Alvarez and Caratini homer as Astros beat Rangers 10-5 for a series split after Valdez scratched

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Yordan Alvarez homered for the second game in a row, among his three hits as Houston rallied from an early deficit to beat the Texas Rangers 10-5 on Monday night after Astros scheduled starter Framber Valdez was scratched because of elbow soreness.

No. 9 batter Victor Caratini added a three-run homer as the Astros earned a split in the four-game series that was the first this season between the AL West rivals.

Seth Martinez (1-0) worked 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief as the first of four pitchers after Blair Henley retired only one of the nine batters he faced. Henley's major league debut starting in place of Valdez, who returned to Houston to be evaluated by team doctors.

“We just tried to attack the zone, attack the hitters as best as possible,” said Caratini, the catcher who navigated all of those pitchers. “Then after we tied and took the lead, our biggest goal was for all the pitchers that came in to throw the least amount of pitches as possible.”

Tayler Scott and Brandon Bielak each worked two scoreless innings before Bryan Abreu pitched the ninth.

“Phenomenal job. That was a team win,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We needed those guys to step up, and they did big time.”

The Astros led 2-0 before Henley threw his first pitch, but the 26-year-old from nearby Fort Worth allowed five runs before getting an out on his 34th pitch. His first seven pitches were balls before he allowed three consecutive singles, and then with the bases loaded walked a batter and hit another to force in two runs. Jared Walsh then blooped a two-run single to shallow left to give the World Series champions a 5-2 lead.

“Yeah, there were nerves ... tried to breathe as much as I could,” Henley said. “Just make adjustments is the main key. And when you don’t make adjustments, it ends up piling up on you.”

Alvarez got Houston within 5-4 with his fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot that he pulled 431 feet deep into the seats in right field off Texas starter Andrew Heaney (0-2). Alvarez greeted reliever Brock Burke with an RBI double in the fourth that tied the game at 5-5, and Kyle Tucker immediately followed with a tiebreaking two-run single.

Heaney was charged with six runs over 3 2/3 innings. The left-hander allowed four hits while walking three and striking out two.

“I felt a little off again, but physically I feel fine,” Heaney said. “It’s just frustrating.”

SEE YOU AGAIN REAL SOON

The Rangers and Astros open a three-game series Friday night in Houston, so will play seven of their 13 games against each other in the first 2 1/2 weeks this season. Both teams finished 90-72 last year, but Houston won the AL West title with the head-to-head tiebreaker by going 9-4. The Rangers won the AL pennant after a seven-game American Championship Series against the Astros when the road team won every game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: Manager Joe Espada said RHP Justin Verlander (right shoulder inflammation) “woke up feeling well” a day after throwing 65 pitches for Triple-A Sugar Land in his first rehab start. Verlander will throw on the side Wednesday and make another rehab start in the minors this weekend before rejoining the Astros.

Rangers: Rookie INF Justin Foscue (left oblique strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list, and INF Davis Wendzel had his contract selected from Triple-A Round Rock. 3B Josh Jung (right wrist fracture) was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL.

UP NEXT

Houston opens a three-game series at Kansas City with Cristian Javier (1-0, 0.00 ERA) on the mound Tuesday night.

Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.38) makes his third start of the season for Texas in the series opener at home against Oakland.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy walks through the dugout after the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros' Jeremy Peña (3) and teammate Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrate after Alvarez scored on an Alex Bregman single during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros' Mauricio Dubón, left, José Abreu, center, wait as Victor Caratini, right, crosses home plate after Caratini's three-run home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros' third base coach Gary Pettis (8) high-fives Victor Caratini (17) for hitting a three-run home run off of Texas Rangers pitcher Grant Anderson (65) during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros' Mauricio Dubón (14) rounds third base to score on a three-run home run by Victor Caratini during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Texas Rangers pitcher Andrew Heaney delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros starting pitcher Blair Henley delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros' Jose Altuve (27) and Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrate after scoring on a two-run single from Kyle Tucker during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros second baseman Mauricio Dubón, left, deflects a ground ball hit by Texas Rangers' Wyatt Langford (not shown) during the first inning of baseball game, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

Houston Astros' Victor Caratini (17) and teammate Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrate after Alvarez hit a two-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, April 8, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Gareth Patterson)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks climbed Thursday to trim the majority of their losses for the week.

The S&P 500 rose 45.81 points, or 0.9%, to 5,064.20 a day after swinging sharply when the Federal Reserve said it's likely delaying cuts to interest rates but not planning to hike them. It more than halved its drop for the week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 322.37, or 0.9%, to 38,225.66, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 235.48, or 1.5%, to 15,840.96.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased ahead of a report on Friday from the U.S. government on how many jobs employers added last month. It's one of the most highly anticipated economic reports each month, and economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring.

“The markets will be hungry for any data suggesting the economy isn’t heating up any more than it did in” the first three months of 2024, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. That would give the Fed more leeway to consider cutting rates.

Earnings reports from several big companies helped drive the market higher. Qualcomm rose 9.7% after topping forecasts for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. The tech company also gave forecasted ranges for upcoming revenue and profit whose midpoints topped analysts’ expectations.

Carvana revved 33.8% higher after the used-car seller reported much better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, boosted by better-than-forecast sales.

MGM Resorts International rose 2.8% after likewise topping forecasts for profit and revenue. It credited stronger traffic at MGM China, which ramped up as COVID-19 restrictions fell away in Macau.

Apple climbed 2.2% ahead of its profit report, which arrived after trading ended Thursday. It’s the latest to report among the group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven,” which drove the majority of the market’s gains last year.

They helped to offset a 15.1% drop for Etsy, which only roughly matched analysts’ expectations for results and revenue. It cited a “still challenging” environment where customers broadly are more selective about the non-essentials they’re buying.

DoorDash sank 10.3% after reporting a worse loss than expected. The company, which has been spending more on personnel and research and development, also gave a forecasted range for underlying earning trends in the current quarter whose midpoint fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Peloton Interactive swung from an early gain to a loss of 2.8% after it said it would cut roughly 400 jobs as part of a program to save $200 million in costs annually. It also said its CEO, Barry McCarthy, is stepping down. The company’s stock had fallen to a record low last week.

Linde was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, sinking 5.2%, despite reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than expected. Revenue for the industrial gases and engineering company fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for earnings in the current quarter.

In the bond market, which has been helping to dictate much of the stock market’s movements recently, yields fell following some economic reports.

One showed that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It’s the latest signal that the job market remains solid despite high interest rates.

A separate, potentially more disappointing report suggested growth in how much U.S. workers produced per hour worked was weaker at the start of 2024 than economists expected. A measure comparing labor costs to productivity, meanwhile, rose by more than expected in the preliminary report. That could put upward pressure on inflation.

The economy is in a tight spot, where the hope is that it remains strong enough to stay out of a recession but not so strong that it worsens the already stalled progress on inflation.

Stubbornly high readings on inflation this year are what pushed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to say on Wednesday that it will likely take “longer than previously expected” to get enough confidence about inflation to cut interest rates.

The Fed’s main interest rate has been sitting at its highest level since 2001, and cuts would release some pressure on the economy and financial markets.

After coming into the year forecasting six or more cuts to rates in 2024, traders are now largely betting on just one or two, if any, according to data from CME Group.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.58% from 4.63% late Wednesday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, fell to 4.88% from 4.97%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Asia and Europe. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.5%, while other markets in China were closed for a holiday.

AP writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm as pedestrians are reflected on a glass window Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)