EditorsNote: Adds Astros' playoff opponent in Graf 5; other minor edits
Rougned Odor hit a pair of home runs and the Texas Rangers parlayed a five-run fourth inning into an 8-4 victory over the Houston Astros and a win of the four-game series in Arlington, Texas.
Texas (22-38) trailed 3-1 before Odor smacked a three-run home run to right field off Astros right-hander Chase De Jong (0-1) with one out in the fourth. Odor drove home Joey Gallo and Nick Solak, who posted consecutive singles, with the 388-foot shot, his ninth home run of the season.
Odor clubbed his 10th homer an inning later off right-hander Nivaldo Rodriguez, who entered in relief of De Jong with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth. Odor finished 2-for-3 with four RBIs, two runs and a walk.
Rodriguez allowed a two-run single to Leody Taveras as Texas capped the outburst in the fourth that featured 10 batters coming to the plate.
De Jong, making his second start for playoff-bound Houston (29-31), surrendered six runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings. The Astros, who finished 9-23 on the road, will open their American League wild-card series at Minnesota on Tuesday as the sixth seed.
Houston posted its first losing season since 2014 and joined the Milwaukee Brewers (29-31) in becoming the first teams in baseball history to make the postseason with records below .500.
By winning the final three games of the weekend set with Houston, Texas earned a split of the 10-game Lone Star Series. The Astros retained the Silver Boot with a plus-5 run differential.
The Astros claimed a 1-0 lead in the first against Rangers right-hander Jordan Lyles when second baseman Jose Altuve clubbed a 3-2 fastball to left-center for his fifth home run.
Texas' Sam Huff hit an RBI single in the second.
Houston reclaimed its one-run lead when Altuve scored on an Aledmys Diaz run-scoring grounder in the third.
Lyles allowed two runs on four hits and two walks over three innings. He struck out four.
Houston shortstop Carlos Correa extended the lead to 3-1 with his fifth home run, a leadoff shot off Rangers left-hander Wes Benjamin in the fourth. But the Rangers erupted in the bottom of that frame and cruised to victory.
--Field Level Media
