Alvarez gets 'M-V-P' chants as Astros stay hot before Trade Deadline

HOUSTON -- The Astros will roar into the Trade Deadline as the hottest team in baseball -- while still actively looking to upgrade their roster -- after posting their second consecutive sweep over an American League West division rival with a 7-3 win over the Rangers on Sunday afternoon.

Houston never trailed at any point in the three-game series, scoring four times in the seventh inning Sunday to break open a tied game. Cam Smith’s RBI single gave the Astros the lead, and Yordan Alvarez’s bases-loaded double made it 7-3 while the Daikin Park crowd broke into “M-V-P!” chants.

Alvarez went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and continues to lead the AL in all three Triple Crown categories, hitting .330 with 35 home runs and 84 RBIs.

The Astros (58-55), winners of 11 of their past 12 games, ran their win streak to a season-high six games to open up a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place Rangers in the AL West with the Trade Deadline looming at 5 p.m. CT Monday.

Members of the Astros’ front office held a meeting prior to Sunday’s game to discuss trades to address their biggest needs: a left-handed bat, relief pitching and starting pitching. The expectation is the club will make at least one deal prior to the Deadline.

Astros starter Peter Lambert retired the first 12 Rangers he faced, including seven by strikeout. The Astros, who stranded the bases loaded in the first and wasted a leadoff double in the second, finally broke through in the third when Jose Altuve hit a grounder off pitcher Kumar Rocker’s foot, allowing Alvarez to score from third.

Jeremy Peña lined a two-run home run into the first row of the Crawford Boxes in the fourth to give the Astros a 3-0 lead. Lambert allowed the first four batters to reach in the fifth, leading to a pair of runs, and Brandon Nimmo tied the game with a leadoff homer in the seventh off Steven Okert.