Astros finally break through, survive Rays’ late-game rally

SAN DIEGO — George Springer broke a tie with a tworun homer, Jose Altuve also went deep and hit an RBI double, and Zack Greinke pitched well for the Houston Astros, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 on Wednesday night to stay alive in the American League Championship Series.

The Astros finally got their offense going after being pushed to the brink of a sweep. Seeking their third pennant in four seasons, they trail 3-1 going into Game 5 today.

The Rays remain one win from going to the World Series for the second time in franchise history.

“I’m just happy that we won the game,” Springer said.

Greinke, bothered by a sore arm in the division series against Oakland, made only one big mistake when he allowed a two-run home run to rookie slugger Randy Arozarena that tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth.

Given a 4-2 lead by Springer’s home run in the fifth, Greinke’s biggest pitch came when he struck out Mike Brosseau on a 3-2 changeup to end the sixth with the bases loaded.

After Greinke allowed consecutive singles by Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows with one out, Manager Dusty Baker came out for a chat and decided to let the veteran right-hander continue. Arozarena struck out on a check-swing, and Ji-Man Choi singled to load the bases before Greinke fanned Brosseau.

On Friday night, Brosseau hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning off Aroldis Chapman of the New York Yankees that carried the Rays to a 2-1 victory in the Game 5 clincher of the division series.

Greinke held the Rays to 2 runs and 5 hits in 6 innings for his first postseason win since 2015. He struck out seven and walked one.

Astros rookie Cristian Javier pitched two innings of one-hit relief before walking Choi to open the ninth. Ryan Pressly came on and got an out before Willy Adames hit an RBI double off the bottom of the left-center wall. Pressly got rookie Yoshi Tsutsugo on a fly to right for the save.

Rays towering right-hander Tyler Glasnow also went 6 innings, allowing 4 runs and 8 hits while striking out 5 and walking 2.

Altuve hit a home run in the first and an RBI double in the third for a 2-0 lead. His offense helped make up for his three errors that helped the Rays win Games 2 and 3.

Altuve homered for the second straight game and third time this series, all in the first inning.

(AP/Ashley Landis) Houston’s George Springer (right) celebrates with teammate Martin Maldonado after hitting a two-run home run Wednesday during the fifth inning of the Astros’ 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at Petco Park in San Diego.