The Astros beat the Marlins 8-5 on Monday at Daikin Park behind Jeremy Peña’s grand slam and two Yordan Alvarez home runs, snapping Houston’s four-game losing streak. Ronel Blanco also made his long-awaited return from elbow surgery as Houston handed Miami its sixth straight loss.
Houston blew the game open in the second inning after Miami had taken an early 2-0 lead on Joe Mack’s two-run homer. LaMonte Wade Jr. drew a leadoff walk, and singles from Yainer Diaz and Taylor Trammell loaded the bases before a fielder’s choice and a walk to Lucas Spence set up Peña with the bases full. Peña drove a fastball from Miami starter Janson Junk into the right-field seats for a grand slam, his second career slam and Houston’s sixth of the season. Alvarez followed immediately with a solo shot into the second deck, and the back-to-back blasts capped a six-run inning that put Houston ahead 6-2.
Blanco, making his first big league appearance since a UCL and flexor tendon surgery sidelined him for more than a year, worked 4⅔ innings and allowed four runs, all of them coming on two-run homers by Mack and Hicks, but left the game with the lead intact. Four Houston relievers protected it from there, with Enyel De Los Santos recording four outs and Steven Okert and Bryan Abreu each stranding a pair of runners in the seventh and eighth. Closer Josh Hader worked the ninth despite a comfortable margin, and needed it: after retiring the first batter, he allowed three consecutive singles, including an RBI hit by Heriberto Hernández that caromed off Peña’s glove at short, before retiring the final two batters to close it out.
Alvarez wasn’t finished after his second-inning homer. He added a fifth-inning solo shot off reliever Lake Bachar, finishing the night 3-for-4. That gave him 33 home runs on the season, matching Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber for the major league lead, while his batting average climbed to .324, still second in the majors behind Miami’s Otto Lopez. His 75 RBIs sit one behind St. Louis’ Jordan Walker for the league lead, keeping his Triple Crown pursuit squarely alive entering the stretch run. Isaac Paredes also factored in offensively, tripling in the seventh inning before scoring on a Jose Altuve single that made it 8-4.
Christian Walker made his first appearance since leaving Saturday’s game with right hip tightness, pinch-hitting for Wade in the seventh inning and grounding out. He remained in the game at first base afterward.
The win moves Houston to 48-54, six games under .500 with the August 3 trade deadline now less than two weeks away. Houston continues the series Tuesday, sending Tatsuya Imai (5-4, 6.06 ERA) to the mound against Miami’s Tyler Phillips (2-4, 3.48 ERA), with first pitch again set for 7:10 p.m. Central at Daikin Park.
