With the Silver Boot on the line, the Astros did what they have done for the past nine seasons now and showed out, completing the three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers with a 5-2 win on Wednesday.

A first-inning miscue that saw a catchable ball drop in shallow right field was a sign of how the series finale against the Blue Jays would go on Thursday afternoon. With Toronto already up by one run in the bottom of the first,

An 8-3 loss to Atlanta leaves the Houston Astros in a pair of must-win series against Rangers and Mariners at Daikin Park.

Tonight, they have a chance to get back into the win column and expand their playoff lead against Jack Leiter (9-8, 3.76 ERA, 131 SO) and the Rangers in the first game of a critical three game series at Daikin Park.

David Bednar entered and allowed back-to-back hits, the second one a double by Taylor Trammell, at which point manager Aaron Boone asked umpire crew chief Adrian Johnson to inspect the bat because the Yankees noticed during the series it had some discoloration that might have been illegal.

The Houston Astros slugger suffered an ugly ankle injury during Monday’s game against the Texas Rangers. During the first inning at Daikin Park in Houston, Alvarez drew a walk and then came around to score on a throwing error by Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter.