The Texas Rangers seemingly have run out of answers for Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, who has dominated the first three contests of the four-game series between the teams.

Alvarez has homered twice in back-to-back games for the Astros, who have won two of the three contests heading into the series finale on Thursday night in Arlington, Texas.

With five home runs in his last three games, Alvarez is tied with Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox for the American League lead with 20 homers.

Alvarez hit a tie-breaking solo homer in the eighth inning on Wednesday as Houston recorded its fifth win in the past six games, 4-3.

In the ninth inning, the Rangers intentionally walked Alvarez with a runner on first.

“What’s Yordan is doing is next level,” Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena said. “He’s not just hitting home runs, but it’s the at-bats that he takes, the approach, his ability to square up every single pitch and hit it over 110 (mph). It’s pretty impressive to watch.”

Alvarez is the fifth player in franchise history to hit at least two homers in consecutive games, joining Jose Altuve (2023), Richard Hidalgo (2000), Moises Alou (2000) and Doug Rader (1973).

Alvarez is batting .312 this season, with 39 RBIs and a .663 slugging percentage.

“I mean, it’s hard to put into words (what Yordan is doing),” Houston pitcher Mike Burrows said. “He’s truly incredible. Incredible hitter, incredible outfielder, and incredible teammate. We can always count on him, and that’s great.”

Texas’ Joc Pederson matched Alvarez’s effort on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with a pair of solo homers. Pederson has gone deep three times in his last two games for Texas, which has lost five of its last six.

The pitching matchup for the series finale will feature a pair of right-handers as Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti (6-1, 1.32 ERA) faces the Rangers’ Nathan Eovaldi (5-5, 3.65).

Arrighetti, 26, continued his breakout season by pitching five scoreless innings in a 4-2 road victory over the Chicago Cubs last Friday. He earned the win despite issuing four walks and hitting two batters.

Arrighetti is the first Houston pitcher with an ERA of 1.32 or better through his first seven starts of a season since Justin Verlander (1.13) in 2018.

Arrighetti will face the Rangers for the second time this month after allowing one hit over 7 1/3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 home win on May 15. He is 1-0 with an ERA of 0.68 in two career outings vs. Texas.

The Rangers will counter with Eovaldi, who has allowed a total of four runs over his last four starts covering 29 innings. The 36-year-old yielded three runs over seven frames in a 5-2 road loss to the Los Angeles Angels last Saturday.

Alvarez is 12-for-23 (.522) with two home runs against Eovaldi, who is 5-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 15 career starts vs. Houston.

Texas made a roster change on Wednesday, designating former National League MVP Andrew McCutchen for assignment and signing utility infielder Nicky Lopez, who went 0-for-3 in his debut.

“We’re at a point where given the injuries (in the infield), Nicky gives us another option and provides some versatility, which is needed right now, given where we are,” Texas president of baseball operations Chris Young said.

McCutchen, 39, who won the MVP Award with Pittsburgh in 2013, was batting only .192 in 37 games this season, with one homer and five RBIs.

–Field Level Media

Top-seeded Jannik Sinner was one game away from advancing to the third round of the French Open on Thursday before it all fell apart.

Clearly struggling with the heat, Sinner squandered two chances to serve for the match before Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo ended his 30-match win streak with a 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 victory in the clay courts at Roland Garrosin Paris.

Sinner, 24, was seeking his first French Open win, which would have given him the career Grand Slam.

The win seemed inevitable when Sinner jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set. But he lost seven of the next eight games despite chances to win.

With his clothes soaked through with sweat, Sinner bent over on the court and walked to his chair while serving for the match at 5-4 (0-40) in the third set. The Italian left the court and returned with an ice pack. His play went cold, however, losing the game and mustering just two more wins during the rest of the match.

“It’s tough for him,” Cerundolo said of Sinner. “I couldn’t win more than three games in a set, so I was a little bit lucky. He deserved to win this match, and then I don’t know what happened. But I feel sorry for him and hope he recovers.”

The temperature at the start of the match was 84 degrees Fahrenheit. It rose to 90 as the match progressed.

Cerundolo, 24, advanced into the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career. He will next face either Spaniard Martin Landaluce or Czech player Vit Kopriva.

–Field Level Media

Bryson DeChambeau and Charles Howell III battled to the end last year at LIV Golf Korea and picked up where they left off on Thursday, with Sam Vincent joining them for the ride.

The three players each recorded a 5-under-par 65 to spring the top of the leaderboard of this season’s Korea event at Asiad Country Club in Busan, South Korea. They have a one-stroke lead over Ian Poulter, Joaquin Niemann and Thomas Pieters, with four players two shots back and a packed group of 12 at 2-under par.

Vincent built his round on five birdies, including two of his final three holes, while defending champion DeChambeau and Howell had some ups and downs.

DeChambeau made the turn at 5-under and added a birdie at No. 10. But he played the final eight at 1-over with bogeys at holes 13 and 15 and a birdie at 16.

Howell, DeChambeau’s Crushers GC teammate, played the first five holes at even par and followed with an adventure of an eagle, two birdies and two bogeys to reach 3-under. He made birdie on the final two holes to finish in the three-way tie.

Although DeChambeau couldn’t keep the pace of his sizzling first 10 holes, he nonetheless was pleased with his play on an unfamiliar course. LIV Golf Korea was held at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in Incheon in 2025.

“I guess Charles and I love Korea. We both played well today, played well last year,” DeChambeau said.

“It’s a tricky golf course. … If you’re strategic and you execute good shots, you can make some birdies. Your ball-striking has to be premier; you can’t fake it around here.”

DeChambeau said his round was impacted by the bogeys on the par-3 13th hole, where his drive overshot the green and left him to three-putt and at 15. At that par-5, 601-yard hole, his second shot landed in the water.

“I felt like being 6-under through 10, I felt like something special was happening, and I simmered off, but still played some great golf. Surprised that I didn’t go deeper,” he said.

Behind DeChambeau and Howell, Crushers took the team lead at 10-under, three strokes ahead of OKGC. That was a mixed blessing for Howell.

“Well, team-wise, it’s wonderful. Individual-wise, it’s terrible. Team-wise I love him up there at the top. Individually I wish he was at the bottom,” Howell said.

“Obviously Bryson, more weeks than not, he plays extremely well, and if my name is near his, I’m usually doing something pretty good.”

Vincent shot the only bogey-free round of the day to give him a share of the lead for the first time in his LIV career. He is temporarily part of the HyFlyers team in the absence of captain Phil Mickelson.

“I don’t know what it is, but the second I joined them (HyFlyers), my game just went up,” Vincent, of New Zealand, said. “It’s been amazing.”

The three leaders will be paired together on Saturday.

The group that stands two shots back includes Sergio Garcia of Spain and Australia’s Cam Smith.

Jon Rahm of Spain finished at even par Thursday in a tie for 27th.

–Field Level Media