The Houston Astros completed a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, beating the Marlins 5-2 at Daikin Park behind a go-ahead two-run homer from Yordan Alvarez that also pushed him into sole possession of the major-league home run lead.
The sweep came days after Houston was swept itself by the Baltimore Orioles, a result that left the Astros searching for a response.
“It was a slap in the face,” Alvarez said through an interpreter, adding that the team needed to wake up and respond by playing the way it’s capable of.
Alvarez’s blast, his 34th of the season, came in the eighth inning off Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara and scored Jeremy Peña, who had reached on an infield single. Isaac Paredes followed one batter later with a solo homer of his own, extending the lead to 5-2 and putting the game away. Alcantara was working on his 97th pitch of the night, facing the top of Houston’s order for a fourth time, when Peña’s chopper up the middle got past Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez’s throw to first.
Peña had already given Houston an early lead with a solo home run in the third inning, part of a series in which he homered in all three games against Miami—the first time in his career he’s done that in three consecutive games. Miami answered in the fourth, with Javier Sanoja’s RBI double and Joe Mack’s RBI single tying the score at 2-2 against Astros starter Peter Lambert.
Lambert worked six innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out three and walking two, his third consecutive quality start. The right-hander carries a 3.03 ERA into the season’s final stretch, among the better marks in the American League.
“He’s been our ace and he doesn’t back down from a challenge,” manager Joe Espada said, praising Lambert’s competitiveness and consistency on the mound.
The Astros’ bullpen took it from there, with Enyel De Los Santos, Steven Okert, and Bryan Abreu combining for three scoreless innings. Okert picked up the win, and Abreu earned the save.
Nick Allen also drove in a run for Houston with an RBI single in the second inning, part of a sequence that saw Lucas Spence thrown out trying to steal home later in the frame.
Alcantara took the loss, allowing five earned runs over seven innings.
The win improved Houston to 50-54 on the season, two games behind the first-place Texas Rangers and one and a half games behind second-place Seattle in the AL West. Alvarez’s 34th home run gives him the outright major-league home run lead, passing Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber, who entered Wednesday tied with him at 33 and did not add to his total in the Phillies’ loss to the Dodgers. He’s also atop the league in RBIs, with his batting average trailing only one qualified hitter.
Houston has Thursday off before opening a weekend series against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field.
