Joey Loperfido had one pitch left to work with. He made it count.
With two outs and two strikes in the 11th inning, Loperfido—traded from the Blue Jays back to Houston in the offseason—crushed a curveball into the right-field seats at Rogers Centre, a three-run blast that gave the Astros a 9-7 win and evened the series at one game apiece. The victory pushed Houston to 38-43, the numerical halfway point of the season.
It was that kind of game. The Astros built a four-run lead, watched it disappear, clawed back from a two-run deficit in the ninth to tie it, survived the 10th, and needed Loperfido’s moment to finally put it away.
Logan VanWey, recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land on Monday and one of the few relievers still available in a depleted bullpen, returned for a second inning of work in the bottom of the 11th. Kazuma Okamoto singled in a run to make it interesting, but VanWey retired the next two hitters to earn his first major league win.
Three in a Row
The Astros staked themselves to a 4-0 lead with three consecutive home runs in the fourth inning, something Houston had not done since 2019. Yainer Diaz started it, turning on a first-pitch cutter and driving it to left for his third homer of the season. Cam Smith followed with a towering shot to center, his eighth. Taylor Trammell completed the sequence with a drive that found the upper deck in right. All three came off Shane Bieber, who was making his season debut after returning from an elbow issue and did not survive the fourth.
Ninth-Inning Rally
Trailing 6-4 after Daulton Varsho’s two-run homer off Enyel De Los Santos tied things in the seventh and Okamoto’s two-run single off Nate Pearson gave Toronto the lead in the eighth, the Astros refused to fold. Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, and Isaac Paredes singled to load the bases against Tyler Rogers with one out in the ninth. Loperfido reached on catcher’s interference, forcing in Altuve. Smith then lifted a sacrifice fly, scoring Alvarez and knotting the game at 6-6.
Josh Hader worked a clean ninth inning, continuing a dominant stretch since returning from the injured list, to send the game to extras.
Lambert’s Toil
Peter Lambert navigated constant traffic through 4⅔ innings, allowing two runs on six hits while issuing three walks. The Blue Jays ran up 92 pitches against him without inflicting more damage, though Luis Urías pulled a fourth-inning slider over the left-field wall to trim the lead to 4-2. Lambert left the game with a 3.28 ERA in 68⅔ innings, among the club leaders in innings pitched.
Peña Returns
Jeremy Peña, kept out of the starting lineup after exiting Monday with a hamstring cramp, entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning and drew a walk with the bases loaded. He stayed in the game at shortstop. His availability was an encouraging sign for a club that has fared far better with him in the lineup this season.
Houston and Toronto play the series finale Wednesday at 6:07 p.m. Central time, with Mike Burrows starting against Kevin Gausman.
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