SEATTLE -- Luis Valbuena continues to swing a hot stick for the Astros, blasting a pair of home runs in Monday's 7-5 win over the Mariners at Safeco Field to give him five home runs on the season -- all in the last seven games.
Valbuena, acquired in a trade with the Cubs, won the starting third-base job with a hot spring, and in the past week, he has overcome a slow start with an impressive display of power. He hit a solo shot in the first inning on Monday off Hisashi Iwakuma and broke a 5-5 tie with another solo blast in the eighth, this one off Danny Farquhar.