Arlington, Texas — Astros starter Luis Garcia and reliever Phil Maton each threw an immaculate inning — nine pitches, three strikeouts — and Martín Maldonado keyed a six-run first inning that sent Houston over the Texas Rangers 9-2 on Wednesday.
Maldonado hit a two-run double in the first and later homered for the AL West-leading Astros.
Garcia (4-5) struck out nine without a walk over six innings while limiting Texas to two runs and four hits. He had a span of five consecutive strikeouts that began with an immaculate second inning — when he threw only nine pitches to strike out Nathaniel Lowe, Ezequiel Duran and Brad Miller.