Altuve's birthday HR answers boos, Astros top Torres, Yanks

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 Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep.

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 of 75 plate appearances without an RBI.

Green started his own trouble by walking Kyle Tucker leading off. Pinch-hitter Aledmys Díaz reached on a single to third baseman Gio Urshela, and Tucker took third when Urshela threw past first for an error

Maldonado struck out to bring up Altuve, booed loudly throughout the series by fans getting to express their anger directly at the Astros since their cheating scandal en route to the 2017 World Series title was exposed. He had been 1 for 11 with no RBIs in the series when he turned on a shoulder-high 96 mph 3-2 pitch and drove it over the left-field scoreboard for a 5-3 lead.

Torres' sprint came soon after that.

With the Astros shifted to the right side, shortstop Carlos Correa knocked down Aaron Hicks' grounder near second but had no play as the ball trickled a few feet onto the outfield grass.

Correa recovered quickly, but Torres saw third uncovered and kept on going. Maldonado left his catcher's spot and ran to cover third, while reliever Ryan Pressly stayed on the mound.

Correa then made a short toss to third baseman Alex Bregman, who was near second, and...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Altuve-s-birthday-HR-answers-boos-Astros-top-16157728.php