Cam Smith lined a tiebreaking two-run triple down the first base line, capping a six-run eighth inning as the host Houston Astros rallied for an 11-9 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
Isaac Paredes’ two-run home run in the seventh inning shaved Houston’s five-run deficit to 8-5. After Pittsburgh added a run in the top of the eighth, the Astros erupted for six runs in the bottom of the frame, starting the rally against left-hander Mason Montgomery and completing it against closer Gregory Soto (4-1).
Christian Vazquez and Yordan Alvarez, who tied his career high with four hits, delivered run-scoring hits before Christian Walker added a single that scored Jeremy Pena and cut the margin to 9-8.
With Paredes at the plate, Soto uncorked a wild pitch on ball four, plating pinch runner Zach Cole. Smith then tripled into the right-field corner to drive home Walker and Paredes.
Astros closer Josh Hader made his season debut in the ninth and notched his first save. He had been sidelined due to biceps tendinitis.
Houston had lost three of its previous four games, while Pittsburgh had a four-game winning streak end.
The anticipated pitching duel between Pirates right-hander Paul Skenes, the 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner, and Astros right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, named American League Pitcher of the Month for May earlier on Wednesday, fizzled.
Skenes allowed RBI singles to Alvarez and Paredes as the Astros took a 2-0 lead in the third. Skenes entered on a three-start losing skid, and after the Pirates jumped on top, he labored.
Arrighetti went 4-1 with a 0.93 ERA last month, and he hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any start this season. However, after stranding one baserunner in the first, second and third innings, Arrighetti came undone with two outs in the fourth.
Marcell Ozuna started the two-out rally with a single, and Arrighetti followed by hitting Jhostynxon Garcia with a pitch before he walked Jared Triolo. Henry Davis, a .139 hitter entering the night and batting ninth, then bashed a 3-1 fastball 396 feet to left for his first career grand slam and a 4-2 lead.
Skenes allowed singles to Pena and Alvarez to open the fifth, and Smith chased Skenes later that frame with an RBI single. Skenes allowed three runs on seven hits and one walk, and he threw a season-high 109 pitches over 4 2/3 innings. He fanned seven.
Triolo delivered an RBI single in the sixth that extended the Pirates’ lead to 5-3. Nick Gonzales’ blast off Astros reliever Nate Pearson pushed the lead to 7-3 in the seventh, and Garcia and Gonzales added run-scoring doubles before Houston rallied.
Arrighetti permitted four runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one.
