Houston carried a one-run lead into the sixth inning Sunday at Daikin Park, then watched it disappear in one swing. Mike Yastrzemski’s three-run homer turned the afternoon Atlanta’s way, sending the Astros to a 4-2 loss and a three-game sweep that further narrowed their margin for error.
| Club | Through 5 | 6th | 8th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Astros | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Hunter Brown did his part for five innings, blanking Atlanta while striking out 10. He also issued three walks and departed after 98 pitches, leaving Houston’s bullpen to protect the 1-0 edge.
That advantage did not last long. Bryan King faced four Braves in the sixth, and each reached base. Yastrzemski finished the rally with the go-ahead three-run shot, a familiar late-game punch for an Astros club that had seen Ronald Acuna Jr. break open Saturday’s game with a three-run homer in the seventh.
Houston had chances to answer but went hitless in three trips with the bases loaded. Yainer Diaz supplied a solo homer in the eighth, his 13th of the season, but it only cut the deficit to the final 4-2 margin.
A difficult home finish
The Astros fell to 77-79 and have dropped 10 of their last 14 games. The Braves sweep followed last week’s series sweep by Tampa Bay, deepening a slide that has arrived at the worst possible point on the calendar.
Houston closed its home schedule at 39-42. It began the day in second place in the AL West, one game behind the Rangers, with the Astros holding the tiebreaker, but now must take its postseason hopes on a season-ending six-game trip through Seattle and Oakland.
