The Astros spent the weekend answering every worry that came attached to a three-game set with the Rangers.
Heading into the matchup with the team from South Oklahoma, there was plenty to wonder about. Houston had won eight of nine before Friday, but questions still hung in the air: could the surge keep going, would Hunter Brown stay sharp after his early-post-IL struggles, could Nathan Eovaldi flip back into the version that beat the Astros twice in the 2023 ALCS, and would Jacob deGrom outpitch a still-rusty Ronel Blanco in Game 2? There was also the possibility that Peter Lambert’s recent steadiness would disappear, or that the Astros’ hot lineup would finally cool off.
None of that happened.
Instead, Houston came out of the series with the best-case result, leaving Texas with a 2-1/2 game lead in the division and a 1-1/2 game cushion for the final wild card spot. Brown was excellent in Friday’s opener, Blanco held deGrom to a standoff on Saturday, and Lambert did what he usually does on Sunday and gave the club another solid start.
The bullpen did its part, too, even if it wasn’t spotless. Houston allowed two runs across 11 innings over the weekend, with Bryan King bouncing back for a pair of scoreless outings, Bryan Abreu turning in two strong appearances after reportedly nearly being dealt to the Twins, and AJ Blubaugh also contributing quality work. Josh Hader only had to appear in Saturday’s game, since the Astros didn’t need him in Friday’s 11-2 win or Sunday’s 7-3 victory.
But the story of the series was really the offense, which kept the pressure on and made life easier for everyone on the mound. Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez were at the center of it all.
Pena finished with seven hits, a homer, three runs scored and five RBIs. Alvarez matched him with seven hits of his own, along with three runs scored and five RBIs.
Christian Walker added three hits, including a homer, plus two runs and three RBIs. Isaac Paredes chipped in three hits, a homer, one run and two RBIs.
Jose Altuve scored three times and drove in two, Taylor Trammell scored twice and knocked in two, Cam Smith collected five hits with four runs scored and one RBI, and Lamonte Wade Jr. had one hit and one RBI.
The defining swing of the weekend may have come in the second inning Friday, when Houston already led 1-0 and the bases were loaded with two outs. Everyone in the park knew what was coming with Alvarez at the plate, and he delivered anyway, lining an Eovaldi splitter the other way to push the lead to 3-0. From there, the Astros kept rolling.
Pena and Alvarez set the tone from the top of the lineup, and the numbers tell the story: 14 hits combined, six runs scored and 10 RBIs. For a club trying to protect its place atop the AL West, it was exactly the kind of weekend it needed.
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