Houston Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña started the game against the Los Angeles Angels in a very unusual way on Sunday. In the first inning, he misplayed a Mike Trout ground ball that allowed Trout to reach base for the first time in the series. It went on the scoreboard as a hit but was changed to an E6 fielding error on Peña.

Although the Astros were able to get out of the inning, it was very uncommon for the rookie phenom to make a mistake on a play that he has made routinely since his little league.

Later, in the bottom of the seventh inning, with the score tied at two, Peña would make an aggressive move towards third base after designated hitter Yordan Alvarez grounded into a fielder’s choice.

The Angels were in a hard shift and didn’t have anyone covering third base. Peña’s momentum carried him around second base, and with a full head of steam, he continued towards the empty base, but Los Angeles third baseman Jonathan Villar beat him to the bag and tagged him out.

The average rookie would have allowed those two plays to weigh heavily on them throughout the game, but Peña is not your average rookie. He was mentored by one of the best shortstops in the game in former Astro Carlos Correa. This means he doesn’t get rattled easily and takes advantage of the big moments.

Peña's star would shine the brightest when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied and two outs. With Jose Altuve standing on first base representing the winning run, all he wanted to do was get a good hit and prevent the game from going into extra innings. Peña hit a first-pitch slider from Angels reliever Ryan Tepera to deep center field for his second home run of the game to give the Astros a 4-2 victory and a three-game sweep of the Angels.

This situation may sound familiar to most Astros fans in attendance for the April 24th game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Peña hit a homer in the bottom of the 10th inning that landed in nearly the same spot as the ball on Sunday.

“It was my first multi-homer game and to end it on a walk-off is unreal,” said Peña who finished the game by going 4-for-5 at the plate. “It’s always fun walking it off. You get the win, and we get to go home. It was great.”

Even though the walk-off homer will be most talked about on all the local sports stations, the Astros used a strong pitching performance by Framber Valdez and three relievers to set a franchise record of 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game. Valdez had 13 of those strikeouts to set a new career-high, and at one point, he recorded 12 consecutive outs via the strikeout to set a new franchise record.

“I did feel a little bit uncomfortable because of all the walks I gave up today, but when I got focused, I said I was going to strike out more batters and attack the zone,” Valdez said. “I got excited for all the strikeouts, but definitely felt a little bit uncomfortable because of all the walks.”

With the sweep of the Angels, the Astros won their sixth consecutive game and now have a 13 ½ game lead over second-place Seattle and Texas. Houston will begin a four-game homestand against the Kansas City Royals starting Monday, July 4th.