Astros walk twice with bases loaded in 9th, beat Rays 4-3

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros walked off to end a wild ninth-inning rally against the Tampa Bay Rays, moving closer to securing a postseason berth.

The party will have to wait one more day at least, with the Seattle Mariners stubbornly sticking around.

Rays reliever JT Chargois walked two Houston batters with the bases loaded in the ninth inning, propelling the Astros to a 4-3 win that snapped a four-game skid.

Houston turned its attention to Seattle, which finished off a 4-2 win over Oakland hours later, leaving the Astros' magic number at one to clinch a fourth AL West title in five years. They can clinch Wednesday with a win over Tampa Bay or a loss by the Mariners.

Manager Dusty Baker said the team kept looking ahead and didn't let the recent slump affect them.

“These guys, they believe that we can win and should win," Baker said.

Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve hit solo homers for the Astros as they rallied for the victory.

“We needed this one," Altuve said. “We needed to create some momentum ... to put those games in the past and start winning."

The Rays took a 3-2 lead when Randy Arozarena hit a solo homer off Phil Maton (5-0) with one out in the ninth.

Yordan Alvarez singled on a grounder off Josh Fleming (10-7) to start Houston’s ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Jose Siri. Carlos Correa then legged out a single on a hard-hit grounder to second baseman Brandon Lowe. He was initially called out, but the Astros challenged the play and it was overturned.

Kyle Tucker grounded out before the Rays intentionally walked Aledmys Díaz to load the bases. Chargois took over and walked Chas McCormick on his 10th pitch to tie it. He then walked pinch-hitter Jason Castro on eight pitches to give the Astros the unconventional walk-off victory.

“I threw some quality...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Astros-walk-twice-with-bases-loaded-in-9th-beat-16495108.php