Astros nail Ellsbury, stop Yankees for 4th win in row
Defensive replacement Jake Marisnick made a perfect throw from left field to nail Jacoby Ellsbury at the plate for the final out and the Houston Astros held off the New York Yankees 3-2 on Thursday night in a matchup between teams with the best records in baseball.
Unbeaten Dallas Keuchel (6-0) became the first six-game winner in the majors, helped by a home run from Carlos Correa. The Astros won their fourth in a row and improved to 24-11 — their top mark after 35 games since the franchise began playing in 1962.
Ken Giles wound up with his 10th save in 11 tries, saved by Marisnick.
Ellsbury’s single with two outs in the ninth inning put runners at the corners, and then the fleet leadoff hitter stole second. Gary Sanchez followed with a sharp RBI single to left and Marisnick, who came into the game in the seventh, fired a strike to catcher Brian McCann to get the sliding Ellsbury.
Carlos Beltran and McCann were quiet in their return to Yankee Stadium, the former New York power hitters going hitless in seven at-bats for Houston. The Astros didn’t need much hitting behind the bearded Keuchel.
Keuchel kept up his resurgence, striking out nine in six innings. He earned the AL Cy Young Award in 2015, but dipped to 9-12 last season. Overall, he’s won eight straight dating to last August, matching a career high.
Keuchel once again throttled the Yankees, improving to 5-2 with a 1.24 ERA against them. Those totals include a win at Yankee Stadium in the 2015 AL wild-card game. Mookie Betts’ three-run home run in the ninth inning lifted the Boston Red Sox over the Milwaukee Brewers. It was Betts’ fifth homer of the season and third in his last four games, and it helped Boston salvage one win in the three-game series in the Red Sox’s first trip to Milwaukee since 2003. Boston’s right fielder enjoyed his time at Miller Park, as he went 7 for 11 with eight runs batted in and five runs scored.
Jason Vargas, the major league ERA leader, went seven scoreless innings, Salvador Perez had a two-run double during a five-run eighth, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays. Vargas (5-1) allowed three hits and dropped his ERA from 1.19 to 1.01. It’s the lowest ERA in the majors (at least 30 innings pitched) at the end of play on May 11th since Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez (0.93) in 2010. The last AL pitcher to be this low was the Royals’ Zack Greinke (0.51) in 2009.
Mike Napoli’s second homer was a game-ending three-run shot and the Texas Rangers beat the San Diego Padres. The Rangers had been held scoreless by San Diego starter Clayton Richard until Napoli hit a 433-foot homer to left on the first pitch of the eighth inning.