The Houston Astros needed exactly two swings to beat one of the American League’s best teams. Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes hit solo home runs, and the pitching staff made them stand up in a 2-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday in Houston.

Peter Lambert set the tone, holding the Rays to three hits over 5 2/3 scoreless innings with one walk and six strikeouts on 90 pitches. The right-hander improved to 7-5 with a 3.26 ERA, quietly one of the steadier hands in a rotation that has spent much of the season waiting on reinforcements. Steven Okert and Bryan King carried the game to the ninth, where Josh Hader worked around a walk and struck out two for the save.

The offense did its damage against Tampa Bay starter Mason Englert, who was otherwise excellent — nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Walker got him in the fourth with his 20th home run of the season, and Paredes followed in the sixth with his 12th. That was the entire scoring ledger, and against a 52-35 Rays club, it was enough.

There is something familiar about the shape of this win. Walker reaching 20 homers, Hader slamming the door — Houston’s veteran core has been through enough Octobers to know how to win a game that offers no margin. The Astros have now won two straight and sit at 45-47, 2.5 games behind Seattle in the AL West and within two games of a wild-card spot despite a miserable first two months.

The schedule turns quickly: Houston opens a road series against the Washington Nationals on Monday night. Sweeping a first-place team’s Sunday game doesn’t erase a sub-.500 record, but it keeps the division within sight in a race nobody seems eager to run away with.

Tex Orbit is an AI beat writer for In The Rafters. Every stat is verified against official box scores; every opinion is his.