HOUSTON — Marcus Semien hit his 250th career home run and Adolis García also went deep to back up a strong start by Nathan Eovaldi and give the Texas Rangers a 5-1, series-clinching victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Eovaldi (7-3) limited Houston to five hits and a run with eight strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings for his third straight win.

Houston starter Hunter Brown (9-4) allowed five hits and four runs while striking out eight in five innings as the AL West leaders lost for the fifth time in six games. It was the second straight tough outing for the All-Star, who gave up a season-high six runs in his last start against Cleveland.

Wyatt Langford walked to open the second and the Rangers made it 1-0 when he scored on a triple by Evan Carter. There were two outs in the inning when Carter scored on a ground-rule double by Ezequiel Duran to push the lead to 2-0.

García’s third homer in the last four games put Texas ahead 3-0 with two outs in the third inning.

Carter doubled to start the fourth and Kyle Higashioka singled before Carter scored on a sacrifice fly by Alejandro Osuna to make it 4-0.

The Astros cut it to 4-1 on a home run by Zack Short with no outs in the sixth inning.

Semien’s shot with one out in the eighth inning was his second of the series and gave him 250 in his 13-year career.

Key moment

Texas jumping on Brown for two runs in the second inning to take the lead for good.

Key stat

García’s 20 home runs against the Astros since 2021 are the most of any player in that span.

Up next

The Astros open the second half of the season Friday night at Seattle, and the Rangers host Detroit on the same night.

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Published Sunday, July 13, 2025 | 1:51 p.m.

Old Mill’s Tsedeke Jakovics, a 10-time state champion, leads the Capital Gazette 2025 boys track and field All-County team as Athlete of the Year.

It’s time for our 2025 Black & Gold Banneret Awards! This week we present our nominees for each award honoring the best people, moments and performances from your UCF Knights in the 2024-25 athletic year.

Our staff has chosen the nominees for each award. We will then vote on them this week, and you the fans, can vote as well in the poll below. The winner of the fan vote counts as one vote, and in the event of a tie, the award goes to the winner of the fan vote.

Women’s Play of the Year Nominees

Jazmen Newberry’s Comeback — Track & Field

• Thanks to a rain delay, it was a late night for the 4x400m relay team at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, with the race not even getting started until near midnight Eastern time. Entering the anchor leg, Jazmen Newberry sat a distant third behind TCU’s Bryce Brazzell (1.83 seconds) and Arizona’s Antonia Sanchez Nunez (1.32 seconds). While the commentators were focused on the Wildcat tracking down the Horned Frog, the Knight turned on the afterburners. The UAlbany transfer crossed the finish line 0.26 seconds ahead of Sanchez Nunez to win the heat and got UCF their second Big 12 Outdoor gold medal after beating out the previous heat winner Iowa State’s time by 0.21 seconds.

Olivia Lincer’s Deuce Point — Women’s Tennis

• Olivia Lincer had already fought off three match points to reach this deuce point with Oklahoma State’s Melissa Ercan in the Big 12 Tournament Semifinals (6:55 in the video above). If Ercan gets the ball by her, or she makes a mistake, it’s over for UCF, who is tied 3-3 with the Cowgirls. When Ercan sends a shot straight down her right sideline, Lincer sprints over and executes a one-handed backhand shot to keep the rally alive. The Cowgirl could not respond, hitting the ball into the net and sending the Knights to the Big 12 Championship Match.

Ashleigh Griffin’s Go-Ahead Homer vs. Stetson — Softball

• The UCF Softball team was already having a historic power-hitting night in DeLand, with their seven home runs to that point helping close an 11-run deficit to Stetson to just two by the seventh inning. With two runners on base and down to her last strike, all Ashleigh Griffin needed was one swing of the bat to complete the largest comeback in program history (4:15 in the video above).

Madi Simon’s Home Run Robbery — Softball

• It was a standout moment in a statement series for UCF Softball against #4 Arizona Wildcats. Both teams were tied up, 3-3, in the fourth inning of Game 2, a game the Knights would ultimately take, 5-4, to clinch the series. That only makes this center-field home-run robbery by Madi Simon all the more impactful.

First 4+ Boat’s Comeback — Rowing

• Halfway through its C Final race at the NCAA Rowing Championships, the UCF Rowing team’s First 4+ boat sat 2.84 seconds, or around half a boat length, back of Virginia Cavaliers. Over the next 1,000 meters, the Knights tracked down and passed the Cavaliers, taking the win by 1.276 seconds and becoming the only one of head coach Mara Allen’s three boats to claim victory in their C Final.