Field Level Media
Apr 9, 2019
George Springer roped a two-run double to left field in the eighth inning, and the host Houston Astros rallied against the New York Yankees bullpen for a second consecutive night for a 6-3 win on Tuesday.
Springer drilled a 1-1 fastball from Yankees right-hander Chad Green (0-2) into the left field corner, scoring Yuli Gurriel and Robinson Chirinos to snap a 3-3 tie. Tony Kemp would have scored with ease from first base but tripped halfway between third and home plate before retreating back to third. He scored one batter later on a Jose Altuve sacrifice fly to center field.
The Astros claimed the first two games of this three-game set by finally delivering with a runner in scoring position with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. With Houston trailing 3-2, Michael Brantley followed an Alex Bregman double to left with an RBI double to right off Jonathan Holder. The Astros entered that frame 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position with seven runners stranded.
The eighth-inning rally did come at a cost, however, as Bregman left the game with a tweaked right hamstring. After the game, Bregman said he hopes to miss only the Wednesday game.
The Yankees appeared poised to cash in after Gary Sanchez plated Brett Gardner and Luke Voit with a double off the left field wall with one out in the sixth. Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole was victimized by a bit of bad luck that inning when Altuve short-hopped a throw to first base that handcuffed Gurriel and allowed Voit to reach on what would have been a double play. Voit later scored when the Sanchez double caromed off the scoreboard and eluded Kemp.
Cole had surrendered only one run prior to the sixth: a 405-foot homer to Voit with two outs in the first inning that cleared the fence in straightaway center field. The homer, Voit's third, was the only extra-base hit Cole allowed prior to the Sanchez double. Cole capped his night giving up three runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts over seven innings.
The Astros scored solo runs in the second and third innings off Yankees right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga -- including Altuve's 100th career home run in the third -- but also stranded a total of four baserunners in those frames. Loaisiga worked just three innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
Hector Rondon (1-0) earned the win for Houston with a scoreless eighth. Roberto Osuna recorded his fourth save.
--Field Level Media