Teng turns heads with 5 scoreless frames in Lone Star Series 

HOUSTON -- Kai-Wei Teng continued to make his case as Houston’s best offseason acquisition by throwing five scoreless innings, and the Astros clubbed a season-high-tying four home runs to beat the Rangers, 4-1, on Saturday night at Daikin Park.

Teng, making his third start of the season, allowed two singles, four walks and struck out seven batters to lower his ERA to 2.61. Astros starters Spencer Arrighetti (7 1/3 innings) and Teng have combined to throw 12 1/3 scoreless innings in the first two games of the series against Texas -- the first time this season Houston has had back-to-back scoreless starts.

Jose Altuve began the first inning with his 42nd career leadoff homer, giving him 37 career regular-season homers against the Rangers, which is the most he’s hit against any team in his career. Yordan Alvarez crushed his team-leading 15th homer of the season two batters later.

Altuve left the game after grounding into a double play in the eighth inning while holding his left side. There was no immediate word on his condition.

The solo homer barrage continued when Christian Walker led off the fourth inning with his 11th, and rookie Zach Cole hit a solo homer to right field with two outs in the inning for a 4-0 Houston lead. The four homers allowed tied the career high for Rangers starter Jacob deGrom. He previously gave up four against the Cardinals on July 7, 2017.

Teng, acquired in a January trade from the Giants, began the season in the bullpen before making his first start of the season April 28 at Baltimore. He’s now started consecutive games for the first time this season and threw a season-high 76 pitches on Saturday. Last year, he pitched eight games last year for the Giants, starting seven.

Teng was one of seven pitchers the Astros acquired on the offseason and has rivaled Sunday starter Peter Lambert (2-3, 2.76 ERA) for Houston’s best offseason acquisition, especially with Tatsuya Imai posting a 9.24 ERA in 12 2/3 innings and Mike Burrows with a 5.72 ERA in a team-high 50 1/3 innings.