Josh Smith game-ending HR for Rangers in 4-3 win after Astros go ahead on consecutive hit batters

ARLINGTON, Texcas (AP) — Josh Smith hit his first game-ending homer at any level, and it came for the Texas Rangers against the Houston Astros in the opener of the final series this season between the AL West rivals and last two World Series champions.

Smith pulled a 410-foot homer into the right-center seats with two outs in the 10th Monday night to give the Rangers a 4-3 win after Houston had gone ahead in the top of the inning when consecutive batters were hit by pitches.

“That's pretty cool, and then to do it against the rival and division team is pretty sweet,” Smith said of his homer. "To do in that situation against that team with where we’re at right now is pretty important”

Corey Seager hit his 23rd homer, his fourth in four games, with two outs in the eighth for the defending champion Rangers (54-59), who moved five games within AL West-leading and idle Seattle. They are 8 1/2 games back for a wild-card spot.

“The excitement speaks for it all. You know that’s how the team feels right now. It almost feels like a weight lifted off our shoulders. You know, you get to exhale a little bit,” said Seager, who was on deck when Smith went deep. “So really cool swing out of him, and something we really needed.”

That game-ending blast off Caleb Ferguson (1-4) made a winner out of All-Star closer Kirby Yates (4-1), who in the top of the 10th hit consecutive batters with pitches, the first a disputed play, to force in a go-ahead run.

Texas had intentionally walked slugger Yordan Alvarez with one out before Yainer Diaz checked his swing and claimed he was hit on the hand by the pitch. The Rangers challenged when home plate umpire Will Little granted the base, but the call stood on replay review. Yates then hit Jeremy Peña with a pitch to force in a run.

“I don't think you can have two bigger home runs of what we got late,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “Those big home runs and and really, you look at Kirby that game. It could have gotten away there in the 10th inning. But kept his poise and got the next two guys out to keep it a one-run ballgame.”

Houston (57-55), the 2022 champ, is 1 1/2 games behind the Mariners after twice giving up the lead against the Rangers.

“That’s baseball. Sometimes you got to tip your hat," said Alex Bregman, who homered for the Astros. “Seager took a really good swing on a good pitch and Smith took a great swing as well.”

Texas took a 6-5 lead in the season series with two games remaining. They both finished with 90 wins last year, and Houston was declared the AL West champion on the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning nine of 13 games during the regular season, and made Texas a wild card.

The Astros led 2-1 in the eighth when Peña drove in a run with a slow, two-hop infield single with the bases loaded against reliever David Robertson, who then struck out the last two batters.

The Astros were 1 for 7 with five strikeouts with the bases loaded from the seventh inning until the end of the game.

Both starting pitchers, Houston’s Hunter Brown and Texas lefty Andrew Heaney, struck out four while giving up only one run over six innings.

Heaney pitched one-hit ball in his six innings, that hit being Bregman's 15th homer for a 1-0 lead in the third. Heaney allowed only two other base runners, on a walk and hit batter, but neither got past first base.

When José Leclerc replaced Heaney to start the seventh, Houston had a walk, hit and sacrifice bunt. Andrew Chafin, acquired in a trade last week, entered with a four-pitch walk to load the bases before consecutive strikeouts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: Justin Verlander, who hasn't pitched since June 9 because of neck stiffness, will throw a bullpen session this week. A rehab assignment should follow if all goes well for the three-time Cy Young Award winner.

UP NEXT

RHP Tyler Mahle makes his Rangers debut, pitching for the first time since Tommy John surgery in May 2023. Texas signed him to a $22 million, two-year deal in free agency last December, knowing he had to rehab for much of this season. Astros lefty Framber Valdez faces the Rangers for the time since losing to them twice in last year's AL Championship Series.

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Texas Rangers' Josh Jung celebrates towards his team's dugout after hitting a double during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Houston Astros' Alex Bregman (2) is congratulated in his dugout after hitting a solo home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Andrew Heaney throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Texas Rangers' Josh Jung hits a double during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Texas Rangers' Nathaniel Lowe runs across home plate to score a run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Texas Rangers' Josh Smith celebrates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run during the tenth inning against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Texas Rangers' Josh Smith, right, runs the bases after hitting a two-run walkoff home run during the 10th inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

Texas Rangers' Josh Smith, center, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run during the tenth inning against the Houston Astros, Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

LONDON (AP) — Google won a court challenge on Wednesday against a 1.49 billion euro ($1.66 billion) European Union antitrust fine imposed five years ago that targeted its online advertising business.

The EU's General Court said it was throwing out the 2019 penalty imposed by the European Commission, which is the 27-nation bloc's top antitrust enforcer.

“The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision in its entirety,” the court said in a press release.

The commission's ruling applied to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business: ads that the U.S. tech giant sold next to Google search results on third-party websites.

Regulators had accused Google of inserting exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google’s rivals. The commission said when it issued the penalty that Google's behavior resulted in advertisers and website owners having less choice and likely facing higher prices that would be passed on to consumers.

But the General Court said the commission “committed errors” when it assessed those clauses. The commission failed to demonstrate that Google's contracts deterred innovation, harmed consumers or helped the company hold on to and strengthen its dominant position in national online search advertising markets, it said.

The ruling can be appealed, but only on points of law, to the Court of Justice, the bloc's top court.

The commission said in a brief statement that it “will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.”

Google said it changed its contracts in 2016 to remove the provisions in question, even before the commission imposed its decision.

“We are pleased that the court has recognised errors in the original decision and annulled the fine,” Google said in a statement. "We will review the full decision closely.”

The company's legal victory comes a week after it lost a final challenge against a separate EU antitrust case for its shopping comparison service that also involved a hefty fine.

They were among three antitrust penalties totaling about 8 billion euros that the commission punished Google with in the previous decade. The penalties marked the beginning of an era of intensifying scrutiny for Big Tech companies.

Since then, Google has faced escalating pressure on both sides of the Atlantic over its digital ad business. It’s currently battling the Justice Department in a U.S. federal court over allegations that its dominance over the technology that controls the sale of billions of internet display ads constitutes an illegal monopoly.

British competition regulators this month accused the company of abusing its dominance in the country’s digital ad market and giving preference to its own services.

EU antitrust enforcers carrying out their own investigation suggested last year that breaking up the company was the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its digital ad business.

FILE - In this April 17, 2007 file photo, exhibitors work on laptop computers in front of an illuminated sign of the Google logo at the industrial fair Hannover Messe in Hanover, Germany. (AP Photo/Jens Meyer, File)