Bartolo Colon has long had two milestones on his mind. Now he has both of them in hand.

The 45-year-old right-hander overcame a sluggish start to earn his 245th major league win and match Dennis Martinez for the most by a pitcher from Latin America when the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 13-4 on Saturday night.

Colon already had the most wins by a pitcher born in the Dominican Republic [url=http://www.officialoilers.com/authentic-adidas-darnell-nurse-jersey]Youth Darnell Nurse Jersey[/url] , having surpassed Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for that distinction with his 244th victory at Kansas City on June 18, six days before a loss at Minnesota. Colon won again Saturday in his first home start since June 6 to tie Martinez, who is from Nicaragua.

Asked if he was able to put all his achievements in perspective, Colon made it clear there were two that were especially important to him.

”Not every milestone,” he said through a translator. ”Marichal and Dennis Martinez, and I got those.”

The night was done for Colon (5-5) after Matt Davidson led off the sixth with a homer to center field that pulled the White Sox to 5-3. Four relievers closed it out for Texas.

”We want to be able, if he’s got an opportunity, to put the W behind his name to make sure he gets this,” manager Jeff Banister said. ”Obviously we want to win every game we possibly can, but a situation like this for him, and the overall history and his impact on the game, and impact on himself, and just what it means for the game of baseball.”

Joey Gallo and Ryan Rua homered for the Rangers, who won for the 11th time in 13 games and clinched their fifth consecutive series. Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run double in the fourth inning that put Texas ahead to stay.

White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon (1-3) allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Shin-Soo Choo [url=http://www.officialhurricanes.com/authentic-adidas-sebastian-aho-jersey]Youth Sebastian Aho Jersey[/url] , who has a major league-best on-base streak of 41 games, didn’t play for Texas because of right quad soreness. Choo said he has dealt with the issue for at least 10 days and it really bothered him recently.

Chicago’s first two batters got hits, though neither scored. Colon then threw 42 of his 79 pitches in the second inning, when he gave up three hits and his only two walks while the White Sox took a 2-0 lead.

”He’s kind of my half-hero,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. ”I told (pitching coach Don Cooper), look at that guy. He’s still out there getting after it. Good for him. … Even though he gave up a couple runs early, he just kept pitching. No panic, no concern, just keep throwing strikes and let me see what happens.”

Affectionately nicknamed Big Sexy, the portly Colon retired 10 of 11 batters before Davidson went deep. Colon even got over to cover first base in time to get speedy Leury Garcia, who dove headfirst as the pitcher took a toss from Gallo to start the third. Colon had a grin on his face walking back to the mound.

”I thought that if I didn’t get the guy out, I was going out,” Colon said. ”So thanks that happened that he was out, so I could continue the game.”

SHORT HOPS

Three White Sox pitchers combined to throw 65 pitches in the eighth inning [url=http://www.officialcanadiensprostore.com/authentic-adidas-mike-reilly-jersey]Mike Reilly Jersey[/url] , when the Rangers scored seven times. The big hits were a two-run triple by Elvis Andrus and a two-run double by Jurickson Profar. … Adrian Beltre had two hits, increasing his career total to 3,107 – the most among active players and three shy of Dave Winfield for 20th all-time.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: 3B Yolmer Sanchez was back in the lineup after missing the series opener with a bruised left quad sustained when he collided with Minnesota 1B Logan Morrison on Thursday.

Rangers: Choo doesn’t think his quad issue is serious, but said he didn’t want to make anything worse. ”I know I have the streak going on, but my body and staying healthy is more important,” he said. … LHP Martin Perez (right elbow) allowed two singles in six scoreless innings in his second rehab start, throwing 73 pitches for Double-A Frisco.

UP NEXT

Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels (4-6, 3.61 ERA), one of the top starters potentially available before the July 31 trade deadline, pitches the series finale. Hamels has a 3.28 ERA over his last nine starts. He is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.

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Dallas Keuchel is beginning to look like his old self, and that’s welcome news for a Houston Astros team eyeing another title.

