Gurriel delivers walkoff single to cap two-run rally in the ninth
In a game that featured familiar elements — a game-winning hit by Yuli Gurriel, power pitching by Justin Verlander and a Jose Altuve home run among them — it was the relative rarity of late — a clutch at-bat from George Springer — that added spice to the Astros’ 4-3 walkoff win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
Springer, returning home after a 1-for-16 road trip following a June swoon during which he hit just .190, had a fielding gem in the third inning and a game-tying hit in the ninth to contribute to a two-run rally in the opener of an 11-game homestand at Minute Maid Park.
He was using a borrowed bat — in this case, one belonging to Altuve — but it did the job.
“I’ve been trying everything,” Springer said. “My bat wasn’t seeming to work, so I went with somebody else’s bat — the hit king. It’s mine now, but it has his name on it, so hopefully it will do
me some justice.”
The Astros’ ninth-inning heroics came off White Sox closer Joakim Soria, who had converted eight consecutive save opportunities and had 16 straight scoreless appearances before taking the mound with the White Sox up 3-2.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch sent up back-to-back lefthanded pinch hitters, and both came through. Tony Kemp drew a leadoff walk and went to third on switch hitter Marwin Gonzalez’s hit to right. Springer’s soft liner to center followed, scoring Kemp to tie the game, and Alex Bregman walked to load the bases.
Soria (0-3) struck out Altuve for the first out, but Gurriel’s single over the head of White Sox second baseman Yoan Moncada signaled the Astros’ 25th comeback win, tops in the American League, and their fifth walkoff win of the season.
“Soria gets a lot of strikeouts and is tough on righties, which is why I started with Kemp and Marwin,” Hinch said. “Then George muscled the ball into center field, and that’s a tough matchup for a righthanded hitter, especially when you’ve been carrying the weight that players do when they’ve gone through what George has been going through. Yuli should get as much praise as anybody for ending the game, but I’m proud of George and Marwin.”
Reversal of fortune
It was a sudden reversal of fortune for an Astros lineup that had struggled all night against men in scoring position. The Astros had just one hit with runners in scoring position and had stranded eight baserunners against four White Sox pitchers entering the ninth.
“It felt like we had runners at first and second in virtually every inning at some point,” Hinch said. “If we can hang in there with teams, we have some of these late-inning heroics. Guys put up good at-bats, and the crowd was energized in the ninth inning.”
Verlander, however, provided most of the juice for the crowd of 34,955 early on. He faced the minimum through five innings with one hit, a ball into the rightfield gap by Omar Navarez, who was thrown out by Springer trying to stretch it into a double.
“It’s huge any time a guy can turn a double into an out leading off an inning,” Verlander said. “It goes to show the type of player he is. He’s going through a tough time at the plate, and hopefully that at-bat in the ninth snaps him out of it.”
The Astros had ample chances early on against White Sox starter Carlos Rodon, who allowed five hits and walked six in six innings, but failed to break through until the fifth.
Bregman drove a one-out double to the left-field wall, and Altuve unloaded his eighth home run 417 feet onto the train tracks.
Smith gets the win
The White Sox, however, battled back in the sixth. Narvarez homered to right, and with two outs, Moncada followed with a line-drive single over Altuve’s head. Yolmer Sanchez drove one into the gap in left center, scoring Moncada to make it 2-2.
“The end result ended up fine,” said Verlander, who allowed four hits through seven innings while striking out 10 with no walks. “It’s the starting pitcher’s job to win, and I felt that bounce-back inning (by the White Sox), after we put up two to give up two, I was a little mad at myself.
“But we do what we do best. We battled, and we found a way to win.”
Joe Smith (3-1), who pitched a scoreless ninth inning, picked up the win in relief after Chris Devenski had given up a goahead home run to Leury Garcia in the eighth.