Astros 13, Athletics 2: Peña Twice, Alvarez's 42nd, Game 162 Next

Five homers in West Sacramento, and Sunday is still the whole race

September 26, 2026 - West Sacramento - Isaac Paredes hit the first one. Jeremy Peña hit the next two. Yordan Alvarez hit the one that turned a lead into a statement. The Houston Astros beat the Athletics 13-2 at Sutter Health Park, stayed even with Texas at 80-81, and left Game 162 as a simple sentence.

Win Sunday, and Houston owns the American League West. The Rangers had already beaten Minnesota 6-2 when this one started. The Astros answered with 16 hits and five home runs. Partly cloudy. 79 degrees. Wind 6 mph out to left. First pitch 6:40 p.m. Attendance 12,025. The game lasted 2 hours, 48 minutes.

"We didn't want to be in this situation, but it's what it came down to," Alvarez said after the game, per MLB.com. "It's do or die tomorrow."

Houston has the season-series tiebreaker. A win over the A's on Sunday, or a Rangers loss in Minnesota, and the Astros host the White Sox in the Wild Card Series. Both clubs lose, and Houston still takes it. Texas needs to win and needs the A's to finish the job here.

Perkins lasted five. The ball did not stay in the yard.

Jack Perkins (the loss, 3-13) threw 94 pitches in five innings: five hits, six earned, three walks, nine strikeouts, three homers. He missed bats. He also missed the part where the baseball stays fair and short of the seats.

Paredes went first. Solo shot to left in the first, his 25th. 1-0. Cam Smith reached in the third, and Peña drove one to center, his 21st. 3-0. The A's got one back in the fourth when Lawrence Butler scored on Zack Gelof's forceout, fielded by Peña. 3-1. That was the last time the night felt like a race.

Alvarez ended the argument in the fifth. Line drive to right, his 42nd, Smith and Peña scoring. 6-1. The MLB recap put him one behind Pete Alonso for the American League lead and called him the favorite for AL MVP. He is hitting .316. Chandler Simpson sits at .306 and is not expected to play Sunday.

"We feel good," Alvarez said, per MLB.com. "We feel very positive. I think the lineup today, the job that we did today, is a preview for what we can do tomorrow."

Hayden Wesneski (the win, 6-2) threw seven innings: six hits, two runs, one earned, one walk, five strikeouts, 82 pitches, 58 strikes. He balked. He did not fold. Tommy White singled Gelof home in the seventh. 9-2. That was Oakland's second and last run. Ronel Blanco threw two scoreless after that, three strikeouts, one walk, no hits.

"Simple as, 'win and you're in,' baby," Wesneski said, per MLB.com. "Let's not make it too complicated."

Peña kept finding the seats. Spence finished it.

Peña went 4-for-6 with two homers, four RBI, and four runs. His second ball left in the eighth, to left, his 22nd, Jorge Barrosa scoring. 11-2. Jose Altuve had already singled Peña home in the seventh and added another single in the eighth that scored Alvarez. Christian Walker lifted a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Lucas Spence doubled Altuve home in that same inning, then homered to right in the ninth, his fourth. 13-2.

Paredes went 3-for-5 with a homer and two runs. Alvarez went 2-for-5 with a double, a homer, two runs, and three RBI. Altuve went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI. Yainer Diaz had two hits. Smith did not have a hit. He walked twice, stole a base, and scored twice anyway.

Gelof went 2-for-4 with an RBI. White went 2-for-3. Henry Bolte went 2-for-3. Oakland put six hits on the sheet and never led. Scott Blewett, Drew Rom, and Yunior Tur followed Perkins. Rom inherited two and stranded them, then gave up five hits and three runs in the eighth. Tur allowed four in 2 1/3, including both of Peña's later damage and Spence's last homer.

The Rangers had already posted the 6-2. Houston posted 13. Sunday is still the whole race. The Astros just made sure they get to play it with the tiebreaker in their pocket and a lineup that spent Saturday treating Sutter Health Park like a launching pad.

AthX Engine after the baseball

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) put Houston at 27 team fantasy points, first on a 13-game Saturday. Peña had 17 hitting FP. Alvarez had 9. Paredes had 8. Wesneski had 21 pitching FP, first among arms on the slate.

Fantasy points measure the night under platform scoring rules. Share prices also move with traders through dynamic pricing. They are related. They are not the same number.

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*Sources: MLB.com schedule; MLB Gameday wrap; ESPN scoreboard; ESPN box score; AthX Engine daily scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*