Houston, TX – Isaac Paredes delivered a dramatic ninth-inning solo home run, propelling the Houston Astros to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. The Astros’ late-game heroics evened the series after the Royals claimed the opener on Monday.
With the score knotted at 1-1, Paredes stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the ninth against Royals reliever John Schreiber (1-2). On just his second pitch, Paredes launched a towering shot to left-center field, his fifth of the season, sending the home crowd into a frenzy and securing the hard-fought win for Houston.
The game was a tight pitching duel for the majority of the night. Astros’ starter Framber Valdez was impressive, pitching eight strong innings while allowing just one run on six hits and striking out seven. Royals’ left-hander Kris Bubic matched Valdez’s intensity, yielding only one run on six hits and tying his career high with nine strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
The Royals drew first blood in the top of the fifth. Maikel Garcia led off with a walk, advanced to third on a single by Vinnie Pasquantino, and then scored on a ground ball single to right field by Freddy Fermin.
The Astros responded swiftly in the bottom of the sixth when Jeremy Peña, who has been on a tear since moving to the leadoff spot, blasted a solo home run to left field to tie the game. Jose Altuve followed with a double down the third base line, but Bubic managed to strand him, retiring the next three batters, including two via strikeout.
Both teams had opportunities to break the tie earlier in the game. In the eighth, Hunter Renfroe doubled off the wall for the Royals, and Jonathan India was hit by a pitch with two outs, but Valdez shut down the threat by inducing a groundout from Bobby Witt Jr. In the Astros’ seventh, Jake Meyers singled to start the inning but was later picked off at first base by Royals reliever Lucas Erceg.
Bryan Abreu (1-1) earned the win for the Astros, pitching a scoreless ninth inning with one strikeout.
Looking ahead, the series concludes tonight at Daikin Park. Kansas City RHP Michael Lorenzen (3-3, 3.57 ERA) is scheduled to face LHP Colton Gordon, who will be recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to make his highly anticipated major league debut for the Astros. Pregame coverage begins at 6:30 PM on Superstar Country 102.5 FM & 1530 AM KQNK, with the first pitch slated for 7:10 PM.