Keuchel pitched six strong innings, three relievers completed the seven-hitter and Alex Bregman provided the offense by setting a career high with his 20th homer to give the Astros a 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.

Keuchel (7-8) allowed six hits and struck out four to win his fourth straight decision after dropping the previous three. Tony Sipp and Brad Peacock pitched the seventh and eighth innings before Hector Rondon walked one in the ninth for his eighth save.

Since giving up a season-high 13 hits in start against Texas on June 10, Keuchel has gone 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA in his last six starts to lower his ERA from 4.45 to 3.75.

Manager A.J. Hinch isn’t surprised that Keuchel, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2015 [url=http://www.officialcapitals.com/authentic-adidas-jakub-vrana-jersey]Jakub Vrana Jersey[/url] , has turned things around since his tough start to the season.

”I think he’s found his timing, his rhythm, his pitches,” Hinch said. ”His change-up usage has been excellent. He controls contact. He got some incredibly-timed ground balls when he needs it … let’s not forget he’s Dallas Keuchel and he’s really good.”

Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire discussed why Keuchel was so tough against his team.

”We hit some balls hard, but he’s a really good pitcher,” he said. ”He knows how to pitch, he knows how to change speeds, he knows how to spin it. He made it tough on us.”

The Astros got to former teammate Mike Fiers (6-6) early. George Springer hit a leadoff single before the two-run shot by Bregman, which bounced off the wall above the Crawford Boxes in left field, made it 2-0.

”Springer did a great job of getting on base and when you get a leadoff guy like that on it puts the pressure on the pitcher,” Bregman said. ”So I was just fortunate enough to get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it.”

Bregman, Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel hit consecutive singles with no outs in the third to push the lead to 3-0.

Fiers, who played for the Astros from 2015-17, yielded nine hits and three runs in six innings for the loss.

Ronny Rodriguez had two hits for the Tigers [url=http://www.officialsharks.com/authentic-adidas-tim-heed-jersey]Tim Heed Jersey[/url] , who went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position to lose their fifth straight game.

Bregman, who was named to his first All-Star game on Sunday, has 10 doubles, 12 homers and 30 RBIs in his last 27 games.

Rodriguez and Jeimer Candelario hit back-to-back singles to start the third for Detroit’s first hits. But Keuchel escaped the jam by retiring the next three batters.

The Tigers had a single in the fourth and fifth innings, but Houston turned double plays in both innings to help Keuchel out.

John Hicks singled with one out in the sixth before Nicholas Castellanos walked. The Tigers loaded the bases when James McCann singled on a ball that sailed just over shortstop Marwin Gonzalez’s head. Keuchel left them empty-handed when Mikie Mahtook popped out before Victor Martinez grounded out.

Houston had a chance to pad the lead in the eighth when the team had runners at the corners with no outs, but closer Shane Greene retired the next three batters to end the inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: SS Carlos Correa (back stiffness) is expected to begin a rehabilitation assignment in the next few days.

Tigers: Greene was activated from the disabled list before the game. He’d been on the DL since July 2 with a strained right shoulder. He allowed two hits in a scoreless eighth.

MAKE IT SIX

Houston right-hander Charlie Morton was added to the American League All-Star team on Friday, giving the Astros a major league-leading six players in next week’s game.

Morton joins fellow starters Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole on the squad, which also features Altuve, Springer and Bregman. Hinch is managing the AL team.

It’s the first career selection for the 34-year-old Morton, who is in his 11th major league season. He’s 11-2 with a 2.96 ERA and 146 strikeouts in 19 starts this year.

UP NEXT

Houston’s Gerrit Cole (9-2, 2.57 ERA) is expected to come off the bereavement list to start on Saturday against Michael Fulmer (3-8, 4.11). Cole struck out 11 in six scoreless innings Monday but did not factor in the decision in a 2-0 loss to the Athletics. Fulmer allowed five hits and three runs in seven innings for his third straight loss Saturday against Texas.

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