It took the Astros’ offense 7 innings to get into gear, but they were able to hit the gas when they needed to.
The Houston Astros (42-44) climbed out of a 3-0 hole early to come back and defeat the Detroit Tigers (35-49) 7-5 in 10 innings today at Comerica Park.
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It is the the 5th straight series win for Houston, a season high. With the win, the Astros climb within 2 games of .500 since April 10 (they were 6-8). Houston is now only 1 game out in the AL West behind Texans and 0.5 GB of Seattle for the 3rd Wild Card spot in the AL.
The game did not start off the way the Astros had expected, especially with staff ace Hunter Brown on the mound.
In the bottom of the 2nd, a leadoff single by Kerry Carpenter was followed by a 2-run HR by Zach McKinstry (3) to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
The Astros, among the leaders for fewest errors this season, giftwrapped a run for Detroit in the 3rd. With Kevin McGonigle on 2nd base with two outs, Riley Greene hit a ball to second base that Raynel Delgado couldn’t handle. The error allowed McGonigle to score and gave Detroit a 3-0 lead.
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In the top of the 7th, Delgado would atone for his fifth inning gaffe. After Jake Meyers reached and advanced to 2nd on an error by Tigers 1B Colt Keith with two out, Delgado smashed his first career HR 409 feet to right to draw the Astros within 1 at 3-2.
In the top of the 8th, the Astros would tie it on Isaac Paredes’ 11th HR of the season, a solo shot 402 feet to left to make it a 3-3 ball game.
Things got dicey for Houston in the 9th as closer John Hader (W, 2-0) struggled with his command. After striking out Hao-Yu Lee for the first out, he walked Ben Malgeri. After retiring Matt Vierling on a fly ball to left, Hader then walked both McGonigle and Jahmai Jones before closing the inning by striking out Greene to leave the bases loaded.
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In the 10th, with Jeremy Pena as the ghost runner, Tigers reliever Kenley Jansen (L, 1-4) walked Yordan Alvarez on 4 pitches that weren’t close. Isaac Paredes would follow with his 3rd hit of the game, an RBI single to drive in Pena and give the Astros their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Christian Walker would then put the game out of reach with his 19th HR of the season, a 3-run bomb to give Houston a 7-3 lead.
Walker’s 56 RBI now tie Yordan Alvarez for the team lead.
In the bottom of the 10th, Enyel De Los Santos would allow a 2-run HR to Spencer Torkelson (13), but that was as close as the Tigers would get as the Astros won 7-5 and took 3 of 4 in Detroit.
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The Astros now come home for a 6-game homestand starting with 3 against the Minnesota Twins.
Pitching Probables:
Mon: Peter Lambert (6-4, 3.28 ERA) vs. Zebby Matthews (3-5, 4.56 ERA)
Tue: Mike Burrows (3-8, 5.48 ERA) vs. Joe Ryan (5-4, 3.18 ERA)
Wed: Tatsuya Imai (5-3, 5.36) vs. Taj Bradley (6-3, 3.98 ERA)
