TLDR: Miami came to Houston clinging to a wild card spot and left in worse shape than it arrived, dropping the finale 5-2 to a team that's been just as banged up.
+Yordan Alvarez leads the AL in homers and average
+Lambert coming off a 10-strikeout outing
+won this game to salvage the series
−Sitting under .500 and 4 games back in the AL West
−lost Correa for the season to ankle surgery
−Peña and Walker banged up and in/out of the lineup
Sandy Alcantara (10-5, 3.95 ERA) got the ball for Miami trying to snap a brutal stretch, going up against Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.03), who came in fresh off a 10-strikeout gem against Baltimore. First pitch was 7:10 PM CT at Daikin Park, and on paper it was as even a pitching matchup as this series had. Alcantara had racked up 7 strikeouts in each of his last two starts, while Lambert has quietly turned into one of Houston's more reliable arms.
Sandy Alcantara
(12-6)·3.68 ERA
Jul 17 @ Brewers
ND
6.0IP
1ER
7K
4BB
104P
07/22 Lineup
Peter Lambert
(8-5)·3.06 ERA
Jul 17 vs Orioles
ND
6.0IP
1ER
10K
3BB
104P
07/22 Lineup
Both lineups are dealing with real absences. Houston is playing the season out without Carlos Correa, who underwent ankle surgery and is done for the year, and both Jeremy Peña and Christian Walker have been in and out of the lineup with soft-tissue issues. Miami's bullpen is even thinner — John King, Josh Ekness, Anthony Bender, William Kempner and Andrew Nardi are all shelved, and Max Meyer just went down with a neck strain. None of that stopped sharp money from stacking onto the Marlins pregame, with over $6,000 of the loudest tickets landing on Miami.
It didn't matter. Houston scratched across single runs in the 2nd and 3rd, then blew it open with a 3-run 8th, while Miami's only offense came on a 2-run 4th off Alcantara's own line. Nine hits was enough for Houston; seven wasn't enough for Miami.
This one extends what's turned into one of the ugliest stretches in recent Marlins history. Two weeks ago the front office was reportedly planning to add pieces and keep Alcantara through the trade deadline. Now, with the losing streak threatening to erase a wild card cushion Miami had built up, both Alcantara and batting leader Luis Arraez are being floated as trade chips instead.
Houston isn't thriving either — the Astros are still under .500 and 4 games back in the AL West — but salvaging the finale after dropping the first two of this series is at least a step forward. Yordan Alvarez keeps carrying the offense, leading the AL in both home runs and batting average, and that's the kind of production that can paper over a lot of injury trouble.
Marlins 2, Astros 5: Final Score & Odds Recap — Astros Salvage Series Finale While Marlins' Skid Deepens
