Houston Astros vs St. Louis Cardinals Box Score on Jul 28, 2019

Jose Altuve belted a three-run home run for his 1,500th career hit and Wade Miley worked five shutout innings as the Houston Astros claimed the rubber match of their three-game interleague series against the host St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-2 victory on Sunday.

Altuve was one of three Astros to homer in the series finale, following solo blasts from George Springer leading off the game and Yordan Alvarez with two outs in the third. Altuve drove home Miley and Springer with his 16th homer this season, a 388-foot shot to left-center field off Cardinals right-hander Dakota Hudson (10-5).

Altuve reached the hit milestone in his 1,190th game, a franchise record.

Hudson allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks with five strikeouts over four innings. He surrendered all three home runs in suffering his first loss after winning four consecutive starts.

Springer homered on the second pitch of the game, drilling a 93.3 mile-per-hour sinker 424 feet to left for his 24th homer on the season and seventh leading off a contest. Alvarez doubled the advantage with his 12th homer this season, taking Hudson 393 feet to right with the count full.

Miley (9-4) labored over his first four innings yet proved resourceful enough to keep the Cardinals at bay. He stranded eight baserunners, four in scoring position, before retiring the Cardinals in order in the fifth. St. Louis finished 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position against Miley, who allowed five hits and two walks while recording six strikeouts. He tossed 97 pitches, 60 for strikes, and threw 50 cutters.

With the Astros leading 2-0, Miley escaped his most serious threat after loading the bases with one out in the bottom of the third. Miley retired Paul DeJong on a 3-2 cutter before inducing Matt Wieters to roll into an inning-ending groundout to shortstop Carlos Correa on the first pitch.

Houston has won nine of 11 games and evened its record against the National League to 8-8.

--Field Level Media