Garver singled to left to make it 3-0.
Jonah Heim struck out swinging. Nathaniel Lowe singled through the left side to make it 4-0.
Josh Jung struck out swinging and Leody Taveras flew out to center to end the inning.
Jose Altuve flew out to right field for the first out of the home half of the first. Alex Bregman grounded out to third on the first pitch he saw and Kyle Tucker lined out to first to end it.
Second inning
Texas 4, Houston 1
Semien singled on the first pitch he saw for the second time in the game. Seager struck out swinging and Grossman grounded into a fielder's choice for the second out. García got hit in the foot but Valdez got Garver swinging to end the inning.
Yordan Alvarez connected on a solo homer to right to get Houston on the board.
José Abreu grounded out for the first out. Michael Brantley went down looking and Jung made a great play on Chas McCormick's grounder for the final out of the frame.
Third inning
Texas 5, Houston 1
Valdez remained in the game and Heim homered to the Crawford Boxes to get the run right back.
Lowe and Jung struck out swinging for the first two outs of the inning. Taveras worked a walk and that marked the end of Valdez's day. Rafael Montero came in and got Semien to strike out to end the inning.
Jeremy Peña flew out to right, Martín Maldonado struck out swinging and Altuve grounded out to short to end the frame.
Fourth inning
Texas 5, Houston 2
McCormick made a diving play on Seager's liner for the first out of the fourth. Evan Carter entered the game as a pinch hitter for Grossman and flew out to left for the second out. García struck out swinging to end the top half of the inning.
Bregman homered to left to open the home half of the fourth inning.
Tucker popped out on the infield for the first out. Alvarez went down looking and Abreu struck out swinging to end the inning.
Fifth inning
Texas 5, Houston 2
J.P. France relieved Montero to start the inning and got Garver to foul out for the first out. Heim flew out to right field and Lowe flew out to center to end the inning.
Brantley singled to lead off the inning. McCormick followed with another single, bringing up Peña, who reached on an error by Jung to load the bases. Yainer Díaz came on as a pinch hitter for Maldonado but went down swinging for the first out of the inning. Altuve also went down swinging before Bregman grounded out to end the inning.
Sixth inning
Texas 5, Houston 3
France stayed in the game to face Jung in the sixth and got him to line out to center for the first out. Taveras tripled to center but Semien lined into a double play to end the inning.
Tucker opened the home half of the sixth with a swinging strikeout. Alvarez worked a walk but Abreu struck out swinging for the second out. Brantley then doubled home Alvarez to make it 5-3.
McCormick struck out swinging to end the inning.
Seventh inning
Texas 5, Houston 3
France got Seager swinging for the first out. Carter worked a walk, which ended France's night. Phil Maton came on in relief and got García to ground out for the second out. Garver grounded out for the last out of the inning.
Josh Sborz relieved Eovaldi to start the inning and face Peña, who grounded out for the first out. Díaz grounded out for the second out and Altuve struck out looking to end the inning.
Eighth inning
Texas 5, Houston 4
Bryan Abreu relieved Maton in the eighth. Heim went down swinging, Lowe popped out and Jung struck out swinging to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman relieved Sborz in the eighth and got Bregman to pop out on the first pitch he threw. Tucker grounded out but Alvarez hit a solo homer to right to make it a one-run game.
José Leclerc was called in from the bullpen to replace Chapman to face José Abreu, who worked a five-pitch walk. Brantley also walked, bringing up McCormick, who grounded out to end the inning.
Ninth inning
Texas 5, Houston 4
Ryan Pressly came on to start the ninth and walked Taveras on four pitches. A wild pitch during Semien's at-bat moved Taveras to second. Pressly bounced back to get Semien swinging and Seager to ground out for the first two outs of the frame. Carter grounded out to end the top of the ninth.
Leclerc remained in the game to face Peña, who lined out to the right-field wall for the first out. Díaz grounded out for the second out and Altuve flew out to end the game.