Correa’s HR in 11th levels series
HOUSTON — Carlos Correa led off the 11th inning with a first-pitch home run against J.A. Happ to lift the Astros to a 3-2 victory Sunday against the Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park.
Correa’s blast enabled the Astros to tie the series at a game each, with Game 3 scheduled for Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The Astros will send right-hander Gerrit Cole, the hero of their AL Division Series victory against the Rays, against Yankees right-hander Luis Severino.
George Springer also homered for the Astros, who got 6‰ gutsy innings from right-hander Justin Verlander against a Yankees lineup missing Giancarlo Stanton, who sat out with a quad injury.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer for the Yankees, who used nine pitchers.
In the fifth, a non-uniformed man in the home dugout was hit by a foul ball off the bat of the Astros’ Michael Brantley and left with a towel over his head.
The Astros released a statement late in the game on behalf of the Harris County Emergency Corps, which said one of its employees was hit and taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition. The company, which provides paramedic services, provided no other details.
Play briefly was halted after the man was hit, and Astros manager AJ Hinch came on the field to comfort a shaken-up Brantley. After play resumed, Brantley struck out but reached first on a wild pitch by reliever Adam Ottavino.
The Astros extended the protective netting at Minute Maid Park to cover more of the seating area earlier this season, but there is no such protection for the dugouts.
The move came after a 2-yearold girl suffered a fractured skull when she was struck by a foul ball off the bat of the Cubs’ Albert Almora during a game in May.