NEW YORK (AP) – José Altuve responded to jeering fans by marking his 31st birthday with a go-ahead, three-run homer off Chad Green in the eighth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 7-4 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep. Booed throughout the series by fans getting to express their anger directly at the Astros since their cheating scandal en route to 2017
The World Series title was exposed; Altuve turned on a shoulder-high 96 mph 3-2 pitch and drove it over the left-field scoreboard for a 5-3 lead. Gleyber Torres made an incredible, daring dash for the Yankees, scoring from first base on an infield single, but New York’s five-game winning streak ended. Yordan Álvarez hit a pair of solo homers off Gerrit Cole, who turned a 3-2 lead over to Green (0-3) starting the eighth. After Torres pulled the Yankees within a run in the bottom half, Martín Maldonado hit a two-run homer off Justin Wilson in the ninth, ending a streak of 75 plate appearances without an RBI.
Cole faced the Astros for the first time since leaving them after the 2019 World Series.
Alex Scrubb (1-0) pitched a perfect seventh, and Ryan Pressly got six outs for his fifth save. Houston climbed back above .500 at 16-15.
Giancarlo Stanton and Clint Frazier homered for New York.
RED SOX 12, TIGERS 9
BOSTON (AP) – Franchy Cordero came off the bench with three hits to snap an 0-for-25 slump, then brought home the winning run in the eighth with the help of Detroit’s fourth error, and Boston Red Sox held on after blowing three previous leads.
One day after giving up three runs in the 10th, the Red Sox coughed up 4-1, 5-4, and 8-7 leads before scoring four in the eighth to avoid losing the three-game series to the worst team in the majors. Matt Andriese (1-1) won despite allowing Detroit to take a 9-8 lead in the eighth; he gave up one run on three hits, a walk, and a balk in one inning. Adam Ottavino pitched the ninth for his first save. Alex Lange (0-1) was the loser.
Washington for the first time since 2014, outscoring its division rival 14-6 over the three games. Smyly (1-2) pitched into the seventh and allowed four hits and an unearned run. Will Smith worked around Ryan Zimmerman’s pinch-hit leadoff double in the ninth for his seventh save in seven chances. Jon Lester (0-1) was the loser.
RANGERS 4, TWINS 3, 10 INNINGS
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Willie Calhoun singled in the winning run in the 10th inning, and Texas dropped Minnesota to 0-7 in extra innings. Joey Gallo and Jonah Heim homered for the Rangers. They have won three straight – all in the series – and are 4-0 in extra innings. Brett de Geus and Taylor Hearn (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings, and Josh Sborz earned his first save with a dominant 10th. Heim was the automatic runner at second in the 10th against Tyler Duffey (0-1), who let him advance with a wild pitch. Calhoun smacked a single to right field to score him. Max Kepler led off the game for Minnesota with a homer.
