Justin Verlander got his 11th win, Yordan Alvarez hit his 26th homer and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Thursday.
Jose Altuve added a homer and three RBI for the Astros.
Verlander has 24 wins against the Royals, which is his most against any team and ties him with Nolan Ryan for fourth-most in league history against Kansas City.
Kris Bubic took the loss for Kansas City, he dips to 1-6.
INF Bobby Witt Jr. was out of the lineup for a second straight game after fouling a ball off his hand Tuesday night. He still had some swelling Thursday, but Matheny said he expected Witt to hit in the cage and that he was still listed as day to day.
Brady Singer (3-3, 4.30 ERA) will face Cleveland’s Aaron Civale (2-5, 7.05) on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series, 7:10 at Kauffman Stadium.