Houston shortstop Jeremy Pena routinely is lauded for his production and personality, and the Astros missed both while he spent 33 games on the injured list earlier this season because of a hamstring strain.

With Pena back in the lineup, the Astros are reaping dividends. Pena finished 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs in the Astros’ 9-2 victory over the visiting Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday, a win that knotted this three-game interleague series heading into the finale on Sunday afternoon.

Pena homered for the first time at home this season and for the third time in his last four starts. Since his reinstatement from the IL on May 18, Pena is hitting .289 with 10 runs and eight RBIs.

“He kind of puts everything together,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He’s our leadoff hitter, he’s our quarterback on the field. Keeping him healthy is important; what he means to this team is huge.

“Having him back swinging the bat really well, hitting home runs, we can definitely use that production at the top of the lineup.”

Right-hander Tatsuya Imai (2-2, 6.17 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Astros on Sunday.

Imai worked the first six innings of a combined no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on Memorial Day, issuing four walks while logging two strikeouts. He recorded a season-high innings total and pitches (97) in his second scoreless outing of 2026.

Imai will make his first career appearance against the Brewers and his first vs. the National League.

For Milwaukee, right-hander Jacob Misiorowski (5-2, 1.83 ERA) is scheduled to start the rubber match of the series.

Misiorowski earned a 5-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals last Monday after allowing one run on two hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts in seven innings, ending his scoreless innings streak at 29 1/3, the third-longest in franchise history. He has six quality starts and leads the majors in strikeouts (100), WHIP (0.828) and hits per nine innings (4.8).

Misiorowski will face the Astros for the first time in his career. He is 3-1 with a 2.41 ERA in seven career interleague starts.

Brewers rookie right-hander Brandon Sproat recorded only 13 outs on Saturday, marking the fifth time he failed to complete at least five innings since joining the rotation on April 16, a span of eight starts.

Manager Pat Murphy expressed confidence in Sproat but acknowledged the inherent challenges of an inexperienced pitcher learning on the fly while starting for an organization harboring postseason expectations.

Sproat doesn’t have the runway to work through the issues that routinely confound young pitchers, so it might take additional opportunities for him to build the experience required to consistently work deeper into his starts.

“When you have those expectations, the manager is going to have a quicker hook,” Murphy said. “How are you going to build up that stamina if your damn manager is taking you out of the game?

“It’s not so much that when he learns to pitch, even if his stuff trails off. He’ll be able to stay out there when his stuff is a little less.”

–Field Level Media

Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer and Ryan McMahon and Ben Rice added solo blasts as the New York Yankees rolled to an easy 8-2 victory over the Athletics on Friday in West Sacramento, Calif.

Rice had three hits and two RBIs and Aaron Judge also drove in two runs as the Yankees stretched their winning streak to five games. New York has outscored its opponents 36-6 during that stretch.

Carlos Rodon (1-2) gave up one run and four hits over six innings for New York. He struck out three and walked two.

Nick Kurtz homered for the Athletics, who have been outscored 30-6 while losing four consecutive games. Rookie Henry Bolte had a career-best three hits while making his 15th major league appearance.

Athletics starter Luis Severino (2-6) gave up four unearned runs and three hits in the first inning before exiting due to right arm soreness. The former Yankees hurler was warming up for the second inning when he indicated there was a problem and was pulled after a brief talk with a trainer.

Severino dropped to 0-3 with a 9.88 ERA in four career starts against his former teammates.

The four-run first-inning uprising was set up by a throwing error by first baseman Kurtz.

After a balk moved Rice to second, Judge delivered an RBI single. Three batters later, Goldschmidt drilled a three-run homer.

Kurtz smacked a homer to center with one out in the bottom of the first to get the A’s on the board.

New York answered in the second as Jose Caballero hit a one-out double off Jose Suarez, moved to third on Trent Grisham’s single and scored on Rice’s base hit.

With two outs in the third, McMahon homered to right-center off Joel Kuhnel to make it 6-1.

New York added a run in the fourth as Grisham hit a one-out single, advanced to third on Rice’s double and scored on Judge’s infield out.

Rice blasted a homer to center off Scott Barlow on the second pitch of the seventh inning.

The Athletics added a ninth-inning tally on Zack Gelof’s one-out RBI single.

–Field Level Media

The Carolina Hurricanes, fresh off winning the Eastern Conference championship on Friday, are sizable favorites to beat the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final.

The Hurricanes head into the finals having won 12 of their 13 postseason games, the best start to a playoff run since the 1976 Montreal Canadiens captured the cup by going 12-1.

The only game Carolina lost was the opener of the Eastern Conference finals against Montreal, when the Hurricanes were playing for the first time in 12 days. Carolina swept the Ottawa Senators and the Philadelphia Flyers before downing Montreal in five games.

FanDuel lists the Hurricanes as a -162 favorite for the finals. DraftKings has Carolina at -155, and BetRivers puts the Hurricanes at -150.

The Golden Knights are +134 at FanDuel, +130 at DraftKings and +120 at BetRivers.

Vegas needed six games to get past the Utah Mammoth and the Anaheim Ducks before sweeping the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.

For Game 1 on Tuesday in Raleigh, N.C., the Hurricanes are a -155 favorite at BetRivers and DraftKings, and a -152 favorite at FanDuel. All three books have the over-under for total goals at 5.5.

Despite his team being the underdog, Vegas winger Mitch Marner is posted by FanDuel as the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy given to the most valuable player of the postseason. Marner is listed at +180.

Behind Marner on the board are four Carolina players: goalie Frederik Andersen (+250), winger Taylor Hall (+650), center Logan Stankoven (+900) and winger Jackson Blake (+1100). The next Golden Knights player listed is center Jack Eichel (+1900).

–Field Level Media