The 12-game losing streak for the Houston Astros has finally come to an end as they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5. The Astros offense hit their stride between the third and seventh innings when all nine runs were scored. The Astros took the lead for good in the fourth inning when Jordan Schafer hit a two-run home run make it a 3-2 game. Schafer's home run countered a two-run blast by the Pirates Garrett Jones.
Those two Pirates runs were the only runs that Astros starting pitcher Lucas Harrell allowed in his 5.2 innings of work. Harrell also struck out five and allowed only five hits to get his eighth win of the season.
The Astros offense put up three runs in the seventh inning to increase their lead to 9-3 when Marwin Gonzalez hit a double with the bases loaded which cleared the bases. The Pirates made a comeback in the ninth inning by scoring two runs off of Astros reliever Chuckie Fick, but Xavier Cedeno and Wilton Lopez finished the game to get the Astros the win.
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