Rookie Raynel Delgado’s first career homer jump-started the Astros’ late-inning comeback Sunday and was among the across-the-board contributions during a successful road trip through Toronto and Detroit.
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry, center, celebrates with teammate Kerry Carpenter, left, at home after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros in the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros in the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry celebrates as he rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros in the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers’ Zach McKinstry, right, watches his two-run home run against the Houston Astros in the second inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers’ Colt Keith hits a double against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty throws against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Jack Flaherty throws against the Houston Astros in the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, June 28, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
Lon Horwedel/Associated Press
DETROIT — Silenced into the seventh inning, the Houston Astros lineup caught a lifeline. Kevin McGonigle fielded a two-out chopper by Jake Meyers and pulled his throw. First baseman Colt Keith could not reach it with a toe on the bag. An error prolonged the inning and provided a young infielder a chance to atone.
Raynel Delgado drew his seventh major-league start Sunday with Houston resting second baseman Jose Altuve. In the fifth, with a Detroit runner on second, Hunter Brown got Riley Greene to pull a ground ball. Delgado, moving to his left, missed the hop. It reached right field and an Astros deficit grew to three.
“Hunter Brown was competing out there and he got a great ground ball that I should have turned over to first base — I ended up not catching it and a run scored,” Delgado said later. “So, that’s huge when we can get back in the game like that and give the guys some energy.”
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Meyers reaching in the seventh inning brought Delgado to the plate. Left-hander Tyler Holton looked in from the mound. Holton had faced 66 left-handed hitters this season before Sunday without allowing a home run. Delgado hit 41 home runs in 710 minor-league games before his first call-up this month.
“Just trying to get something that started at me that had the right tunnel,” Delgado said, “and not trying to do too much.”
Holton spun a first-pitch sweeper that hovered above the zone. Delgado drilled it 409 feet into the right-field seats, his first major-league home run and the first dent in a comeback.
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“It lifted us up,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Our offense wasn’t really going and then Delgado, big swing and just got the train going.”
Stalled for much of the first half, perhaps the Astros have gotten untracked. A 7-5, 10-inning win over the Tigers on Sunday secured their fifth consecutive series win and left them two games under .500 in a wide-open American League. They are 11-5 in that stretch following a 5-2 road trip to Toronto and Detroit.
That three of those series were against the Tigers and Royals, the clubs with the two worst records in the AL, cannot be dismissed. Cleveland is the only above-.500 team Houston played in that stretch. Yet it is a span of scheduling on which the Astros seemingly had to capitalize to right their season, and they have.
BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.242
.316
2898
387
701
138
6
112
370
287
704
28
12
34
Wade
.333
.385
12
2
4
2
0
1
4
1
3
0
0
0
Alvarez
.311
.426
302
58
94
16
0
25
56
57
63
1
0
1
Peña
.295
.356
183
34
54
9
0
6
21
15
35
8
1
5
Delgado
.280
.308
25
2
7
0
0
1
4
1
4
0
0
2
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Trammell
.264
.333
87
11
23
5
1
2
9
8
33
1
0
1
Paredes
.256
.350
285
34
73
16
0
11
45
32
53
0
0
6
Allen
.250
.290
64
12
16
2
0
1
5
3
14
1
0
0
Diaz
.244
.268
135
11
33
7
0
3
16
5
23
0
1
1
Shewmake
.243
.260
74
8
18
3
0
3
8
2
13
0
0
1
Walker
.240
.311
317
45
76
16
1
19
56
29
76
0
0
0
Altuve
.239
.311
238
36
57
12
0
8
21
24
58
1
2
3
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Loperfido
.221
.324
95
13
21
7
1
1
11
14
27
1
1
1
Smith
.218
.295
280
32
61
12
1
9
30
28
81
9
1
4
Vázquez
.214
.273
159
17
34
6
0
4
19
13
28
0
0
0
Meyers
.205
.264
132
14
27
6
0
3
11
10
30
1
2
0
Matthews
.193
.243
192
19
37
5
1
6
18
13
68
2
4
1
Dezenzo
.191
.255
47
5
9
4
0
1
2
4
19
0
0
0
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
42
44
4.74
86
86
25
761.1
690
429
401
113
374
739
Meyers
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Santa
