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 entirety of the Brewers’ scoring, as the club saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
Priester retired the first five Houston batters he faced before Jake Meyers reached on a two-out single in the second and Zach Dezenzo laced a run-scoring double to left to give Houston an early 1-0 edge.
After Dezenzo’s walk began the top of the fifth, Brendan Rodgers reached on an error and Chas McCormick’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners. From there, Brewers’ third baseman Vinny Capra threw home on Pena’s ground ball, but Dezenzo slid around the tag to give Houston a 2-0 lead. The Astros then tacked on with Haase’s passed ball, pushing the Brewers’ deficit to three runs.
Milwaukee finally got to Valdez with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, as Haase launched a 425-foot solo homer — his second of the season — cutting Houston’s lead to 3-1.
Elvin Rodriguez replaced Priester in the sixth, issuing consecutive walks to Meyers and Dezenzo before retiring Rodgers and McCormick. With two outs, Pena turned on a first-pitch fastball for his fifth home run of the season, giving the Astros a 6-1 advantage.
In relief of Valdez, Bryan Abreu worked a perfect, six-pitch bottom of the 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, working around Isaac Collins’ walk and Rhys Hoskins’ double to secure the victory.
