HOUSTON (Interstat) — Yordan Alvarez hit his 40th home run of the season and the Houston Astros used a season-high five solo homers to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026, at Daikin Park. The game took 2 hours, 24 minutes and drew an attendance of 34,853. Houston improved to 78-76, while Kansas City dropped to 68-86. The Astros won two of three in the series, bouncing back from a 5-2 loss to the Royals on Wednesday.

The Astros’ power display began early. Jeremy Peña hit a leadoff homer in the first inning, his 20th of the season, to tie the score after Kansas City had pushed across a run in the top of the inning. Daulton Varsho added a solo shot in the second. LaMonte Wade Jr. and Alvarez connected in the fifth, and Taylor Trammell added a solo homer in the eighth. Every Houston run came via the home run until Peña’s RBI single in the sixth. Peña finished the three-game series 8-for-13 with three homers.

Kansas City opened the scoring in the first without a hit. Carter Jensen walked, Bobby Witt Jr. walked, and Jac Caglianone was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Maikel Garcia then grounded into a double play that allowed Jensen to score. Michael Massey grounded out to end the inning. The Royals managed only three hits overall: singles by Jensen in the sixth and eighth innings and a double by John Rave in the eighth. Rave scored Kansas City’s second run on Jensen’s single in the eighth, which deflected off Wade at first base. Kyle Isbel struck out and Isaac Collins grounded out before Jensen’s run-scoring hit.

Seth Lugo took the loss for Kansas City. He worked five innings, allowed eight hits and four earned runs, struck out five and walked one. He surrendered solo homers to Peña, Varsho, Wade and Alvarez. The Alvarez homer was the 40th of his season and put Houston ahead 4-1. Lugo left after five innings. Jose Cuas pitched a scoreless inning with one strikeout. Alex Lange allowed Trammell’s homer in the eighth and finished with one inning, one hit, one earned run and one strikeout.

Houston starter Ethan Pecko was the Astros’ top star. He allowed one earned run on three hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out four. In his previous start Sept. 11 at Tampa Bay, he also pitched 5 2/3 innings with one hit, one earned run and four strikeouts in a loss. On Thursday, he exited with two outs in the sixth after Bobby Witt Jr. flew out. Bryan King relieved and earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings, striking out one. Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader helped close it out. Hader pitched a scoreless ninth. King improved to 3-5, while Lugo fell to 7-9.

Houston’s bullpen preserved the lead after Pecko departed. King entered with two outs in the sixth and retired Caglianone on a groundout to end the inning. He then worked a scoreless seventh, retiring Garcia, Massey and Perez in order. Abreu recorded a strikeout in the eighth, and Hader finished the ninth by retiring Loftin, Garcia and Massey. Kansas City’s Cuas worked a scoreless seventh, striking out Altuve. Lange pitched the eighth and allowed Trammell’s homer.

Alvarez finished 2-for-4 with the homer and one RBI. Peña went 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBIs. Wade was 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and one RBI. Varsho homered, and Trammell homered and scored twice. Yainer Diaz added a single, Isaac Paredes singled and Jose Altuve doubled for Houston. Houston’s five home runs were all solo shots, marking a season high for the club. The Astros finished with 11 hits. Kansas City finished with three hits.

The most important stretch came in the fifth. Wade hit a solo homer to right field to give Houston a 3-1 lead. After Peña lined out, Alvarez drove a ball to right field for his 40th homer, extending the lead to 4-1. The blast made Alvarez the fifth player in franchise history to reach 40 homers in a season. It also kept him among the American League leaders in several categories. Houston added insurance in the sixth on Peña’s single that scored Trammell and in the eighth on Trammell’s homer.

The Astros had chances to add more in the fifth after Alvarez’s homer. Paredes singled and Altuve doubled, but Diaz flew out to center field to end the inning. In the sixth, Trammell walked, Wade doubled and Peña singled before Alvarez grounded out. In the eighth, Trammell homered to right. Cam Smith was hit by a pitch after an Astros challenge, and Wade flew out before Peña struck out. In the ninth, Nick Loftin flew out, Maikel Garcia grounded out and Michael Massey grounded out to end the game.

Kansas City’s best chance after the first came in the sixth when Jensen singled with one out, but Witt Jr. flew out and Caglianone grounded out. In the eighth, Rave’s double and Jensen’s single produced the Royals’ final run.

The win helped Houston keep pace in the American League West. The Astros moved one game ahead of the Texas Rangers after Texas lost 4-3 to the Boston Red Sox. Houston owns the tiebreaker. With nine games remaining, Houston is 78-76. Kansas City is 68-86. The Royals will continue their road trip at Pittsburgh on Friday. Houston will host Atlanta on Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected Houston to win 4-3, and its ELO system gave Houston a 55.7 percent pregame win probability. Houston was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 8 went over the over/under line of 8.5.