The Rangers beat the Astros again and extend the lead

Houston— Jonah Heim homered, Nathan Eovaldi pitched six effective innings and the Texas Rangers They beat the Dominican Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros 5-4 on Monday, to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.

Cuban Adolis Garcia, Mitch Garver and Nathaniel Lowe each hit an RBI single during the first inning, in which Texas generated four runs against Valdez, and Dominican Jose Leclerc closed the game for the Rangers after Cuban Yordan Alvarez sparked an Astros rally.

Eovaldi fanned nine, including a pair of straight strikeouts after Houston loaded the bases with one out in the fifth. They charged him with three runs and five hits in his third victory of this postseason.

The Rangers improved to 7-0 in the playoffs, including six road wins. They swept the Rays in the Wild Card Series, the Orioles in the Division Series and later beat the Astros 2-0 in the first of the American League Championship Series.

Game 3, of the series to win four of seven, will be Wednesday night in Arlington.

Alvarez hit a pair of solo home runs to become the sixth player in Major League history to record two multi-homer games in a postseason. The second was against Cuban Aroldis Chapman, shortening Houston’s deficit to 5-4 two two out in the eighth.