Jose Altuve and Yainer Díaz each homered and Jeremy Peña drove in two runs as the Houston Astros defeated the Miami Marlins 7-3 on Tuesday night at loanDepot Park. With the win, the AL West-leading Astros notched their second straight victory and clinched the three-game series.
Rookie right-hander AJ Blubaugh (1-1) earned his first career MLB win, tossing five strong innings and allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts.
Altuve wasted no time getting the Astros on the board, launching a two-run homer off Marlins starter Cal Quantrill in the first inning for his 19th of the season. The blast gave Houston an early 2-0 lead and set the tone for a productive night at the plate.
Miami trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the second, when Jakob Marsee — playing in just his fifth major league game — singled home Heriberto Hernandez. But Houston kept the pressure on. In the fourth inning, Peña laced a two-run triple down the right-field line to extend the lead to 4-1.
An inning later, Díaz broke the game open with a towering three-run homer to left-center — his 16th of the season — making it 7-1 and chasing Quantrill from the game. The right-hander (4-9) struggled throughout, allowing seven runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Diaz’s 405-foot shot was the exclamation point in an offensive outburst for Houston, which finished with nine hits.
For Miami, Marsee continued his strong start in the majors, connecting for his first career home run in the fifth — a solo shot — and later drawing his fifth walk in five games. The 23-year-old outfielder also made a standout defensive play in center field in the eighth, ranging far to his right for a running catch.
Marsee has impressed since his call-up, going 6-for-12 with three RBIs and five walks in his first five games.
Eric Wagaman added a solo home run for the Marlins in the ninth, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
Houston outfielder Jesús Sánchez — facing his former team for the first time since being traded last week — collected two hits against the Marlins.
Jakob Marsee is hitting .500 (6-for-12) with three RBIs, five walks, and a homer in his first five big-league games.
The Astros will look to complete the sweep on Wednesday night. Right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (1-1, 5.59 ERA) gets the start for Houston, while Miami will counter with Janson Junk (5-2, 3.86 ERA) in the series finale.
