Astros' bats chase Rangers ace Max Scherzer out of Houston's series finale win in Arlington

ARLINGTON, Texas (KTRK) -- What was expected to be a pitchers' duel between two generational arms became another night where the Houston Astros punished the Texas Rangers with the longball.

Jose Abreu accounted for seven runs batted in off of his first grand slam as an Astro and a ninth-inning home run to help Houston demolish Texas, 12-3, to complete a road sweep in Arlington on Wednesday night.

Abreu also accounted for two of the five home runs launched by the Astros in the series finale. The 'Stros became the latest team in the majors to hit more than five homers in three consecutive games.

Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer gave up early home runs, including a two-run shot by Yordan Alvarez, a solo round-tripper by Michael Brantley, and Abreu's grand slam, to put his team in an early hole. Scherzer was pulled after the third inning.

Chas McCormick, who came in as a defensive replacement for Brantley, launched a solo home run of his own also in the ninth inning.

The Astros' starting pitcher, Justin Verlander, threw a solid outing with healthy run support. He allowed four hits and struck out six batters on 100 pitches across seven innings.

Houston outscored Texas, 39-10, in this final regular season series with the Rangers, with whom they may meet in the postseason.

With the win, the Astros maintained a one-game lead over the Seattle Mariners, who defeated Cincinnati on Wednesday, for the top spot in the AL West. Houston also padded its lead in the division over the Rangers to three games.

Wednesday's series finale in Arlington was touted as a big first-time matchup between award-winning, shutdown pitchers.

Ahead of the faceoff, the Associated Press highlighted how the former multi-Cy Young Award winners handled things during their short-lived time with the New York Mets, who dealt both star pitchers at the trade deadline.

JV admitted that their split earlier in their careers when they both pitched for the Detroit Tigers wasn't in the best terms.

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"I think it was a bit blown out of proportion, but there was some tension there," Verlander said about the Detroit days. "I think we both decided to make an effort coming in to rekindle and to just move past that. Nobody needed to say anything. It was just, 'All right, we're better than that. Let's make an effort to be friends.' And we did. We really connected over a lot of things."

'Sharing is caring'

A poor batter doesn't blame his tools. He simply borrows one from his teammate.

That was the revelation shared to Astros fans in the middle of Houston's 14-1 blowout win over Texas on Tuesday.

During the game telecast, Astros on-field reporter Julia Morales gave a tale from the clubhouse involving bats belonging to utility player Mauricio Dubon.

According to Morales, who held one of Dubon's bats, the Honduras native had some extra wood at his disposal, and it was stars Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña who took hold of "Dubie's" tools.

She explained there's not really any major issue with Alvarez and Peña's bats or how they're swinging. They simply wanted to make a change to turnaround a hitting slump.

So, yes, superstition is the cause, and by the looks of the Astros' two games in Arlington this week, perhaps everyone is using Dubon's bats.

Houston registered a combined 36 hits, including 11 home runs, during its two wins over the Rangers. Alvarez and Peña collected three hits each on Tuesday, including a homer by the former.

This type of offensive magic might be unsurprising coming from Dubon, who put his Harry Potter fandom on display during the offseason.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.