The Houston Astros defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Friday night, thanks to Jake Meyers’ two-run homer and Jeremy Peña’s three-run homer in the fifth inning. This extends their season-long winning streak to six games.
In the fifth inning, Houston trailed by two runs until Victor Caratini singled, Jose Altuve followed with an infield grounder, and Peña blasted a slider off Freddy Peralta into the left-field seats for a 5-4 lead.
The Astros have won eight of their last nine games, recovering from a shaky start to the season and climbing to third place in the AL West.
“We’re feeling good,” Peña explained. “We’ve always believed in ourselves, from the beginning. We have an excellent crew. We have the required pieces and are progressively putting it back together.”
Hunter Brown (1-4) won his first game since September 13 after allowing four runs, four hits, and three walks. He had gone 0-6 in his last nine starts.
Milwaukee had runners at first and second with two outs in the seventh, but Rafael Montero struck out William Contreras to end the threat.
The Brewers threatened again in the eighth with two on and two outs, but Bryan Abreu struck out Sal Frelick to end the inning. Josh Hader threw a spotless ninth inning to earn his sixth save in seven opportunities.
“I see a team that is playing with urgency,” manager Joe Espada explained. “We have an edge in our game on both sides of the ball. You could see the swag, feel the enthusiasm, and now it’s time for us to take it up.
Peralta (3-2) gave up five runs and eight hits over five innings. Jake Bauers hit a single shot, and Joey Ortiz had three hits, including a three-run homer in the fourth, as the Brewers’ two-game winning streak was halted.
Bauers hit a powerful blast into the second deck in right field to put Milwaukee ahead 1-0 in the second inning.
