Astros have won seven straight

Valdez deals as Astros bash Rockies to continue winning streak

Astros Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Astros Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa

With a sweep of the Houston-portion of this four-game series, the Astros brought a six-game winning streak to the thin air of Colorado, trying to extend it to seven. Although they received news that Yordan Alvarez would miss the rest of the season, there was some positive news with George Springer back in the lineup. Here is how Wednesday's game unfolded:

Final Score: Astros 13, Rockies 6.

Record: 14-10, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Framber Valdez (2-2, 1.72 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Ryan Castellani (0-1, 3.77 ERA).

Astros power their way into a lead, Bregman exits with injury

After a quick first inning, Framber Valdez got into an early jam in the bottom of the second. He would commit an error on a come-backer with one out, then allowed back-to-back singles, one scoring the first run of the evening to put Colorado ahead 1-0. He went on to load the bases by hitting the next batter, then got an incredible play on defense by Carlos Correa to get him out of the jam, a diving snag to start an inning-ending double play.

Martin Maldonado would get the run back in the top of the third, hitting a one-out solo home run. In the top of the fourth, Alex Bregman led it off with a double but would sustain a leg injury between home and first base, immediately exiting the game after getting to second.

Houston would get another long ball in the top of the fifth, as Carlos Correa demolished one to left field to lead off the inning, giving the Astros their first lead, 2-1. Kyle Tucker followed with a triple, then came in on Taylor Jones' first hit and RBI, a single to make it 3-1.

Houston can't stop scoring

In the top of the sixth, Tucker would hit his second triple in as many at-bats, driving in two more runs to extend Houston's lead to 5-1. Jones would follow and get the same result he had in last plate appearance as well, an RBI-single to make it 6-1.

They wouldn't stop there, continuing to punish Colorado's pitchers in the top of the seventh. They added four more runs on six hits, including an RBI-single by Abraham Toro, an RBI-double by Yuli Gurriel, and two more RBI for Correa on a two-run single, making it a nine-run game at 10-1. George Springer would join the party in the top of the eighth, finally connecting on a solo dinger after long flyouts earlier in the night, pushing Houston's lead to ten runs at 11-1.

Valdez with another impressive night on the mound

Meanwhile, Valdez was able to rebound from the run he allowed in the second, allowing just two hits over the next five innings, putting him well in line for the win. With the large lead and his pitch count still manageable, he would return for the bottom of the eighth but would allow a couple of meaningless unearned runs while getting two outs. Nevertheless, an impressive outing. His final line: 7.2 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR.

Make it seven straight

Joe Biagini made his second appearance of the year, following Valdez to get the final out of the eighth. Kyle Tucker would finish his night strong in the top of the ninth, notching his fourth hit of the night and twentieth for Houston, a two-run home run to make it 13-3. Biagini went back out for the bottom of the ninth, but could not record an out, allowing an RBI-single and loading the bases before Dusty Baker would move on to Cy Sneed. Sneed would get the last three outs, but not before Colorado would grab two more runs on a two-out, two-RBI single, making it 13-6. The win made it seven straight for the Astros.

Up Next: The fourth and final game of this set between the Astros and Rockies will be another afternoon game, with first pitch scheduled for Thursday at 2:10 PM Central. Cristian Javier (2-1, 2.91 ERA) will look to build on the success of the six-inning shutout start his last time out for Houston, while German Marquez (2-3, 2.25 ERA) will be on the mound for Colorado.

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The Astros beat the Pirates, 8-2. Photo by Jack Gorman/Getty Images.

Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings, Isaac Paredes homered twice, and the Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 after a lengthy rain delay on Thursday night.

Valdez (6-4) won his fifth straight decision by limiting the Pirates to two runs on five hits with three walks and a season-high 11 strikeouts after waiting out the delay that pushed the start of the game back 3 hours and 22 minutes. The left-hander is now 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his last six starts.

Paredes hit his 13th homer of the season leading off the fourth against Mitch Keller (1-8). His 14th, a two-run shot in the ninth, put the game away.

Jeremy Peña added three hits and drove in a run for the Astros. The shortstop is batting .361 since moving to the leadoff spot on April 27.

Jake Melton, who made his major league debut last weekend against Tampa Bay, had two hits, including a two-run single against Keller in the fourth.

Keller had been pitching well despite receiving the lowest run support in the majors. The right-hander wasn't quite as crisp against the Astros, giving up six runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings as his ERA crept up to 4.19.

Jared Triolo had two hits and scored twice for the Pirates, who have dropped four of six.

Key moment

The Pirates were down two and had runners on the corners with two outs in the fifth when Valdez fanned Andrew McCutchen on a curveball.

Key stat

9 — the number of runs Pittsburgh has scored in Keller's last starts.

Up next

Astros: head to Cleveland for a three-game weekend series starting Friday when Colton Gordon (0-1, 5.95 ERA) faces Cleveland's Logan Allen (3-3, 4.22).

Pirates: welcome Philadelphia for a three-game set beginning Friday. Bailey Falter, who posted a 0.76 ERA across six starts in May, starts the opener for Pittsburgh.

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