Christian Walker hit two home runs, Kai-Wei Teng threw six scoreless innings, and the Houston Astros shut out the Chicago Cubs 3-0 Saturday at Wrigley Field—their second straight win at a ballpark where they had not won since June 22, 2013.
The victory pushed Houston to 22-31 and extended Chicago’s losing streak to seven.
Walker’s first homer came in the first inning, a two-run shot to left-center off Colin Rea that scored Yordan Alvarez, who had walked to lead off the frame. He added a solo shot to the same part of the park in the fourth. Both were line drives—105.5 and 105.6 mph off the bat, respectively, with launch angles of 19 and 18 degrees—hit hard and flat enough to beat the wind blowing in off Lake Michigan. The wind was not as kind to other Astros hitters. Isaac Paredes tagged a first-pitch fastball in the first inning with a 40-degree launch angle that appeared ticketed for the seats before stalling and settling into the glove of Michael Conforto on the warning track, 352 feet away. Walker’s 14th career multi-homer game gave him 13 on the season and three RBI.
Teng was sharp throughout, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out six in his first quality start of the season. He threw his sweeper 47 percent of the time; the Cubs whiffed on seven of 16 swings against it and put four into play, none for hits. Double-play grounders erased walks in the second and third innings. When the Cubs did string together back-to-back singles in the third to put runners on first and third with two out, catcher César Salazar threw out Pete Crow-Armstrong trying to steal second to end the inning. Teng retired nine of his final 10 batters.
Steven Okert, Enyel De Los Santos, and Bryan King combined for three scoreless innings to finish it. King recorded his sixth save.
The game was interrupted in the sixth inning when Alvarez left with a back spasm. Alvarez was waiting on deck when manager Joe Espada and a trainer came out of the dugout for a discussion with him. He stayed in for the at-bat but exited after fouling off a pitch and appearing to shift uncomfortably in the box. Espada came back out and walked him off the field himself. Zach Dezenzo replaced him as the designated hitter.
Alvarez entered Saturday hitting .300 with 15 home runs and a majors-leading 185 OPS+. He had played in all 53 of the Astros’ games this season. The extent of the injury was not immediately known.
Peter Lambert starts game three of the series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.