Yordan Alvarez was Houston’s hero in Saturday night’s 10-8 game two win over the Tampa Bay Rays when he hit a two-run walk-off home run at the bottom of the ninth. That evened up the series after the Astros lost 3-1 on Friday.
In game three on Sunday, the Stros held the Rays in check, not giving up a run and winning 2-0 to take the series. The win also improved Houston’s record to 45-47.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Jose Altuve had a chance in the first inning to score with multiple errors being committed by Tampa’s infield. Altuve reached first base after Rays shortstop Ben Williamson failed to field the ball. Houston’s leadoff hitter then reached second base when Yordan Alvarez struck out, and then advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Hunter Feduccia. The Astros failed to bring in Altuve as Isaac Paredes flew out in right field and Christian Walker went down swinging.
Houston’s starting pitcher was Peter Lambert, who shut down Tampa’s offense. In the first four innings, the Rays’ batting lineup went three-up-three-down three times. The only time in that span Lambert faced more than three batters was in the second inning, when he gave up a center-field single to Chandler Simpson and walked Victor Mesa Jr.
The home run ball was what gave the Astros their lead midway through the game; base hits weren’t doing enough. The game’s first run came at the bottom of the fourth when Walker hit a solo shot 351 feet into right field. That was just Mason Elgert’s third hit allowed at that point after the Astros recorded a pair of hits back in the third inning.
Lambert only went 5.2 innings before getting pulled for Steven Okert. Jonathan Aranda recorded a single vs Lambert and advanced on a wild pitch earlier in the inning. Okert also had a pitch go rogue and allowed Aranda to be 90 feet from scoring, only for pinch hitter Ryan Vilade to pop out into right field to end the inning and keep Houston ahead.
The Astros went up 2-0 at the bottom of the sixth when Paredes’ ball traveled 401 feet over the left-center wall. That scoring play opened that half of the frame and set up Tampa to make a pitching change before the third out, going from Englert to Cam Booser. Zach Dezenzo, who pinch-hit for Taylor Trammel, was the first batter Booser faced and struck out to end the inning.
Okert was on the mound until the eighth inning, when they decided to bring in Bryan King. Both pitchers combined to allow one hit and set up Josh Hader in the final inning to completely close the door on Tampa. Hader led off the final frame by walking Junior Caminero, but retired the next three batters he faced, including two strikeouts, to secure the 2-0 win for the Astros. The win improved the team to 45-47 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 0
In the 45 wins thus far, the Houston Astros have held their opponent scoreless seven times. The previous time was on May 25th when they beat the Texas Rangers 9-0. This was also the third time they’ve won a game this season 2-0.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Peter Lambert
The win improved Lambert’s record to 7-5 after striking out six Rays batters, giving up three hits, and walking one batter in the team’s shutout win on Sunday.
UP NEXT: The Houston Astros will begin a road series with the Washington Nationals. Game one will be on Monday, July 6th, with the first pitch scheduled at 5:45 PM. Astro Launch will be at 5:15 PM, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.