Nothing separated the teams for three innings. Then Christian Walker sent one 351 feet to right field, and that was enough of a margin for Houston's pitching to work with. The Astros defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 on Sunday at Daikin Park, with two solo home runs and a collective effort on the mound doing all the work.
Peter Lambert was the story on the mound. He went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 hits and 0 runs while walking 1 and striking out 6 on 90 pitches. He earned his seventh win against five losses, carrying a 3.26 ERA. Josh Hader closed it out with a perfect ninth — 1.0 inning, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk, 0 runs — recording his ninth save of the season, with a 0.60 ERA.
Walker's go-ahead homer in the fourth broke a scoreless tie. Two innings later, Isaac Paredes added a solo shot to left center, 401 feet, to push the lead to 2-0. Paredes finished 2-for-4 with 1 RBI. Walker went 1-for-4 with 2 strikeouts, his homer his 20th of the season.
Mason Englert absorbed the loss for Tampa Bay, falling to 0-2. He struck out 9 over 5.2 innings but allowed both Houston runs on 5 hits and a walk across 101 pitches. The Rays managed only 4 hits on the night and were held scoreless despite committing 2 errors of their own.
Houston improved to 44-47 with the victory. Walker is two doubles away from 200 career doubles. Tampa Bay, the AL East's division leader at 52-34, dropped this one after entering on a winning note.