Jeremy Peña and Jose Altuve smashed home runs as the Houston Astros found some offense and defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5 on Saturday. Yordan Alvarez and Chas McCormick also added RBI hits as the Astros secured the series win.
Yusei Kikuchi was a little spotty on the mound for Houston, but did just enough to pick up the victory.
Jeremy Pena Delivers For Houston Astros
Pena’s three-run home run in the sixth inning helped the Houston Astros post a five-run outburst against Arizona.
The Astros were down 3-1 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, MLB.com reported. McCormick’s bases-loaded, two-run single tied things up at 3-3. Alvarez’s RBI single and an Alex Bregman bases-loaded walk gave Houston a 5-3 lead.
The Diamondbacks’ Eugenio Suarez smashed a solo homer off Kikuchi, putting Arizona within 5-4. But the Astros countered with a five-run sixth inning. Bregman and Yanier Diaz posted RBI singles, then Peña’s three-run homer made it 10-4 Astros. Altuve capped off a three-hit game with his 19th home run this season in the seventh inning.
Yusei Kikuchi Stays Hot on Mound
For Kikuchi (8-9), the Houston Astros are still on a winning streak when he’s on the mound. The team also posted its sixth straight win at Minute Maid Park. Kikuchi threw 99 pitches (67 for strikes) in six innings of work. He allowed four runs on seven hits, including two Diamondbacks homers. Kikuchi struck out six Arizona hitters.
Since joining the Astros on June 29 in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, Kikuchi has a 3.07 ERA with a 32.1% strikeout rate.
Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2) took the loss for the Diamondbacks.
As for some injury news, Kyle Tucker, who returned to the Houston Astros lineup on Friday night, did not play Saturday. Bregman, who had missed a few games while dealing with his elbow inflammation issues, returned at third base.
But utility player Mauricio Dubon is currently listed as day-to-day, according to the team’s website, with a sore left thumb. Dubon happened to jam his left thumb on Friday night while sliding headfirst into first base. He left the game after suffering his injury. Astros manager Joe Espada said that Dubon went through some fielding and swinging tests ahead of Saturday’s game. The thumb was still sore, so Espada kept Dubon out of the lineup.
The Astros and Diamondbacks will wrap up their three-game series on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, The Associated Press reported. Justin Verlander (3-5, 4.52 ERA) goes for the Astros against Arizona’s Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.15).
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