0
1
0.71
8
0
0
12.2
5
5
1
0
5
8
Hader
2
0
0.75
12
0
7
12
2
1
1
1
5
19
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
Brown
1
0
1.78
5
5
0
25.1
17
6
5
2
13
32
King
2
1
2.25
34
0
6
36
30
11
9
1
14
27
Okert
1
0
2.48
40
1
0
40
25
11
11
4
12
36
Pearson
1
0
3.07
11
0
1
14.2
13
7
5
1
7
13
Lambert
6
4
3.28
12
12
0
68.2
52
25
25
7
28
64
Blubaugh
4
2
3.52
33
0
0
53.2
38
22
21
5
29
50
Arrighetti
7
4
4.00
13
13
0
72
56
34
32
9
37
75
Teng
4
6
4.36
23
10
0
64
59
35
31
10
28
63
De Los Santos
0
2
4.91
35
0
5
36.2
36
22
20
5
9
34
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Imai
5
3
5.36
11
11
0
47
37
28
28
6
25
58
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Burrows
3
8
5.48
16
15
0
85.1
97
55
52
19
31
69
Abreu
2
3
6.00
31
0
5
27
23
20
18
6
25
34
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Sousa
0
0
8.10
5
0
0
3.1
3
3
3
0
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Javier
0
1
12.54
3
3
0
9.1
13
13
13
2
9
4
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
The Astros left Detroit as close to .500 as they have been since April 10. A division in which no team sits above .500 is up for grabs. Four teams ended Sunday within two games of first place in the AL West, the Astros just one game back, set up for a meaningful trade deadline and second half.
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“The whole entire road trip, I felt we came out on a mission really,” Espada said. “Trying to get to .500, trying to win series.”
To a degree less evident for much of the first half, Houston’s trip displayed a resilience that sustaining its turnaround may require. The Astros trailed entering the seventh inning of two wins and entering the ninth of another. Their bullpen worked nearly as many innings (31 ⅓) over seven games as the starters (32 ⅓). Yordan Alvarez did not drive in a run during the trip. They still went 5-2.
Their relievers compiled a 2.27 ERA on the trip despite the workload, continuing a resurgence since mid-May. Such usage seems unsustainable; five of eight earned runs the unit allowed were charged to Enyel De Los Santos, who trails only Steven Okert on the staff in appearances. The end of a 13-game stretch Wednesday could allow Houston to return to a five-man rotation and a full bullpen complement.
“It’s kind of a mix of attacking the zone, cutting down on walks, and also guys are making amazing plays on defense,” left-hander Bryan King said. “We’re getting the outs when we need them.”
In the ninth inning Sunday, closer Josh Hader issued a one-out walk, just his fifth baserunner allowed in his first 39 hitters faced since returning from the injured list. Matt Vierling then sent a fly ball toward the left-center gap in Comerica Park’s spacious outfield. Espada said he cursed upon seeing its trajectory. Brice Matthews sprinted over from left field and made a sliding catch that likely helped preserve a tie.
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Lack of offense from its outfield has been a season-long issue for Houston. The group had moments on the trip. Joey Loperfido delivered two critical hits in Toronto. Cam Smith and Taylor Trammell combined for four home runs, with one of Trammell’s breaking up a perfect game bid in the sixth inning Thursday. Smith made a sparkling catch in right field to start a game-saving double play against the Blue Jays.
“All the small little plays that we make, just to give us an opportunity to hit or give us an opportunity to hand the baton to somebody else, it matters,” Espada said. “When you’re trying to win games, we need contributions from everyone.”
It applied to a lineup that has leaned heavily on Alvarez, with whom pitchers are taking caution. Alvarez totaled three hits and eight walks on the trip. Houston collected 15 hits in one game in which he rested. Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker teamed to drive in eight runs over the final two games in Detroit, the Astros erasing deficits against the Tigers bullpen in both games.
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Sunday, after Delgado’s home run pulled them within a run, Paredes led off the eighth with a game-tying homer off Kyle Finnegan. Hader escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth to force extras. Paredes struck a go-ahead single off Kenley Jansen in the 10th, again lining a two-strike pitch to the opposite field. Walker delivered the dagger, a three-run homer that decided a game and series.
“That’s been the story this past couple of weeks — we’ve been down but we don’t give up,” Delgado said. “There’s a lot of veteran guys on this team and they know a lot can happen, it’s a long game, so just stay fighting and stay competing. We feel like we can win every game.”