Sibling showdown
Gurriel leads onslaught at the plate in rout of younger brother’s squad
Cavan Biggio was but a blur of gray when Astros catcher Martín Maldonado rose and fired a throw to Jose Altuve at second base in the fifth inning. As Altuve brought his glove down and tagged the sliding Blue Jays third baseman, his momentum carried him into a 360degree twirl that stopped only when Biggio reached out to grab his hand.
Biggio, caught stealing for the first time in his career, gave Altuve a good-natured pat on the back as he walked off the field.
The Astros had neutralized another threat — and in the next frame, the floodgates opened.
After starter Jose Urquidy gave up two early solo home runs, the Astros buckled down defensively and Yuli Gurriel lit up the bats to beat the Blue Jays 10-4 in front of the largest crowd of the season at Minute Maid Park (25,410 fans).
Gurriel went 4 for 4 with four RBIs, his first four-hit game of the season. In the fifth inning, the first baseman hit a two-run home run to left field that sailed over the head of his younger brother, Blue Jays outfielder Lourdes Gurriel, to give the Astros a 5-2 lead.
“I'm having a lot of fun,” Yuli Gurriel said. “More than anything, just being able to help the team win, it’s a really happy vibe we got going when we’re able to win ballgames, so just being able to help and contribute to that a little bit makes me feel really good.”
Three other Astros enjoyed multi-hit games. Altuve had a 2for-4 night with one run. Alex Bregman was 3 for 4 with two runs and two RBIs. Yordan Alvarez was 2 for 5 with two runs and an RBI, becoming the fastest player in the expansion era (since 1961) — and seventh-fastest all-time — to reach 100 career RBIs.
Urquidy yielded solo homers to Bo Bichette and Danny Jansen in the first and third innings, but the righthander recovered and pitched another four scoreless innings. He totaled 84 pitches and allowed four hits, two runs and one walk with two strikeouts over seven innings.
“He gave up two solo home runs, but other than that, he was masterful,” Astros manager Dusty
Baker said. “He has an outstanding changeup, and he’s using his changeup more, which seems to take the hitters off his fastball, and then he has that nasty slider to boot. And it’s fun to watch him pitch.”
With the Blue Jays leading 1-0 after Bichette’s bomb, it was Yuli Gurriel who sparked the Astros offense in the second inning with a leadoff single down the right field line. Carlos Correa, who came into the game in an 0-for-19 slump, clobbered a two-run home run to left field with a 100mph exit velocity to give the Astros a 2-1 lead.
With two outs, the Astros sand
Blue Jays starter and former Texas A&M pitcher Ross Stripling’s 2-2 pitch to Alvarez was high and outside, but home plate umpire Andy Fletcher called it a strike to end the inning.
The Blue Jays got one run back via Jansen’s solo shot in the next inning, but then it was the Astros’ turn to run up the score.
Gurriel’s long ball brought in two more runs in the fifth, and he added another with an RBI single up the middle in the seventh. Kyle Tucker’s RBI double off the center field wall made the score 7-2.
The Astros plated three more runs in the eighth inning off the bats of Bregman, Alvarez and Gurriel.
Kent Emanuel pitched two innings in relief, giving up a two-run shot to Teoscar Hernandez in the top of the ninth. The Astros limited the damage with three quick outs, and Emanuel finished allowing two hits, two runs and a walk.