'Incredible' Peña's torrid stretch continues, leading Astros in comeback

HOUSTON – Jeremy Peña has exceeded expectations from Houston manager Joe Espada since he was moved to the leadoff spot.

For Peña, everything else is the same, it’s just a different spot in the lineup.

Peña stayed hot on Wednesday night, going 4-for-4 with two RBIs and driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth as the Astros rallied for a 4-3 win over the Royals on Wednesday night at Daikin Park.

“He is really being something more than I expected,” Espada said. “I knew he’s got the potential to be a really exciting all-around player, but right now, what he’s doing, it’s incredible. He’s not backing down from the moment. He’s getting pitches to hit, and he’s not missing them. … The job he’s doing is outstanding.”

Peña, who also had an RBI double in the sixth to cut Kansas City’s lead to 3-2, extended his hitting streak to seven games and has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games.

Since being moved to the leadoff spot on April 27, he is hitting .406 (28-for-69) with three home runs and 15 RBIs and has raised his batting average from .247 to .315 over the last 16 games.

“I’ve just been trying to play my same game,” Peña said. “I haven’t changed much. Same preparation, same approach. Just hitting at a different spot in the lineup. That’s about it.”

Mauricio Dubón tied it at 3 in the eighth with an RBI double to left, scoring pinch-runner Chas McCormick from first, and Peña followed with an RBI single to left off Royals closer Carlos Estévez.

“He throws hard,” Peña said of facing Estévez. “You kind of always have the fastball in your head, but I wasn’t trying to do too much. He throws hard, so I was just trying to put the bat on the ball and let the ball do its thing.”

Isaac Paredes hit a solo home run to the Crawford Boxes in left field in the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1. Paredes has homered in consecutive games after hitting his first career walk-off to give the Astros a 2-1 win over the Royals on Tuesday night. Paredes extended his on-base streak to a career-long 22 games.

It was the second straight game Houston rallied late for the win.

“I thought we were clutch,” Espada said. “We got the big hits when we needed to. Our bullpen did a nice job keeping us in the game, and our offense never stopped pushing until we got those big hits from Jeremy. Nice at bat by Dubón there. That was a great team win, great team series.”

The comeback win started with an up-and-down outing from Colton Gordon, who had plenty of traffic in his Major League debut, but he yielded three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.

“I think he competed,” Espada said. “He did not back down from the stage, the moment. I really like how he goes and throws his fastball in regardless of who is at the plate. I thought he was aggressive in the zone. I thought it was a really good performance, a really good first impression.”

The Royals had a runner in scoring position in all but one inning against the left-hander, but Gordon was able to escape trouble in the first and third innings unscathed. He allowed two runs in the second and one in the fifth.

Gordon got some defensive help in the third as Jake Meyers saved two runs from scoring, making a jumping grab against the center field wall and robbing Hunter Renfroe of extra bases to end the inning.

Gordon said he felt good about his first start, but there is “always room to improve.”

“There’s stuff that will be better as we go,” Gordon said. “Overall, happy. [Catcher Victor Caratini] did a great job helping me out. Taking the lead and following his lead on that. Then, the boys behind me. Jake with a crazy catch in center field. It was sick. Made some plays in the infield as well.”

Houston finished the six-game homestand against the Reds and Royals 4-2 as they hit the road for four against the Rangers.

“We want to keep winning games, kind of building off of the previous games, catching some momentum and bringing that momentum to our next series,” Peña said.