Framber Valdez threw seven quality innings and Jeremy Pena homered and drove in four as the visiting Houston Astros earned a 9-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon.
Valdez (2-4) allowed just one run on three hits while striking out seven and walking two. Yainer Diaz drove in two runs for the Astros, who salvaged a win in the series.
Quinn Priester (1-1) surrendered three runs (one earned) on three hits in his five-inning stint, striking out three and walking three. Eric Haase’s solo home run in the fifth inning accounted for the Brewers’ scoring as their three-game winning streak came to a close.
Priester retired the first five Houston batters he faced before Jake Meyers reached on a single and Zach Dezenzo laced a run-scoring double to left to give Houston a 1-0 edge.
After Dezenzo walked to start the fifth, Brendan Rodgers reached on an error and Chas McCormick’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners. Pena hit a grounder to third baseman Vinny Capra and he threw home, but Dezenzo slid around the tag to give Houston a 2-0 lead. The Astros added another run on Haase’s passed ball.
Milwaukee finally got to Valdez with two outs in the bottom of the fifth when Haase launched a 425-foot solo homer — his second of the season — to cut Houston’s lead to 3-1.
Elvin Rodriguez replaced Priester in the sixth and issued consecutive walks to Meyers and Dezenzo before retiring Rodgers and McCormick. Pena turned on a first-pitch fastball for his fifth home run of the season to give the Astros a 6-1 advantage.
In relief of Valdez, Bryan Abreu needed just six pitches to work a perfect eighth.
Rodriguez surrendered Pena’s leadoff double in the top of the ninth, followed by Jose Altuve’s single and Isaac Paredes’ RBI single. Two batters later, Diaz doubled in Altuve and Paredes to give Houston a 9-1 lead.
Josh Hader pitched the ninth for Houston and worked around Isaac Collins’ walk and Rhys Hoskins’ double to secure the victory.
–Field Level Media
