Yordan Alvarez does it again with decisive homer as Houston Astros sweep Miami Marlins

Ninety-seven pitches into his night, Sandy Alcantara trotted back to the mound at Daikin Park. The Miami Marlins right-hander is one of baseball's true remaining workhorses. In a tied game, the Marlins sent him out for eighth inning to face the top of the Houston Astros lineup a fourth time.

"I feel like Alcantara is a pitcher that always wants the ball in his hand," Astros leadoff hitter Jeremy Peña said. "He's a Cy Young-caliber pitcher, he's a competitor, so I knew he was going to try to go as far as he can in this ballgame."

Peña chopped his first-pitch sinker up the middle. Otto Lopez speared it, but the shortstop's throw to first sailed. Up came Yordan Alvarez in another critical spot. It marked just the ninth time in his career Alvarez had faced a starting pitcher for a fourth time in a game.

In his previous at-bat, Alvarez had swung at a 3-1 changeup off the plate, cueing a grounder that turned into an inning-ending double play. Alvarez spiked his helmet after crossing first base, a rare display from the stoic slugger. He took Alcantara's first two-pitches in this at-bat to a 1-1 count.

"I was just trying to make sure that the ball was in the zone and I was able to connect on it," Alvarez said, through an interpreter. "The previous at-bat, the ball was running a little bit away from me, they were pitching away from me, so I was trying to attack a ball that was in the zone."

Alcantara stayed low and away with a 97.4 mph fastball, but in the zone. Alvarez lunged and drove it 394 feet into left-center field. His 34th home run of the season gave him sole possession of the major-league lead, untied Wednesday's game and elevated the Astros to a sweep.

Isaac Paredes chased Alvarez's blast with another off the signage in left field, an insurance swing for the Astros, who won 5-2 over Miami at Daikin Park. They answered a sweep by the Orioles with three wins against a spiraling Marlins club, which has lost nine in a row, and inched to 50-54.

"I think our players, our team, reacted very well after the way we played against Baltimore," manager Joe Espada said. "That was really encouraging to see how we played."

Each of the top three hitters in Houston's lineup - Peña, Alvarez and Paredes - struck home runs against Alcantara, who had allowed 14 total in his first 21 starts this season. Astros starter Peter Lambert dueled Alcantara for six innings, departing a 2-2 tie, and three relievers subdued the Marlins.

Enyel De Los Santos stranded a runner at third base in the seventh with consecutive strikeouts. Steven Okert worked a clean eighth inning. With closer Josh Hader unavailable after pitching three of the last four days, embattled Bryan Abreu drew the ninth and worked a 1-2-3 inning for the save.

ASTROS 5, MARLINS 2

E_Ruiz (2). LOB_Miami 7, Houston 4. 2B_Sanoja (20), Hernández (11). HR_Peña (9), off Alcantara; Alvarez (34), off Alcantara; Paredes (14), off Alcantara. RBIs_Sanoja (35), Mack (29), Allen (11), Peña (28), Alvarez 2 (77), Paredes (54). SB_Hernández (7), Ruiz 2 (22). CS_Spence (1).

Runners left in scoring position_Miami 4 (Conine 2, Edwards, Hernández); Houston 0. RISP_Miami 1 for 7; Houston 1 for 3.

GIDP_Alvarez.

DP_Miami 1 (Sanoja, Lopez, Stowers).

ABS Challenge_Lambert (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Diaz (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Lambert (Ball-Confirmed).

Umpires_Home, John Libka; First, James Hoye; Second, D.J. Reyburn; Third, Sean Barber.

T_2:30. A_26,099 (41,000).

Quality from Lambert

Lambert, the steadiest piece of Houston's rotation this season, threw his third consecutive quality start and his eighth in 17 outings. The right-hander has a 3.03 ERA through 98 innings. Entering Wednesday, just five American League pitchers with at least 90 innings owned a lower one.

"There's always someone during the season in years that I've been doing this, there's one pitcher, that gets an opportunity and just runs with it," Espada said. "And Peter has kind of been that guy for us. He has stepped up and he's been our ace and he doesn't back down from a challenge. He goes after these hitters, he throws strikes, he's very competitive, and he's been really, really good."

Miami threatened in the first. Otto Lopez laid down a bunt single. Heriberto Hernández singled through the left side. A two-out walk loaded the bases. Griffin Conine drove the 25th pitch of the inning deep to right-center field, but Lucas Spence ran it down.

That began a stretch of Lambert retiring nine in a row. His lone hiccup occurred in the fourth. Conine drew a two-out walk. Javier Sanoja sliced a fastball into the right-center field gap, out of the reach of LaMonte Wade Jr., starting in right with Cam Smith on the bench for a third straight game.

Conine scored on the double. Joe Mack punched a cutter into left field for a single, scoring Sanoja and tying the game. Lambert kept it there through the sixth, navigating Hernández's two-out double in the fifth inning and Liam Hicks' leadoff single in the sixth.

"I think we just had a quality mix tonight," Lambert said. "Wasn't getting too much whiff. They were kind of on everything. But I think we just constantly mixed, which helped. They made a lot of contact, they hit some balls pretty well. Defense played great. So yeah, I think the constant mix was just enough."

Lambert induced just eight whiffs on 43 swings and finished with three strikeouts. The Marlins put 21 balls in play against him, 10 with an exit velocity above 95 mph, the Statcast hard-hit threshold. Six of them went for hits, traffic Lambert wove through amid another effective outing.

Trifecta for Peña

Peña hit home runs in each game against the Marlins, marking the first time in the shortstop's career he has homered in three consecutive games.

The mini-power surge was welcome. Peña did not have an extra-base hit in his last 12 games before this series, a stretch that included both his 10-day IL stint for a calf strain and the All-Star break. He'd totaled six home runs in his first 200 at-bats this season.

Peña hit his second career grand slam in Monday's series opener, then led off Tuesday's first inning with a home run against Tyler Phillips. Leading off the third Wednesday, he sent a first-pitch Alcantara cutter 383 feet to left field at 105.7 mph off the bat. He had three hits and raised his average to .302.

"I feel like it's a matter of bringing a good plan to the plate," Peña said. "We've been working pretty hard in the cages with the hitting coaches and it's about trying to help the team, get on base so Yordan can bring me in."

Altuve sits

Jose Altuve was not in the Astros' lineup due to what Espada termed a scheduled day off. The Astros have scheduled rest days for veteran players ahead of team off days at times this season to give them extended rest. Houston is off Thursday before starting a series in Chicago.

Altuve owns a .232./.300/.402 slash line with 12 home runs in 79 games this season. He went 4-for-21 with one home run in five games on this homestand. He also grounded into a 5-4-3 triple play Tuesday, the first triple play turned against the Astros since the 2019 season.

Nick Allen, who started at second base in Altuve's stead, contributed an RBI single against Alcantara in the second inning that drove in Houston's first run.

Rehab updates

Hayden Wesneski is scheduled to make a rehab start Thursday with Triple-A Sugar Land, the fifth of his buildup from Tommy John surgery. Wesneski threw four innings and 64 pitches in his last rehab outing, and this could be his last before Houston activates him.

Brice Matthews, who was placed on the 10-day IL last Friday with a left knee sprain, will stay in Houston during the Astros' upcoming road trip to continue his rehab work. Espada said Matthews is "doing well" and should begin a running progression in the next week.

Mike Burrows is scheduled to throw a bullpen Friday in West Palm Beach, Fla., Espada said. That would be Burrows' first time throwing from a mound since Houston negated his option to Triple-A and placed him on the major-league injured list with elbow neuritis.

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