Yordan Alvarez socked his 34th home run in the eighth inning, a tiebreaking two-run shot that lifted the Houston Astros to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Miami Marlins and a sweep of the three-game interleague series.
Alvarez homered for the third time in the series and leads the majors in that category. He followed a leadoff infield single from Jeremy Pena with an opposite-field shot to left-center off Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara (10-6) that snapped a 2-2 deadlock and sent Miami to its ninth consecutive loss.
Alcantara entered the eighth with 97 pitches on his ledger and in control. He allowed a leadoff homer in the third to Pena, his ninth homer and third of the series, that enabled the Astros to take a 2-0 lead. Alcanatara did not allow another runner to reach scoring position until Alvarez homered.
Isaac Paredes, whose three-run homer turned the tide on Tuesday, followed with a solo shot that chased Alcantara. Paredes’ 14th home run of the season covered 398 feet to left-center.
Alcantara allowed five runs on nine hits and one walk with three strikeouts in seven innings.
Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
Astros starter Peter Lambert labored through a 25-pitch first inning. Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez singled off Lambert in the frame, and the right-hander issued a two-out walk to Liam Hicks that loaded the bases. Griffin Conine fashioned a threat with a 391-foot fly ball to right-center that Lucas Spence tracked down and caught to keep the Marlins off the board.
Conine was the first of nine consecutive batters retired by Lambert, who needed a total of 17 pitches to complete the second and third innings. But after recording two quick outs in the fourth, Lambert walked Conine and opened the door for the Marlins to erase their deficit.
Javier Sanoja plated Conine with an RBI double and scored one batter later when Joe Mack followed with a run-scoring single that knotted the score at 2-2.
Lambert allowed two runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts over six innings.
Houston relievers Enyel De Los Santos and Steven Okert (3-1) worked a scoreless inning apiece.
