HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña each hit a home run and the Houston Astros improved their record in games started by Yusei Kikuchi to 7-0 by defeating the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5 on Saturday.
Altuve had three hits and scored three times. Peña’s 15th home run was a three-run shot to cap a five-run inning that began with the Astros leading by one run.
Houston entered the AL West with a 4 1/2 game lead over Seattle.
Arizona, which has lost three games in a row and seven of 10, started the day with a 1 1/2 game lead over the Braves and Mets to secure the National League’s second wild card.
Kikuchi (8-9) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. He had six strikeouts, giving him a career-high 183 strikeouts this season.
The left-hander has a 3.07 ERA since joining the Astros in a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays on July 29 and a 32.1% strikeout rate.
Kevin Newman hit a home run off Kikuchi in the fourth inning to give Arizona a 3-1 lead, but Houston scored four runs in the second against Eduardo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez (2-2) faced 10 batters and needed 47 pitches to get through the inning. Houston loaded all bases without a hit and Chas McCormick tied the game with a two-run single. Yordan Alvarez’s RBI single with two outs put the Astros ahead and after an error, Alex Bregman capped the series with a bases-loaded walk.
Alvarez finished with three hits and has a .410 batting average with 13 RBIs in his last ten games.
Eugenio Suárez hit his 25th home run in the sixth inning to bring Arizona within one point, but the Astros tied the game with the help of a three-run hit by Peña into the Astros’ bullpen in right-center field.
Dylan Floro was responsible for all five of Houston’s runs in the sixth inning.
Rodriguez allowed five runs, four earned runs and seven hits in four innings with one strikeout.
TRAINING ROOM
Diamondbacks: C Jose Herrera returned to the lineup after being taken out of the game Friday when he was hit in the back of his helmet by Kyle Tucker’s follow-through following a strikeout.
Astros: RF Kyle Tucker returned Friday after a 79-game absence with a broken right tibia and did not start but was available as a substitute. … INF Mauricio Dubón is battling soreness in his left thumb that forced him to sit out Friday’s game after he jammed his thumb while diving into first base.
Next
Houston RHP Justin Verlander (3-5, 4.52 ERA) will face RHP Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.15) when the series concludes Sunday night.
