Astros rally in 9th to top Red Sox
BOSTON – Jose Altuve hit a tying home run in the eighth inning and the Houston offense awakened with seven runs in the ninth on Tuesday night as the Astros came back to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-2, evening the AL Championship Series at two games apiece.
Six outs from falling behind 3-1 in the best-of-seven series and facing a Game 5 in Fenway Park – where Boston hadn’t lost all postseason – the AL West champions instead guaranteed themselves at least one game back in Houston.
In a series that had been dominated by offense – especially Boston’s – the teams traded first-inning homers and then both pitching staffs put up six straight zeros on the Fenway scoreboard before Altuve’s leadoff shot in the eighth.
Carlos Correa doubled and scored the go-ahead run on Jason Castro’s two-out single in the ninth. But that was just the beginning for Houston, which had seen Boston bully its pitchers for 10 homers in the series, including a record-setting three grand slams that turned Games 2 and 3 into routs.
Home run history
Altuve has 21 career postseason home runs, breaking a tie with Derek Jeter for third-most in baseball history. Manny Ramirez is the leader with 29, and Bernie Williams hit 22.