Rookie Cam Smith clubbed a pair of home runs as the Houston Astros fended off the visiting San Diego Padres 6-4 on Friday in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Smith recorded the first multi-home run game for the Astros this season by producing his second and third career homers. Both came against Padres left-hander Kyle Hart (2-1) and answered solo runs by the Padres in the second and fourth innings.
After Tyler Wade spotted the Padres a 1-0 lead with his run-scoring fielder’s choice grounder in the top of the second, Smith followed a two-out double from Jake Meyers with a 403-foot blast to left-center field that scored Meyers and Yainer Diaz, who reached base on a single. Smith recorded an exit velocity of 107.8 miles per hour while drilling an 0-1 fastball.
Diaz stretched the Houston lead to 4-1 in the third with his two-out RBI single, which scored Christian Walker. With one out in the fourth, Smith struck again, depositing a 3-2 changeup from Hart into the left field seats for a 5-2 advantage.
Hart allowed five runs on 10 hits with two strikeouts over five innings. The Padres taxed Astros right-hander Ryan Gusto (2-1) similarly, but could not strike the decisive blow against him.
Gusto allowed nine hits over five innings while recording a pair of strikeouts. However, he did not walk a batter and stranded baserunners in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Oscar Gonzalez was caught between third base and home plate to conclude the second inning, and Gusto induced a double-play grounder from Manny Machado to snuff a potential threat in the fifth.
The Padres mounted a rally against Astros reliever Bryan King in the seventh, with Luis Arraez drilling a first-pitch fastball out to right for his third home run. Arraez drove home Fernando Tatis Jr., who worked a one-out walk, and cut the deficit to 5-4. It also saddled King with his first earned runs allowed this season in 9 1/3 innings.
Meyers (3-for-4) delivered an RBI single that scored Jeremy Pena in the eighth. Josh Hader recorded his fifth save with a perfect ninth.
