ANAHEIM -- Yordan Alvarez crushed his 35th homer of the season in the first inning and delivered a two-out RBI single in the ninth to break the tie and send the Astros to a 3-2 win over the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.
After choosing to walk Alvarez in the ninth inning Monday, which wound up backfiring in the Astros’ frantic four-run rally, the Angels chose to pitch to Alvarez with runners at first and third and two outs Tuesday. He ripped the first pitch he saw from reliever Mitch Farris into center field to score Nick Allen from third base for a 3-2 Houston lead.
Josh Hader took it from there, pitching a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 14 chances.
The Astros rallied to win in the ninth inning for the second night in a row, and have won seven of their last eight games to improve to 54-55. They can reach .500 if they sweep the Angels with a win in Wednesday's series finale.
The Astros’ other run came on a solo homer by Christian Walker in the fourth.
Houston starter Peter Lambert capped a strong month of July by holding the Angels to two runs and seven hits (six singles) in five innings, striking out six batters and walking one.