Jose Altuve homers, Nick Allen drives in 3 as the Astros beat the Nationals 6-3

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jose Altuve homered, Nick Allen drove in a season-high three runs and the Houston Astros beat the Washington Nationals 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Christian Vázquez drove in two for Houston, which has won three of four.

James Wood hit his 25th home run for Washington, which lost for the third time in four games. The Nationals left 11 men on base and were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Houston trailed 2-1 before a three-run fourth inning against Andrew Alvarez. After the Astros loaded the bases with one out, Allen slapped a two-run single to left. After Brice Matthews and Allen executed a double steal, Matthews scored on Vázquez’s sacrifice fly.

Vázquez chased Alvarez (2-2) with an RBI single in the sixth. Alvarez allowed five runs on four hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Altuve homered with two outs in the eighth into the visitor’s bullpen, where teammate Bryan Abreu caught it between warmup pitches. It was Altuve’s 10th homer of the year, and his second in two nights.

Nationals pinch hitter José Tena homered in the ninth against Alimber Santa. Wood singled, and after Santa struck out Andrés Chaparro, the Astros summoned closer Josh Hader. Curtis Mead’s single and CJ Abrams’ walk loaded the bases, but Hader struck out pinch hitter Dylan Crews to earn his 10th save.

Steven Okert (2-1) struck out three in 1 1/3 innings for Houston.

Wood drove Tatsuya Imai’s slider to right-center for his major league-best eighth leadoff homer of the season. Wood is the first Nationals player with consecutive 25-homer seasons since Bryce Harper in 2017-18.

Allen’s sacrifice fly tied it in the second. Washington reclaimed the lead on Abrams’ sacrifice fly in the third.

Imai allowed two runs and struck out three in 3 2/3 innings.

Houston RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-4, 3.81 ERA) faces Washington LHP Foster Griffin (9-2, 2.87) as the three-game series concludes Wednesday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Washington Nationals' Luis García Jr. hits a single off Houston Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai during the third inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Houston Astros' Christian Walker (8) is greeted in the dugout after scoring a run on a sacrifice fly hit by Nick Allen (20) hit off Washington Nationals pitcher Andrew Alvarez during the second inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Washington Nationals' James Wood, left, is greeted by third base coach Victor Estevez (7) after hitting a home run off Houston Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai during the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Washington Nationals pitcher Andrew Alvarez throws during the second inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

Houston Astros pitcher Tatsuya Imai throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Terrance Williams)

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 8, 2026--

Axelspace Corporation (“Axelspace”), a leading developer and operator of microsatellites dedicated to realizing its vision of “Space within Your Reach,” announced that the seven GRUS-3 next-generation Earth observation microsatellites were successfully launched and that the first radio signals were successfully received.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707291751/en/

The successful launch of Falcon 9 ©SpaceX

GRUS-3 was integrated via Exolaunch and launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA, on July 7, 2026 at 07:12 (UTC) during the Transporter-17 rideshare mission. The satellites were successfully put into their intended orbit. Axelspace received the first radio signals from all the seven satellites in orbit. The satellites are currently operating normally.

Axelspace is working toward completing the critical operation of the GRUS-3 microsatellite to ensure proper functioning in orbit, in preparation for future services based on Earth observation data acquired by them.

The initial announcement regarding the GRUS-3 can be found here:
Launch Date Confirmed for Seven GRUS-3 Earth Observation Microsatellites
Axelspace Equip Seven GRUS-3 Earth Observation Microsatellites with Nikon Telescopes
Axelspace Announces Launch of Seven GRUS-3 Earth Observation Microsatellites, No Earlier Than July 2026

Note: The development of a versatile satellite bus system for GRUS-3 is based on results obtained through the following projects subsidized by NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization):
“Development and Demonstration of General-Purpose CubeSat and Microsatellite Buses” (FY2023-2026) *This project was supported by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (FY2021-2022)

About Axelspace

Guided by its vision—“Space within Your Reach”—Axelspace has been at the forefront of microsatellite innovation since its founding in 2008. Leveraging cutting-edge expertise in microsatellite design, manufacturing, and on-orbit operations, the company is redefining how people and industries access space. Its flagship businesses, AxelLiner, which provides satellite development and operation services to help customers realize their space missions, and AxelGlobe, which delivers Earth observation data through Axelspace’s proprietary optical satellite constellation, are driving a new era of space utilization. Through these initiatives, Axelspace is shaping a future where space is accessible and within reach for everyone.

The successful launch of Falcon 9 ©SpaceX