Astros End the Skid. Down Nationals 7-4

Big games from Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz

Well, the Astros won’t finish the season 60-102. Tonight, the Astros finally broke through, winning their 61st game and ending their five-game losing streak, beating the Nats 7-4.

The Astros actually scored a rare first-inning run thanks to a Cam Smith double, scoring Christian Walker from first base. Smith came into the game hitting .085 since July 11, no doubt a major contributing factor to the recent Astros’ slide.

However, in a flashback of the Game 7, 2019 WS nightmare, Luis Garcia Jr. poked a below-the-zone breaking ball just over the right field wall to give the Nats a 2-1 lead.

But in the fourth inning, Yainer Diaz tied the score with his 14th home run, chasing Nats starter Michael Siroco.

Astros starter Jason Alexander pitched surprisingly well, leaving the game with two outs in the fourth and a runner on second. He finished the night allowing five hits, two walks, with six Ks, and the score tied at two.

The Astros took the lead in the fifth inning on a Cooper Hummel pinch-hit single, scoring Walker, who singled earlier.

The lead grew in the sixth on bases-loaded singles by Jose Altuve and Walker, scoring three.

An apparent fielding error on a Smith swinging bunt seemed to produce the inning’s fourth run, but it was ruled that Smith interfered with the first baseman trying to catch the throw.

The Nats tightened the score in the seventh on an RBI single by James Wood off Bryan King.

In the Astros’ seventh, Diaz and Dubon opened the inning with singles, followed by a one-out bunt single by Zack Short. Diaz scored on a Taylor Trammell groundout, giving the Astros a 7-3 lead.

But the pesky Nats wouldn’t quit. In the eighth inning, following a walk and a single, Daylen Lile hit an RBI single off Astros setup man Bryan Abreu. But Abreu escaped without further damage, striking out the next two Nats batters.

However, against closer Josh Hader, the Nats looked helpless, striking out the side swinging.

Two of the Astros’ fans favorite goats (not G-O-A-T-S) had big nights tonight. Christian Walker had two hits and two ribbies. Yainer Diaz, oft-mentioned in trade talk, had three hits, an RBI, and two runs scored. And weak hitting utility wizard, Mauricio Dubon, was 3-3.

The Astros go for a series win tomorrow, 1:10 CT.

Box score HERE.