Astros storm back in walk-off for 'win of the year' 

HOUSTON -- If Astros manager Dusty Baker were to hand out a game ball Wednesday night at Minute Maid Park, he would have needed to bring a case of them.

There was the two-run home run in the ninth inning by Jake Meyers that gave the Astros some life, the pinch-hit walk by Mauricio Dubón in the next at-bat, followed by the clutch double by Jeremy Peña, and five relievers combining for 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. And don’t forget about Kyle Tucker, whose bases-loaded, walk-off single in the ninth scored a pair to complete the Astros’ frantic 7-6 come-from-behind win over the Cubs.

The Astros had enough heroes to fill a comic book, erasing a 6-1 deficit by scoring twice in the eighth and four times in the ninth to sweep the Cubs and win their season-high fourth game in a row.

“I always say, 'If you can win the eighth and ninth, you’ve got a chance to win the ballgame,'” Baker said. “Boy, we had some heroes over heroes tonight. The guys came through. It was a wonderful win. It was the win of the year. That’s great, especially right before an off day, too. The thing I appreciate is not many of the fans left.”

No one could have blamed them for leaving in the eighth. When the Cubs were retired in the top of the eighth, they had a 98-percent chance of winning. RBI hits by Alex Bregman (3-for-4 with a homer) and José Abreu cut the lead to 6-3 heading to the ninth. Still, the Astros were 0-17 this season when trailing after eight innings.

“I think it just shows the character of these guys of never stopping and continuing to fight,” Bregman said. “Obviously, we got down in a big hole early, but our bullpen came in and did a really good job leaving it there. The offense just continued to battle all day long.”

Meyers’ two-run homer off Keegan Thompson in the ninth cut the lead to 6-5 and gave the Astros hope with the top of the lineup coming up. Dubón’s walk, Peña’s double and an intentional walk to Bregman -- the Cubs wanted lefty Brandon Hughes to face lefty sluggers Yordan Alvarez and Tucker, while setting up a forceout at all bases -- loaded the bases with no outs.

“Sometimes, in the ninth inning, when you’re down three, homers can be rally killers,” Bregman said. “Dubón comes in off the bench and puts together a good at-bat and works a 3-2 walk, and Peña probably had the biggest hit of the ninth inning with that double [and Dubón] going first to third. I think it was a good all-around team win.”

Said Baker: “All you can ask for is an opportunity and a chance. We had the big boys coming up in the middle of the order and they came through.”

Alvarez hit into a fielder’s choice that cut down the runner at the plate, but Tucker lined a single to center to score Peña and Bregman to win the game, giving Houston its first walk-off win of the season. The Cubs challenged the call at the plate, but the replay showed Bregman was safe.

“It’s really nice collectively having a lot of good ABs there in the ninth against some really good pitchers,” said Tucker, who delivered his third career walk-off hit. “It’s kind of the bright spot in coming back against a really good team.”

Things looked grim for the Astros after rookie starter J.P. France, making his first start at home, was rocked for six runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings, giving up two homers to Seiya Suzuki and one to Christopher Morel.

“We’ll have to look at video to see if I was tipping or something,” France said. “I could talk about that all I want. At the end of the day, we pulled one out and got the sweep. It was a good game.”

The Astros didn’t have a hit with a runner in scoring position until the eighth inning, but were 7-for-11 with two walks in their 13 plate appearances in the eighth and ninth innings.

Houston has scored 81 runs in the seventh inning or later this season, which leads the AL.

“That last inning, I got a good dugout [seat] for a great comeback, for the important runs,” Meyers said. “Peña, huge hit there. Huge double. What a swing by Tuck. That was fun to watch.”

Houston has scored 81 runs in the seventh inning or later this season, which leads the AL.

“That last inning, I got a good dugout [seat] for a great comeback, for the important runs,” Meyers said. “Peña, huge hit there. Huge double. What a swing by Tuck. That was fun to watch.”