Astros fend off Rockies behind Yainer Diaz’s 2 HRs

Yainer Diaz homered twice and drove in three runs, and the Houston Astros won their fourth consecutive game while completing a two-game series sweep of the visiting Colorado Rockies, 6-4 on Wednesday.

Diaz set the tone in the second inning with a solo shot to left field off Rockies starter Chase Anderson.

Diaz homered again in his next at-bat in the fourth, the first of two two-run homers in the inning. He scored Jose Abreu, while Jeremy Pena went yard to send home Corey Julks.

Diaz's two home runs were his ninth and 10th on the season. Pena's blast was his 10th.

Houston's four-run deluge in the fourth proved vital, as Colorado battled back with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

The Rockies broke up Houston starter J.P. France's shutout bid in the fifth when Harold Castro scored Nolan Jones on a single, then Jurickson Profar's infield single plated Ezequiel Tovar.

C.J. Cron hit a solo home run off France in the sixth inning, then Randal Grichuk hit a homer off of Hector Neris in the seventh to pull Colorado within a run.

Houston threatened to blow the game open in its half of the seventh when Julks and Pena led off with consecutive singles. After Jake Meyers struck out, Mauricio Dubon singled to score Julks and make it 6-4.

Alex Bregman drew a walk to load the bases with one out, but Pierce Johnson struck out Kyle Tucker and Daniel Bard forced an Abreu pop-up for the Rockies to escape the inning without any more damage.

However, the two-run deficit proved to be enough for Houston. Bard retired Colorado's batters in order in the eighth, and Ryan Pressly struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth to record his 19th save of the season.

France (4-3) earned the win for Houston. He allowed three runs on six hits, striking out four in six innings.

Anderson (0-4) took the loss for Colorado, giving up five runs on seven hits and a walk in four innings.