Houston Astros Slug Their Way to Victory Against San Diego Padres

Monday night, the Houston Astros (12-7) continued their West Coast road trip by starting a three-game series at the San Diego Padres (11-10). The Astros bats awakened after a few innings and ended up hitting three homers in a 9-4 win.

The Astros jumped out to a 3-0 lead by the middle of the fifth inning.  Shortstop Jed Lowrie hit a solo homer in the fourth and in the fifth, Jose Altuve hit an RBI double and Luis Valbuena hit an RBI single which drove in Altuve.

The Padres promptly tied the game up at 3 in the bottom of the fifth. Wil Myers hit a two-run double to left field, and a Yangervis Solarte single drove in Myers.

The teams exchanged runs again in the seventh with Jason Castro hitting a home run for Houston and Yangervis Solarte driving in another RBI for San Diego.

The Astros ended up busting open the game for good in the eighth. Joaquin Benoit replaces Brandon Maurer to pitch for San Diego and he struggled immediately. George Springer, leading off the eighth, walked. Next up, Lowrie walked. Once Colby Rasmus came up, Springer stole third base and a wild throw into left field allowed him to score.

Rasmus continued the carousel with a single to right, scoring Lowrie. However, Lowrie injured his right thumb on his slide into home plate and had to leave the game. Lowrie is scheduled to fly back to Houston on Tuesday to undergo an MRI.

A Chris Carter double plated Rasmus to score the Astros' third run of the inning, extending their lead to 7-4.

In the top of the ninth inning, Rasmus was at it again, this time hitting a two-run homer to right which also scored Springer.

Pat Neshek pitched the final two outs of the seventh inning to pick up with win for Houston. Joaquin Benoit's rocky eighth inning led to him getting tagged with the loss.

The Astros have now won eight out of their past nine games and they remain in first place with a three game lead over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Game two of the Astros-Padres series can be heard Tuesday night beginning at 9:30p, after Lubbock-Cooper Baseball on 1340 The Fan.