Nothing separated the teams for five innings. Then one swing changed everything. Taylor Trammell's 422-foot home run to right in the sixth gave Houston a 1-0 lead it would not relinquish, and Tatsuya Imai made sure that was enough.
Imai was the story. The right-hander held Detroit to 2 hits over 6.0 innings, walking one and striking out 10 on 96 pitches. He allowed no runs. With a 5.36 ERA entering the night, this was the kind of start that quiets doubts. Imai picked up his fifth win of the season against three losses.
Trammell's homer, his second of the year, came from a 0-0 tie and gave Houston the only lead that mattered. In the ninth, Isaac Paredes added an insurance run when Peña scored on his sacrifice fly to center, pushing the margin to 2-0. Enyel De Los Santos closed it out, allowing a solo home run to Dillon Dingler — a 432-foot shot to center — before recording the final out. De Los Santos earned his fifth save of the season.
Troy Melton pitched well enough to win. He went 6.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits, walking none and striking out 6 on 88 pitches. It was his first loss of the season against four wins, with a 2.39 ERA. Dingler's ninth-inning homer was Detroit's lone run, his 19th of the year.
Houston extended its winning streak to two games and improved to 39-43. Detroit fell to 34-46, dropping its second straight.