It took until the seventh inning for the Astros’ offense to find its rhythm, but they stepped on the accelerator when it counted most.
The Houston Astros (42-44) erased an early 3-0 deficit to rally past the Detroit Tigers (35-49) by a final of 7-5 in 10 innings this afternoon at Comerica Park.
This marks the Astros’ fifth consecutive series victory, a new season high. With the win, Houston moves within two games of .500 for the first time since April 10, when they sat at 6-8. They now trail the Rangers by just one game in the AL West and sit half a game behind Seattle for the third AL Wild Card spot.
The afternoon didn’t unfold as Houston had hoped, particularly with staff ace Hunter Brown on the mound.
In the bottom of the second, Kerry Carpenter led off with a single, and Zach McKinstry followed by launching his third home run of the year, a two-run shot that staked Detroit to a 2-0 advantage.
The Astros, who rank among the league’s best in fewest errors committed, generously handed the Tigers another run in the third. With Kevin McGonigle on second and two outs, Riley Greene hit a grounder to second that Raynel Delgado misplayed, allowing McGonigle to score and pushing Detroit’s lead to 3-0.
Delgado made up for his fifth-inning miscue in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Jake Meyers reached base and moved to second on an error by Tigers first baseman Colt Keith. Delgado then crushed his first career home run, a 409-foot blast to right, cutting the Astros’ deficit to 3-2.
Houston pulled even in the eighth when Isaac Paredes belted his 11th homer of the season, a 402-foot solo shot to left that tied the game at 3-3.
The ninth inning grew precarious for Houston as closer Josh Hader (W, 2-0) battled command issues. He struck out Hao-Yu Lee for the first out, then walked Ben Malgeri. After retiring Matt Vierling on a flyout to left, Hader issued free passes to both McGonigle and Jahmai Jones before escaping the jam by fanning Greene with the bases loaded.
In the tenth, with Jeremy Peña stationed as the automatic runner, Tigers reliever Kenley Jansen (L, 1-4) issued a four-pitch walk to Yordan Alvarez, none of the offerings close to the zone. Paredes then collected his third hit of the day, an RBI single that plated Peña and handed Houston its first lead at 4-3.
Christian Walker provided insurance with his 19th home run of the year, a three-run blast that stretched the Astros’ advantage to 7-3.
Walker’s 56 RBIs now match Yordan Alvarez for the team lead.
In the bottom of the tenth, Enyel De Los Santos surrendered a two-run homer to Spencer Torkelson (his 13th), but that was as close as Detroit would get, as Houston secured the 7-5 victory and took three of four games in the series.
The Astros now return home for a six-game homestand, beginning with a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins.
Probable pitching matchups:
Mon: Peter Lambert (6-4, 3.28 ERA) vs. Zebby Matthews (3-5, 4.56 ERA)
Tue: Mike Burrows (3-8, 5.48 ERA) vs. Joe Ryan (5-4, 3.18 ERA)
Wed: Tatsuya Imai (5-3, 5.36) vs. Taj Bradley (6-3, 3.98 ERA)
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