José Altuve homers off Rangers' MacKenzie Gore in Astros' win on 13 Jul

José Altuve crushed a fourth-inning solo home run off MacKenzie Gore on Sunday, helping the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 at Minute Maid Park.

Gore, pitching on short rest after Jacob deGrom’s glute injury, allowed one run on two hits and a walk while striking out four over four innings. The lone tally came on Altuve’s 293rd career homer, a 419-foot blast to left-center that broke a 1-1 tie.

Gore threw 39 of 65 pitches for strikes and limited the damage to Altuve’s solo shot in the fourth. The southpaw entered the game sporting a 4.63 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 105 innings in 20 starts this season.

Sunday’s outing marked Gore’s first appearance since he’d coughed up 12 runs over his previous 10 innings. The Rangers left him with a no-decision as Houston’s bullpen held firm.

Altuve’s blast gave him his 293rd career home run, extending his franchise record. The two-time AL batting champion now owns the most homers in Astros history, surpassing Jeff Bagwell’s 449.

The Astros improved to 51-43 on the season, staying three games back of the division-leading Mariners. Altuve went 1-for-4 with a run scored and a walk.

Gore will return to a normal rest schedule after the All-Star break. His 65-pitch outing could prompt Texas to monitor his workload closely in tight games.

The Rangers (48-46) remain in the wild-card hunt. Next up for Texas is a three-game set at the Angels starting Tuesday.