Astros' comeback complete with big hits, shutdown relief, stellar defense  

DETROIT -- Isaac Paredes, who hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning, put the surging Astros ahead with an RBI single in the 10th inning.

First baseman Christian Walker then put the game away with a three-run homer off Tigers closer Kenley Jansen. Walker’s 19th jack of the season sent Houston to a 7-5 series-clinching win on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park.

The Astros belted three homers in scoring seven straight runs until Spencer Torkelson’s two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th off Enyel De Los Santos, who got Matt Vierling to fly out to the warning track in right with two on to end the game.

Astros closer Josh Hader had already pulled off a tightrope act after he walked the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with dangerous All-Star slugger Riley Greene in position to make it a walk-off win. However, Hader got him to go down swinging to end the threat.

“That’s why he’s one of the best, right,” manager Joe Espada of Hader. “He gets traffic, but he still gets out of it, and that’s all that matters. Put zeros on the scoreboard and give our offense an opportunity, and he did just that.”

Greene swung from his heels during the at-bat when all that was needed to win was a single. Hader said he took advantage of Greene’s aggressiveness.

“I knew my matchup with Riley,” Hader said. “It was lefty-lefty and he had two at-bats [against me] last week. He was 1-for-2. I just tried to stay aggressive with him. Obviously, being in that spot, he wants to be the hero. Realistically, all he has to do is put the bat on the ball. So, I just tried to play it against him.

“That’s my job -- keep the game where it’s at. I just execute pitches whether I’m down in the count or up in the count.”

Left fielder Brice Matthews also deserves credit for a diving catch to rob Vierling of what could have been extra bases and the winning run with one on and one out in the ninth.

“That defensive play was huge,” Espada said. “It looked like nobody was going to catch it and Brice made a big play.”

Houston trailed, 3-0, through six innings.

But the Astros mounted a comeback win for the second consecutive game to claim this four-game series. Houston (42-44) has won five consecutive series for the first time since June 20-July 6 2025 -- getting hot as summer arrives once again.

“That’s a big series win and a great team win,” Walker said. “I’m proud of the guys for locking it in and pulling it out.”

Espada said of the road trip that began in Toronto and finished here with a 5-2 record: “We came out on a mission. We’re trying to get to .500 and win series, and that’s another series win.”

The Astros are 22-13 since May 20. And there’s no hotter team in the Majors.

Raynel Delgado, starting at second base with Jose Altuve getting a scheduled day off, belted a two-run homer with two out in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to one run. Delgado’s first career homer went a projected 409 feet. And it scored Jake Meyers, who reached on a throwing error by third baseman Kevin McGonigle.

“That’s been the story these last couple of weeks,” Delgado said. “We’ve been down, but we don’t give up. Just stay fighting and stay competing. We feel like we can win every game. That’s huge when we can get back in the game like that and give the guys some energy.”

Delgado was grateful to provide the spark after making an error in the fifth that led to one run. The 26-year-old rookie from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he received the ball from his first homer from a fan in exchange for an autographed bat.

Reliever Tyler Holton gave up the homer after replacing Detroit starter Jack Flaherty, who logged five scoreless innings of two-hit ball in his return from the IL. Flaherty gave up a single and walked two in the fourth, but got Jake Meyers to go down swinging for the third out.

Paredes tied it at 3 by leading off the eighth against reliever Kyle Finnegan with a 402-foot solo shot to left for his 11th homer of the season.