HOUSTON -- Colby Lewis fired seven shutout innings and continued his string of exceptional outings at Minute Maid Park while leading the Texas Rangers to a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.

Lewis (3-0) allowed four hits and posted six strikeouts to improve to 7-0 with a 1.15 ERA in nine career appearances at Minute Maid Park. Over 55 career innings in Houston, he has 51 strikeouts and four walks.

Lewis retired the Astros in order in the second, fifth and sixth innings while facing the minimum in the third despite a leadoff single by Astros catcher Jason Castro. Lewis followed the Castro hit by inducing a double-play groundball off the bat of left fielder Tony Kemp.

The Astros (17-26) advanced just one runner into scoring position off Lewis with shortstop Carlos Correa stealing second base following his one-out single to right field in the fourth inning.

Lewis responded by striking out Colby Rasmus for the second of three times and initiated a run where he retired 10 consecutive batters.

Left-hander Jake Diekman and newly minted closer Sam Dyson preserved the lead for the Rangers (23-19), who improved to 4-0 against the Astros this season. Houston averted the shutout when Rasmus delivered an RBI single to center with two outs to drive home Jose Altuve, whose leadoff double extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

While Lewis continued his career dominance of the Astros in Houston, Astros right-hander Lance McCullers sought to make strides in his second start of the season and first at home following a lengthy disabled list stint.

Beyond an occasional issue with control, McCullers delivered. He walked Shin-Soo Choo twice before Choo departed in the third inning with a tight left hamstring. When Choo reached with one out in the third inning, he subsequently scored when Prince Fielder roped a two-run double to left field that also brought home Ian Desmond.

McCullers allowed the leadoff batter to reach in his first three innings but only Choo scored. McCullers recovered to record three successive outs in the first and second innings and got some help from his defense in the fourth when left fielder Tony Kemp dug out a double to left by Elvis Andrus and fired a strike to shortstop Correa, whose relay throw home nailed Nomar Mazara for the final out of the frame.

McCullers completed six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. It marked an improvement over his ragged debut in Boston seven days ago when the Astros lost 7-6.

NOTES: Rangers RF Shin-Soo Choo was activated from the 15-day disabled list. Choo missed 35 games with a right calf strain, landing on the DL on April 10. He played two games with Triple-A Round Rock on an injury rehab assignment, going 3-for-8 with a home run, double, walk, stolen base, four RBIs and two runs. ... Rangers rookie Nomar Mazara made his first start in left field. He spent the second half of last season in the minors manning left field and has worked extensively in recent weeks in preparation for a move from right. ... Astros CF Carlos Gomez began baseball activities and is scheduled to do so again Saturday before taking Sunday off and heading to Double-A Corpus Christi for a rehab assignment Monday. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 17 with a bruised left rib cage. ... Rangers LHP Cole Hamels will maintain his normal routine and start the series finale against the Astros on Sunday.