ARLINGTON, Texas _ The first career home run for prospect Willie Calhoun quickly became an afterthought Wednesday afternoon after the Houston Astros scored seven runs in the sixth inning in another lopsided win over the Texas Rangers, this time 12-2.
The Rangers have been swept in consecutive three-game series and are assured of finishing the season with a sub-.500 record. The Rangers were outscored 37-7 by the American League West champs.
Calhoun took Justin Verlander out to right field in the second inning for his first big-league long ball. That cut the Astros' lead to 2-1 early on, and Drew Robinson's solo shot off Verlander in the fifth made it 4-2.
But the Astros piled on in the fifth against Nick Martinez and Tony Barnette, who surrendered a grand slam to George Springer and a two-run shot to Carlos Correa.
Martinez wasn't hit hard, save for Correa's first homer of the game, but he was hit often. He allowed six runs in five-plus innings, though two scored in the sixth after Barnette allowed two inherited runners to score. Barnette recorded one out in the sixth while allowing five runs. Austin Bibens-Dirkx allowed one run over 12/3 innings, and Keone Kela had the best inning by a Rangers pitcher with a 1-2-3 eighth. Jake Diekman followed suit in the ninth.
Calhoun connected for the first homer of his career and the first multi-hit game of his career. He, Elvis Andrus and Delino DeShields had two hits apiece for the Rangers. Andrus is batting .300 with four games remaining. Robinson connected in the fifth for his sixth homer of the season.
