William Contreras sits against Rockies on Sunday

Paredes extended the Astros’ lead to 2-0 with his solo blast. The 27-year-old also singled to improve his slash to a respectable .257/.348/.423 over the first 92 games of the campaign. It’s also worth noting that he’s swung the bat much better than that since the end of May, as he he forged an .877 OPS in June and has picked up hits in all four July contests.

Walker’s solo homer was all of the offense the Astros would need, although they did get another run on a solo blast from Isaac Paredes. That’s now Walker’s 20th homer of the season for the 35-year-old veteran, and he’s driven in 57 runs over 92 games. Walker hasn’t been elite as seen in a slash of .238/.311/.470, but it’s a vast improvement from the production — or lack thereof — in the first half of 2025.

Hader issued a leadoff walk, and then had no issue getting through the rest of the Rays’ lineup while picking up his ninth save. He’s been dominant since returning from the injured list, and this scoreless frame lowers his ERA to a miniscule 0.61 over his 15 frames.

Englert was just recalled from Triple-A Durham to start Sunday’s game, and while he picked up the loss, it went well. The only damage was a pair of solo homers, and outside of that, he had the Houston hitters off-balance while throwing 65-of-101 pitches for strikes. The Rays don’t have a starter scheduled for Friday against the Mariners, and it seems pretty likely that Englert will get the nod for that contest. If he doesn’t, it won’t be based on the results from Sunday.

Lambert threw 60-of-90 pitches for strikes, and he struck out six against one walk while allowing just three hits. The right-hander scuffled a bit in his previous outing against the Twins, but for the most part, he’s been a solid — and surprising — helper for the Houston rotation as seen in his 7-5 record and 3.26 ERA. He’ll make his final start before the All-Star break against the Rangers on the road.

The Mets led the game 5-3 after 1 1/2 innings and also after eight innings. They then crushed Cookie Carrasco for five runs in the top of the ninth, only for the Braves to make a nearly miraculous run in the bottom of the ninth, which featured a grand slam from Drake Baldwin. Bichette’s two-run double in the ninth, which seemed pretty meaningless at the time, was hit 407 feet to center and would have been a grand slam in 11 ballparks. He’s batting .350 with five homers, eight doubles and 22 RBI in his last 29 games.

The runs all came in the first, and that one was unearned was the product of McLean’s own errant pickoff throw. Rather surprisingly, McLean was sent back out for the seventh at 92 pitches. He gave up a single to Austin Riley and was pulled, but Brooks Raley got through the rest of the inning without issue. McLean has won four of his last five decisions and is now 6-5 with a 3.73 ERA. He struck out five and walked one today, and he has a nice 30/6 K/BB in his last four starts. He’ll next face the Red Sox on Friday.