Astros 5, Nationals 4: Houston walks it off to cap wild ninth inning

The Astros’ homer-happy series appeared primed to continue Wednesday night as a pair of homers helped them claim an early lead. A pair of fielding errors in the ninth inning erased it, but the tables then turned as the Astros used a Nationals error to claim a 5-4 walkoff win at Minute Maid Park. 

With Ryan Pressly pitching for Houston in the ninth with a 4-1 lead, the first batter of the inning reached on third baseman Alex Bregman’s throwing error, then scored on an RBI double by pinch-hitter Corey Dickerson. 

Pressly secured his first out on a ground out that moved Dickerson to third base. Ildemaro Vargas grounded a fielder’s choice comebacker to Pressly, who had an easy out at home plate but fired a wild throw that sent Astros catcher Martín Maldonado diving frantically to his right and allowed a run to score. 

Pressly was clearly frustrated with himself and pounded his fist into his glove. The pain wasn’t over. On the next at-bat, Dominic Smith blasted a game-tying RBI triple to right-center field. 

In the bottom of the inning, Kyle Tucker and José Abreu struck consecutive singles off reliever Hunter Harvey to start things off. With one out, Tucker stole third base and Corey Julks walked, loading the bases. 

With Astros center fielder Jake Meyers at the plate, the Nationals brought in one of their outfielders and played with a five-man infield. Meyers appeared to ground into a double play, but instead reached on an error, which allowed Abreu to score as the winning run. 

Abreu went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and doubled for the second game in a row to drive in the game’s first two runs in the opening inning. He and Yainer Diaz homered back-to-back in the fourth inning to give the Astros a 4-0 lead. 

Astros starter Framber Valdez, who had not allowed a run in his previous two starts at home, gave up one earned run in seven innings against the Nationals. He struck out six batters and yielded five hits with no walks on 95 pitches, 61 of them strikes. 

Valdez struggled with his command in a 24-pitch first inning, throwing first-pitch strikes to just two of the five batters he faced, but buckled down and stranded two runners. He then needed just 38 pitches to cover the next three scoreless frames. Washington did not score until a leadoff double and RBI groundout in the fifth inning. 

Pressly entered the game in his customary ninth-inning spot charged with protecting a three-run lead. He failed to do so, although all three runs scored against him were unearned. 

Diaz has his day 

Yordan Alvarez’s injury finally gave Diaz an opportunity for regular playing time. The Astros called up a third catcher, César Salazar, to free up Diaz for duty at other positions. In the five games the Astros have played without Alvarez since June 8, Diaz started four times, including three games at designated hitter and one at first base. 

Unfortunately, the extra at-bats didn’t immediately translate into results for Diaz on offense — until Wednesday. 

The rookie was 2-for-11 in his past three games but snapped a 0-for-6 streak with his home run in the fourth inning, a moonshot onto the train tracks. It was Diaz’s fourth home run this season and second this month. 

Although the home run was Diaz’s only hit of the game, and he struck out swinging with two on and no out in the bottom of the ninth, he is batting .265 on the season with a .756 OPS. 

With Astros general manager Dana Brown saying Wednesday that Alvarez will likely be out for a month, Diaz should get plenty more chances to get his bat going again. 

Happy birthday, Héctor 

On his 34th birthday, Astros reliever Héctor Neris retired the side in order on 11 pitches for a scoreless eighth inning, bookended by strikeouts of the Nationals’ No. 9 and No. 2 hitters. 

Neris has a 1.33 ERA in 27 innings pitched across 28 appearances this season.