ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — The Houston Astros threw a combined no-hitter and routed the Texas Rangers 9-0 on Monday night at Globe Life Park, rebounding from a shutout loss to the same opponent just over a week ago.

Tatsuya Imai earned the win, allowing no hits over five innings while striking out five and walking four. He was backed by an offense that pounded out 10 hits and capitalized on two seventh-inning errors by shortstop Michael Helman. Kumar Rocker took the loss, giving up four earned runs on four hits over five innings with five strikeouts.

The Astros, who had lost 8-0 to the Rangers on May 17, improved to 24-31. Texas dropped to 24-29 and lost its fourth straight game.

Houston opened the scoring in the first inning. Jeremy Peña was hit by a pitch, moved to third on Isaac Paredes’ groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly by Yordan Alvarez. The Astros made it 2-0 in the fourth when Alvarez led off with a line-drive home run to center field, his 16th of the season.

The game remained tight until the fifth inning, when Houston added two runs. Zach Dezenzo walked, Nick Allen singled, and Christian Vázquez bunted for a single, scoring Dezenzo. Peña followed with a sharp single to right field that brought home Allen. The Astros left the bases loaded when Christian Walker struck out, but the lead grew to 4-0.

The decisive moment came in the seventh inning. Vázquez led off with a single, Peña was hit by a pitch, and after two outs, Walker launched a three-run home run to left-center field, his 15th of the season. The blast scored Vázquez, Peña and Walker, making it 7-0.

The Astros then added two more runs without a hit. Jake Meyers reached on an error by Helman, Cam Smith reached on another throwing error by Helman, and Brice Matthews singled to load the bases. Nick Allen then singled to left field, driving in Meyers and Smith and extending the lead to 9-0.

Rangers pitchers Peyton Gray and Sam Haggerty combined to allow five runs over the final three innings, but the damage was done. Gray surrendered three earned runs on five hits in two innings, striking out two. Haggerty pitched a scoreless ninth.

For Texas, the offense never got going. The Rangers put only five runners on base — all via walks — and never advanced a runner past third base. Andrew McCutchen went 0 for 3, Evan Carter 0 for 2, Alejandro Osuna 0 for 3, Joc Pederson 0 for 3, Justin Foscue 0 for 3, Danny Jansen 0 for 3 and Jake Burger 0 for 1.

Houston’s defense turned two double plays, both started by second baseman Nick Allen, who also had two hits. Imai, a right-hander, improved to 2-2 on the season.

The Astros have won four of their last five games, including a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. They outscored the Cubs 15-7 in that series. Texas, meanwhile, has lost four straight after being swept by the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim.

The two teams continue the four-game series Tuesday night at Globe Life Park. Houston then hosts Milwaukee for a three-game set beginning Friday, while Texas returns home to face Kansas City.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Houston 5, Texas 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Texas a 55.30 percent probability to win. Texas was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total of nine runs went under the over-under line of 8.5.