ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — Yordan Alvarez and LaMonte Wade Jr. delivered early power and Peter Lambert kept the Texas Rangers in check for six innings as the Houston Astros defeated the Texas Rangers 9-3 on Saturday night at Globe Life Park.

The Astros, who lost the series opener 7-3 on Friday, improved to 47-50. The Rangers dropped to 48-47 before a crowd of 37,318.

Houston struck first in the top of the first inning. Jeremy Peña reached on a one-out single to second baseman Nicky Lopez, who then made a throwing error that allowed Peña to advance to second. Alvarez followed by crushing his 31st home run of the season to center field, scoring Peña and giving Houston a 2-0 lead. Isaac Paredes doubled but was stranded as Christian Walker struck out, Jose Altuve grounded out and LaMonte Wade Jr. struck out on a foul tip.

Texas threatened in the bottom of the first when Josh Jung was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Brandon Nimmo struck out swinging to end the inning.

The score remained 2-0 until the top of the third, when Houston broke the game open. After Peña lined out to left, Alvarez doubled to right field. Paredes walked, and Walker struck out for the second time. Altuve singled sharply to left to load the bases. Wade Jr. then hit a grand slam to right field, his second home run of the season, scoring Alvarez, Paredes and Altuve to make it 6-0. Yainer Diaz followed with a double, but Taylor Trammell lined out to end the inning.

Houston added a run in the fourth when Christian Vázquez led off with a homer to left-center field, his fifth, pushing the lead to 7-0.

Texas got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. After Nimmo struck out and Jake Burger flied out, Ezequiel Duran hit a solo home run to right-center field, his ninth, cutting the deficit to 7-1.

Both teams’ offenses stalled through the middle innings. Houston loaded the bases again in the sixth when Peña was hit by a pitch and Alvarez walked for the second time, but Paredes flied out to end the threat. Rangers starter Kumar Rocker worked 5 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and seven earned runs while striking out six. He fell to 2-8 on the season.

Lambert, meanwhile, scattered four hits and one run over six innings, striking out six and walking two. He improved to 8-5.

Houston added two more runs in the top of the ninth off Rangers reliever Robby Ahlstrom, who had pitched a scoreless eighth. Paredes singled to center, and Walker doubled to left field, putting runners at second and third. Cam Smith then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Paredes and moving Walker to third. Nick Allen was called out on strikes after a challenge confirmed the pitch result, ending the inning with Houston leading 9-1.

Texas mounted a rally in the bottom of the ninth. Cam Cauley singled to left, and Justin Foscue struck out. Duran then hit his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to left field, bringing the score to 9-3. Evan Carter singled but was stranded when Nicky Lopez and Elias Díaz struck out swinging to end the game.

The game lasted 2 hours 56 minutes.

Key offensive performances included Alvarez with a home run, a double and two walks, and Wade Jr. with the grand slam. Duran led Texas with two home runs and three RBIs. Cauley went 1-for-1 in a pinch-hit appearance. Among the Rangers’ regulars, Jake Burger, Joc Pederson, Nicky Lopez, Josh Jung and Brandon Nimmo combined to go 0-for-16 with seven strikeouts. Justin Foscue went 0-for-1 as a pinch hitter.

On the pitching side, Ahlstrom recorded a scoreless inning with no hits and no earned runs for Texas.

The series concludes Sunday. Houston’s next 10 games include a return to Arlington for the finale, then home series against Baltimore and Miami, followed by a road trip to Chicago. Texas will host Houston on Sunday before traveling to Atlanta for a three-game set, then returning home to face the Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Texas Rangers 6, Houston Astros 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Texas with a 53.40 percent probability to win. Texas had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 12 went under the over-under line of 8.5.