HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a two-run home run and Jeremy Peña homered and doubled to help the Houston Astros complete a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 5-2 win Wednesday night.
The victory coupled with Seattle’s loss to Kansas City moves the Astros 1/2 game ahead of the Mariners for first place in the AL West.
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Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (3) misses the catch as Texas Rangers' Wyatt Langford, right, safely steals second base during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Astros' Carlos Correa, left, and Jeremy Pena, right, celebrate the solo home run by Pena against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Astros' Jose Altuve swings on his two run home run against the Texas Rangers during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
The game was tied 2-2 when Carlos Correa singled to start the third. Altuve’s home run off Jacob deGrom (12-8) to the seats in left field put the Astros on top 4-2. Altuve has 37 homers and 100 RBIs in his career against the Rangers, which are his most against any team.
Peña connected off deGrom on his home run to the first row in right field to start Houston’s fifth and push the lead to 5-2.
Cristian Javier (2-3) allowed five hits and two runs in six strong innings for the win in his seventh start after missing more than a year recovering from Tommy John surgery. Bryan King pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
DeGrom yielded six hits and tied a season-high with five runs. He lasted just five innings after the Astros forced him to throw 35 pitches in the first.
Peña hit a leadoff double before a single by Correa. There were two outs in the inning when Yainer Diaz’s single scored them both to give Houston an early lead.
Alejandro Osuna singled with one out in the second and stole second base. The Rangers cut the lead to 2-1 on an RBI double by Josh Jung. Cody Freeman singled with two outs to send Jung home and tie it.
The Rangers went 2 for 8 with runners in scoring position as they lost their fourth straight game.
Altuve’s home run that put Houston up for good.
The win gives the Astros a 7-6 advantage in the season series against the Rangers. They’ve won the series, called the Silver Boot, every year since 2017.
Both teams are off Thursday before Texas hosts the opener of a three-game series against Miami on Friday night and the Mariners come to Houston to start a key division series that night.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena (3) misses the catch as Texas Rangers' Wyatt Langford, right, safely steals second base during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier throws against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Astros' Carlos Correa, left, and Jeremy Pena, right, celebrate the solo home run by Pena against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
Houston Astros' Jose Altuve swings on his two run home run against the Texas Rangers during the third inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
NEW YORK (AP) — More jumps for oil prices sent tremors through the U.S. bond market on Wednesday, along with hints that some Federal Reserve officials don’t want to cut interest rates any time soon. But fat profit reports from Starbucks and other big companies helped the U.S. stock market remain resilient despite that.
The S&P 500 finished nearly unchanged and edged down by less than 0.1%, a day after slipping from its latest all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq composite inched up by less than 0.1%.
The action was more dramatic in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude to be delivered in July jumped 5.8% to settle at $110.44 per barrel. That’s where most of the trading is happening in the Brent market, and it got as high as $111.84 later in the afternoon.
The highest price since the war with Iran began is $119.50 for the most actively traded Brent contract, reached last month. On Wednesday, the price for a barrel of Brent crude for delivery in June, which is getting less trading action than July’s contract, briefly breached that mark and got above $120.
Oil prices have jumped this week as President Donald Trump appears willing to maintain the U.S. blockade of Iranian ships, which is preventing the country from making money by selling oil. Iran, in turn, is keeping the Strait of Hormuz closed to other oil tankers hoping to carry crude to customers worldwide as long as the blockade continues.
High oil prices helped push the Federal Reserve to announce Wednesday that it’s continuing to hold off on cuts to interest rates. While lower rates could give the economy a boost, they simultaneously risk worsening inflation.
Three Fed officials said they did not want to include anything suggesting more cuts may be coming in the central bank’s statement announcing the decision.
Treasury yields climbed in the bond market immediately afterward, adding to gains from earlier in the day due to rising oil prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.41% from 4.36% late Tuesday.
The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for Fed action, climbed more. It jumped to 3.93% from 3.84%, which is a notable move for the bond market.
Traders still largely expect the Fed to hold the federal funds rate steady through the end of this year, according to data from CME Group. But they eliminated nearly all their bets for a cut to rates in 2026 in favor of a small chance for a hike.
Still, the U.S. stock market held near its records as more companies joined the procession reporting stronger profit growth for the start of 2026 than analysts expected.
Visa jumped 8.3% after delivering stronger results than analysts expected, and CEO Ryan McInerney said consumer spending remained resilient in the quarter.
Starbucks climbed 8.4% after likewise reporting better results than expected, while saying customers spent more at each visit, particularly at its North American stores.
But those not meeting expectations have gotten punished. GE Healthcare Technologies dropped 13.2% after falling short of analysts’ forecasts. Robinhood Markets sank 13.2% after reporting growth in profit that was not as strong as analysts expected.
Booking Holdings swung between losses and gains and finished with a gain of 0.3% after the online travel company reported better results than analysts expected. It said the war with Iran is affecting its results and kept some potential customers from booking rooms during the quarter.
The company behind Booking.com, Priceline and other brands said it expects the conflict to continue affecting its business through the end of June. It could affect travel not only in the Middle East but also in major transit corridors, such as between Europe and Asia.
All told, the S&P 500 slipped 2.85 points to 7,135.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 280.12 to 48,861.81, and the Nasdaq composite added 9.44 to 24,673.24.
In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.7% for one of the world’s strongest moves, while London’s FTSE 100 fell 1.2%.
AP Business Writer Chan Ho-him contributed to this report.
FILE - A train arrives at a Wall Street subway station in New York's Financial District on Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
Currency traders watch monitors near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Currency traders work near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), top center, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, top center left, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A currency trader reacts near a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), right, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
