Altuve’s 3-run homer in ninth caps Astros’ rally past Yankees
HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a three-run homer to cap a startling six-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, getting his jersey yanked off in a frenzied celebration and lifting the Houston Astros over the New York Yankees 8-7 on Sunday.
The Astros had been shut out by the Yankees the previous two games, highlighted by ace Gerrit Cole's three-hitter in a 4-0 win on Saturday night.
The win came on Altuve replica jersey giveaway at Minute Maid Park — Houston fans left with a No. 27 shirt, while the All-Star second baseman exited without his.
New York led 7-2 after a threerun homer by Gary Sanchez in the eighth inning.
After the first two Astros reached base against Domingo Germán in the ninth, Chas McCormick hit a two-run double off Chad Green (3-5). Abraham Toro followed with an RBI double to make it 7-5, still with no outs.
Pinch-hitter Jason Castro singled and one out later, Altuve launched his soaring shot to left field.
MARLINS 7, BRAVES 4
MIAMI (AP) — Pablo López set a major league record by striking out the first nine batters to start a game, pitching Miami past Atlanta.
The 25-year-old López (5-5) broke the mark of eight straight strikeouts to begin a game set by Jim Deshaies in 1986 and matched by Jacob deGrom in 2014 and German Marquez in 2018.
López threw 30 of his first 35 pitches for strikes.
Jesus Aguilar hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Ian Anderson (5-5) as the Marlins ended a three-game losing streak. Jesus Sanchez tripled, doubled and singled and Miguel Rojas had three hits for Miami.
REDS 3, BREWERS 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Nick Castellanos hit a tiebreaking tworun single off All-Star closer Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth inning, and Cincinnati beat Milwaukee.
The Reds took three of four in the series to pull within four games of the NL Central-leading Brewers.
Hader (3-2) came in to pitch the ninth after he surrendered a game-winning homer to Eugenio Suárez on Saturday night. He hit Suárez on Sunday, and Kyle Farmer followed with a pinch-hit single.
After a strikeout, Hader walked Jonathan India to load the bases before Castellanos laced a hit up the middle.
Ryan Hendrix (5-1), the fourth of five Reds relievers, got two outs for the win. Josh Osich worked a perfect ninth for his first career save in his 246th appearance.
WHITE SOX 7, ORIOLES 5
BALTIMORE (AP) — Adam Engel hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and Chicago completed a season sweep of Baltimore.
Andrew Vaughn homered twice for the White Sox, who have won five in a row and 10 of 13 overall. Chicago leads the AL Central by eight games over Cleveland.
The White Sox went 7-0 against Baltimore this season.
Pinch-hitter Trey Mancini's two-out, two-homer run in the Orioles ninth off Chicago closer Liam Hendriks (4-2) made it 4-all.
Yoán Moncada led off the Chicago 10th with a walk to join automatic runner Tim Anderson on base. Tyler Wells (2-1) retired the next two batters, but Engel went deep to left-center to make it 7-4.
Matt Foster recorded two outs for his first career save.
PHILLIES 5, RED SOX 4
BOSTON (AP) — Ronald Torreyes hit a three-run homer and Philadelphia used six pitchers to beat Boston.
The Phillies turned to the bullpen after losing scheduled starter Aaron Nola to Covid-19 contact tracing.
Torreyes had three of Philadelphia's six hits.
Cristopher Sánchez (1-0) got the win after taking over in the second inning, and Ranger Suárez finished it, striking out two in the ninth to earn his second save.
PIRATES 6, METS 5
NEW YORK (AP) — Wilmer Difo's tiebreaking single in the ninth inning capped Pittsburgh's rally from an early five-run deficit to beat New York.
The NL East-leading Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead against Chase De Jong in the first on a two-run homer by Francisco Lindor and a three-run shot by Michael Conforto.
Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez hit back-to-back homers in the fifth. Castro hit a two-run homer in the sixth.
In the ninth, Edwin Diaz (3-3) gave up an RBI single to John Nogowski, and Difo followed with his run-scoring hit down the third base line.
David Bednar (2-1) allowed two hits in a scoreless eighth. Richard Rodriguez worked around a leadoff single by Brandon Nimmo in the ninth to earn his 12th save.