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 Wednesday.
Maldonado hit a two-run double in the first and later homered as the AL West-leading Astros wrapped up their seventh consecutive series victory against their instate division rival.
Garcia (4-5) struck out nine without a walk over six innings while limiting Texas to two runs and four hits.
Garcia 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.