The Astros beat the Nationals, 7-4. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.
Yainer Diaz and Mauricio Dubón each had three hits, and the Houston Astros beat the Washington Nationals 7-4 on Tuesday night to stop a five-game slide.
EL MATÍN. 😤 pic.twitter.com/6luKH1Nxub
— Houston Astros (@astros) July 30, 2025
Christian Walker had two hits and two RBIs for the AL West-leading Astros. Bennett Sousa (5-0) got four outs for the win, and Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth for his 28th save.
Luis García Jr. hit a two-run drive for last-place Washington, which had won three straight and five of seven overall. CJ Abrams had three hits.
García connected for his ninth homer in the third inning, lifting the Nationals to a 2-1 lead. But Diaz responded with a solo shot in the fourth for his 14th homer.
Walker singled and scored on Cooper Hummel’s pinch-hit single in the fifth, and the Astros grabbed control with three more runs in the sixth.
Altuve singled home Dubón for a 4-2 lead, and Walker followed with a two-run single against Andry Lara.
Andrew Chafin (1-1) took the loss.
Washington right-hander Michael Soroka allowed two runs and four hits in 3 1/3 innings in his final start before Thursday’s trade deadline.
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Astros' ace sounds off after another missed opportunity
Jul 29, 2025, 2:19 pm
Houston ace Framber Valdez expressed frustration about the defensive positioning on a play in the sixth inning Monday night that led to the only run he allowed in the Astros’ 2-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.
There were two outs in the sixth when Valdez walked Josh Bell. Nathaniel Lowe’s groundball double to the right field corner scored Bell and tied the game at 1.
Valdez wasn’t happy that right fielder Taylor Trammell was shifted halfway to center field instead of in right field on the play.
“I saw the right fielder playing center field and, you know, we have a center fielder for that,” Valdez told reporters in Spanish through a translator. “I feel like the right fielder should have been playing right field. I was uncomfortable with that.”
Valdez was asked if he addressed the positioning with the coaching staff.
“I don’t have to ask the coaches about that,” he said. “I feel like baseball is a game of common sense. With me as a lefty pitcher, they don’t hit a lot of fly balls against me.”
Valdez allowed three hits and a run while tying a season high with 12 strikeouts in six innings to become the 10th pitcher in franchise history to reach 1,000 career strikeouts (1,007).
You can see where the right fielder was positioned in the video below.
hi lowe pic.twitter.com/6hKlolMnTU
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) July 29, 2025
Riley Adams hit a solo homer in the seventh inning to give Washington the win and extend Houston’s skid to a season-high five games.
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