Alvarez homers as Astros sweep Yankees
HOUSTON » Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman both homered and combined for five RBIs as the Houston Astros completed a doubleheader sweep of the New York Yankees on Thursday with a 7-5 win in Game 2.
Chas McCormick added a two-run home run for the Astros, who won the season series 5-2 against the team with baseball’s best record.
Rookie J.J. Matijevic’s pinch-hit RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning lifted the Astros to a 3-2 win in the opener of the day-night doubleheader between the American League’s top teams.
Aaron Judge hit his MLB-leading 34th homer on a three-run shot off Brandon Bielak to the train tracks atop left field to cut the lead to 7-5 with one out in the ninth in Game 2.
Rafael Montero, who pitched an inning in the first game, took over and was greeted with a single by Gleyber Torres. But Matt Carpenter grounded into a double play to end the game and give Montero his seventh save.
Alvarez, who returned from the injured list Thursday, smacked his 27th homer to the seats in left field with two outs in the first to give Houston an early lead. The Astros went backto-back when Bregman connected off Domingo Germán (0-1) four pitches later to make it 2-0.
The doubleheader coming out of the All-Star break was scheduled to help make up a series that was postponed because of the lockout. Houston won the first game of the series on June 30.
“It’s definitely news to watch us play each other,” New York’s Giancarlo Stanton said. “But at the end of the day, we’ve got to stay ahead of them for home-field (advantage) and every
game is important. But there’s obviously a bit more spice on these games.”
Houston manager Dusty Baker echoed the sentiments of Stanton as it relates to his team.
“It’s just July, but it’s mid-July and these things count,” Baker said. “We’re trying to chase a team.”
Germán allowed six hits and five runs in three innings in his season debut after missing the first half of the season with a shoulder injury.
In Game 1, Bregman led off the Houston ninth with a single against Michael King (6-3). Bregman advanced to third on Aledmys Díaz’s double. After Yuli Gurriel struck out, pinch-hitter Alvarez was walked intentionally to load the bases.
King looked as if he might be able to escape the jam after he struck out McCormick, but Matijevic drove in Bregman with an infield single to shortstop.
“The bullpen did a great job and boy, that was an exciting win for us and the fans and for J.J.,” Baker said. “I was happy for J.J.”
The Astros carried a 2-1 lead into the ninth. But Aaron Hicks singled against Héctor Neris (3-3) and scored on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s two-out single, a grounder that rolled just past shortstop Jeremy Peña for the tying hit. TIGERS 7, ATHLETICS 2 » Robbie Grossman doubled twice and drove in three runs against his former team, and the Tigers beat the Athletics in the first game of a doubleheader.
Jeimer Candelario hit a solo homer for Detroit, and Tarik Skubal (7-8) struck out nine in six impressive innings.
RANGERS 8, MARLINS 0 » Jon Gray pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Adolis García homered and Texas beat Miami to stop a four-game slide.
García drove in three runs. Marcus Semien had two hits for Texas and reached base four times.
The Marlins lost their fourth straight, and their scoreless streak reached 34 innings. They last scored in the second inning of their 2-1 loss against the Phillies on July 15.
Giants sign Rosenthal
SAN FRANCISCO » Right-handed reliever Trevor Rosenthal signed a $4.5 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants.
Rosenthal has a chance to pitch in the majors for the first time since 2020. He will be on the injured list with a hamstring strain initially and manager Gabe Kapler said he’s several weeks away from helping the team.
The 32-year-old Rosenthal received an $11 million, one-year contract from Oakland before the 2021 season but never pitched. He had surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in April that year and underwent surgery for a torn right hip labrum last July.
Keuchel DFA’d by D-backs
PHOENIX » Former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel has been designated for assignment by the Arizona Diamondbacks after four ineffective outings.
The 34-year-old Keuchel hoped to resurrect his career with the D-backs after signing on June 7 but struggled with an 0-2 record and 9.64 ERA, giving up 20 earned runs over 18.2 innings.