Alvarez hits 40th home run, Astros beat Royals 6-2 to move 1 game ahead of Rangers for AL West lead

By: The Associated Press Posted: 9:12 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 17, 2026 Last Modified: 10:26 PM CDT Thursday, Sep. 17, 2026

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HOUSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez hit his 40th home run, one of five Houston long balls, and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Thursday night to move back over .500 and open a one-game lead over Texas in AL West.

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Jeremy Peña hit a first-inning homer for Houston, and Daulton Varsho, Lamonte Wade Jr. and Taylor Trammell also had solo home runs as the Astros hit a season-high five.

Houston (77-76) moved back into sole possession of the lead when Texas (76-77) wasted a eighth-inning lead in a 4-3 loss to Boston. The Astros hold the tiebreaker.

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez watches his home run against the Kansas City Royals during the fifth inning of a baseball game Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Peña reached 20 homers for the first time since his rookie season in 2022, connecting on the first pitch from Seth Lugo for his sixth leadoff home run this season. Peña added an RBI single in the sixth.

Varsho homered in the second, and Wade and Alvarez in a three-pitch span in the fifth. Alvarez is one home run behind Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, the AL leader.

Bryan King (3-5) retired four straight batters. Ethan Pecko entered to start the third and allowed one run and three hits over 5 2/3 innings, retiring 15 of his first 16 batters.

Josh Hader pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, finishing a three-hitter and lowering his ERA to 0.83.

Maikel Garcia hit a first-inning, run-scoring double play grounder for the Royals following a pair of walks and a hit batter.

Lugo (7-9) tied his career high by allowing four homers, all solo shots.

Up next

Royals: RHP Randy Dobnak (3-4, 2.73 ERA) pitches Friday at Pittsburgh. The Pirates start RHP Paul Skenes (10-11, 3.78), who is 1-3 in his last nine starts,

Astros: RHP Peter Lambert (8-9, 3.71 ERA) seeks his first win since July 11 when he starts Friday against visiting Atlanta and RHP Tyler Mahle (6-10, 3.91).

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