Christian Walker continued his hot streak with a 3-run homer, and Nick Allen went 3-for-3 with a solo HR and 2 RBI as the Astros (23-31) held off the Cubs (29-24) 8-5 to complete a 3 game sweep in Chicago.
Peter Lambert (W, 3-4) survived a tough 2nd inning in which he allowed 3 ER before settling down to get through 5 innings without allowing any additional damage. Lambert finished with 5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB and 5 K.
Nate Pearson (S, 1) pitched a scoreless 9th for his first save as an Astro and his 4th
career save. It was his first save since 2024.
The Astros struck first in the second inning, when Jake Meyers drove the first pitch he saw from Cubs SP Shota Imanaga (L, 4-5) 388 feet to left for his 2nd HR of the season to give Houston a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, the Cubs would take the lead. Moises Ballesteros drew a 1-out walk before Carson Kelly singled to center, putting runners on the corners with one out. Pedro Ramirez then doubled to right center past a diving Meyers to drive in Ballesteros to tie the game at 1. Pete Crow-Armstrong then hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Kelly to make it 2-1 Cubs, with Ramirez advancing to third. Nico Hoerner then singled to right to drive in Ramirez and make it 3-1 Chicago.
After a mound visit from Astros pitching coach Josh Miller, Lambert walked Michael Busch and hit Alex Bregman with a pitch to load the bases. Lambert finally escaped the inning by striking out the next batter, Michael Conforto, to end the inning.
Lambert, who appeared frustrated with his inability to consistently throw strikes in the inning, was pumped up after striking out Conforto, and it seemed to rejuvenate him. Over the next 3 innings, Lambert would not allow a run or a hit, and struck out 4. That effort helped an already overtaxed bullpen from being grossly overexposed, as Bryan King, Enyel De Los Santos and Steven Okert were all unavailable after pitching back-to-back days.
In the top of the 3rd, Nick Allen would get one back for the Astros, sending a 3-2 fastball from Imanaga over the wall in left for a solo HR to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Astros would break the game open in the 5th. Cam Smith (1-3, BB, 2 R) doubled to lead off the inning, followed by a walk by Zach Dezenzo. After a failed bunt by Vazquez led to a pop out, Allen was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a Brice Matthews infield pop up for the second out, Jeremy Pena singled to center to score Smith and Dezenzo, giving the Astros a 4-3 lead and runners on the corners with 2 out for Christian Walker.
Walker blasted a 2-0 pitch from Imanaga 426 ft to left center for his 14th HR of the season and a 7-3 Houston lead.
A.J. Blubaugh, who has not allowed a run when pitching only one inning since April 8, breezed through a 1-2-3 6th, but because of a shorthanded bullpen was asked to go a second inning. In his second inning of work, Blubaugh allowed a 2-run HR to Michael Busch that cut the lead to 7-5.
Bryan Abreu came on to pitch the 8th and it was a white knuckle ride the whole way. After getting Seiya Suzuki to ground out to start the inning, Abreu walked Ballesteros on 4 pitches, none of which were close. He then went 3-0 to Kelly before surrendering a single, giving the Cubs 1st and 2nd with 1 out.
Josh Miller then came out to the mound, and seemed to be trying to settle Abreu down with some positive reinforcement. To this point, Abreu had thrown 12 pitches, only 4 fastballs, with none of the fastballs exceeding 93.9 MPH.
After the meeting, Abreu would find a little extra on the heat, and on a 95.6 MPH fastball Abreu got Ramirez to bounce into a 6-3 double play to end the inning and hold the lead at 7-5.
In the 9th, the Astros would tack on an insurance run, as Allen knocked a 2-out single to right to score Smith and extend the lead to 8-5.
Nate Pearson would lock it down in the 9th, and the Astros completed the sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley. It’s the Astros second series sweep of the season, and first since their second series of the year against the Boston Red Sox.
Houston currently sits 4 games out of first place in the AL West. Hunter Brown, Josh Hader, Joey Loperfido and Taylor Trammell are all scheduled to play today for Corpus Christi on rehab assignments.
Tomorrow the Astros start a 4-game series in Arlington against the Rangers.
Pitching probables:
Monday: RHP Tatsuya Imai (1-2, 8.31) vs. RHP Kumar Rocker (2-4, 3.60) 6:05 pm start
Tuesday: RHP Jason Alexander (1-0, 7.30) vs. RHP Jack Leiter (1-4, 4.61) 7:05 pm start
Wednesday: RHP Mike Burrows (2-6, 5.75) vs. RHP Jacob deGrom (3-4, 3.86) 7:05 pm start
Thursday: RHP Spencer Arrighetti (6-1, 1.32) vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-5, 3.65) 7:05 pm start
