Yainer Diaz powers the Astros past the Rangers 11-2, pushing Houston into first

HOUSTON (AP) — Yainer Diaz homered and tied a career high with four hits and Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker also went deep to lead the Houston Astros to an 11-2 rout of the Texas Rangers Friday night that put them in first place in the AL West.

Jeremy Peña had three RBIs and Yordan Alvarez added two as the Astros tied a season high with 18 hits for their ninth win in 10 games to move a half-game ahead of Texas atop the division.

There were runners on first and third with one out in the second when LaMonte Wade Jr. doubled to make it 1-0. Nathan Eovaldi (10-9) plunked Peña on the arm to load the bases with two outs.

Alvarez followed with a single on a grounder to left field to score two and push the lead to 3-0.

Cam Smith tripled with two outs in the fourth before Peña extended his hit streak to 12 games with a single that made it 4-0.

Paredes and Walker hit back-to-back home runs off Eovaldi to open the fifth inning and leave Houston up 6-0.

Joc Pederson homered and Corey Seager doubled and had two hits for the Rangers in his return after missing 23 games with inflammation in his lower back as they dropped a third straight.

Pederson’s home run to right-center field cut the lead to 6-1 in the sixth. Evan Carter hit an RBI single with two outs in the sixth to make it 6-2.

Diaz’s solo homer was the first of four runs Houston scored with two outs in the seventh that pushed the lead to 10-2.

Houston starter Hunter Brown (3-1) yielded six hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

Eovaldi allowed 10 hits and tied a season high with six runs in five innings.

Texas RHP Jacob deGrom (7-6, 3.67 ERA) opposes RHP Ronel Blanco (0-1, 8.10) when the series continues Saturday night.

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

Houston Astros' Christian Walker celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Texas Rangers during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi reacts after giving up a home run to Houston Astros' Isaac Paredes during the fifth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez, right, hits a two-run single in front of Texas Rangers catcher Austin Wynns during the second inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Houston Astros' Cam Smith celebrates after hitting a triple against the Texas Rangers during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 31, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — At least nine people were killed and 22 civilians injured in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv after Russia launched an intense barrage of ballistic missiles and drones overnight into Saturday, authorities said.

A five-story residential building in the city's Solomianskyi District was damaged by falling debris and a fire broke out. Rescue workers evacuated 35 people from the upper floors of the building and two people died, with eight reported injured including two children, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service.

In the Darnytskyi District of Kyiv, seven people were killed and another 14 injured after the attack caused fires and damage to houses, vehicles, an administrative and non-residential building, the emergency services said.

Elsewhere, emergency workers extinguished a fire in a non-residential building in the capital’s Shevchenkivskyi district. There was no additional information about earlier reports by the district mayor that people were trapped in another residential building.

Damage to commercial and residential buildings was reported in two other city districts.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pressed the United States and other Western partners over Ukraine’s need for more Patriot anti-ballistic missile defense systems to counter missile attacks from Russia.

The Ukrainian leader late Friday said he spoke to U.S. Vice President JD Vance and discussed a meeting with President Donald Trump earlier this week in Washington, which Zelenskyy described as “positive and productive.”

“The Russian air strikes on our country continue and air defense, specifically interceptors for Patriot systems against ballistic missiles, remains a top priority,” Zelenskyy said Friday in a post on Telegram.

At a NATO summit in Ankara in July, Trump said the U.S. would give Ukraine a license to make Patriot systems but he appeared to move away from that commitment on Friday during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, saying he had not yet made a final decision on the matter.

Saturday’s attack on Kyiv came just two days after a large-scale Russian ballistic missile and drone attack across Ukraine killed 10 civilians and wounded more than 50 others and saw a Russian missile enter Polish airspace.

From a basement shelter where she was taking cover as a second air alarm sounded for another wave, Liudmyla Nakonechna, 64, described how she was woken by loud explosions at 1:30 a.m.

“I ran into the corridor and was standing there when the bathroom door was blown off its hinges and struck me in the leg,” said Nakonechna, whose health is poor after undergoing cancer treatment. “I heard the sound of shattering glass. My balcony was covered in glass and it was completely blown apart, while the windows in my bedroom were also blown out.”

Nakonechna had not taken cover in a shelter since Russia’s full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, but the stress became too much, she said.

“It’s getting worse by the day,” Nakonechna said. “Whereas before there was an attack once every two weeks, or maybe once a week, now it happens practically every day. It is incredibly hard to bear this psychologically.”

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)