Astros 2 immaculate innings, Maldonado 3 RBIs to beat Texas

By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Baseball Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — 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. 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. Those were the first three batters Maton faced after replacing Garcia to start the seventh. And Maton also recorded a nine-pitch, three-strikeout inning. Astros and Rangers officials said it was the first time in MLB history to have two nine-pitch, three-strikeout innings in the same game — either both by one team, or each team recording one.