NEW YORK (AP) — Yordan Alvarez and Jon Singleton each hit long homers in the first inning for the Houston Astros, who beat the New York Yankees 4-3 on Thursday night to avoid being swept in the season series.
Alvarez hit a two-out solo shot off Marcus Stroman (2-2) into the second deck in right field measured at 116.8 mph. Two batters later, Singleton hit a two-run homer off the facade along the third deck clocked at 115.4 mph.
The Astros are the first team in the Statcast era (2015-present) to hit two homers measured at 115 mph off the bat in the same inning. The homers were the hardest-hit balls against the Yankees this season.
Jeremy Peña had two hits, including a fifth-inning RBI single, for the Astros, who were outscored 40-18 in the first six games this season — all losses — against the Yankees, whom they beat in the AL Championship Series in 2017, 2019 and 2022.
Houston has never gone winless against an opponent in a season series lasting longer than six games.
Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer off Ronel Blanco (4-0) in the third, while Aaron Judge went deep off Ryan Pressly in the eighth for the Yankees before Josh Hader got the final four outs for his fourth save. It was the first time Hader recorded more than three outs in a save since Aug. 14, 2020.
Blanco allowed four hits and walked four with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. He threw a career-high 107 pitches — including 14 against Anthony Rizzo during a fourth-inning at-bat during which the Yankees first baseman fouled off 10 straight pitches before whiffing on an 86 mph changeup.
Stroman gave up four runs and a season-high nine hits over 5 1/3 innings.
The Yankees claimed RHP Colby White off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays and assigned him to Double-A Somerset. White, 25, has a 2.83 ERA in four minor league seasons, but was 0-2 with a 17.61 ERA in nine games at Triple-A Durham before being designated for assignment last Friday. He was selected by the Rays in the sixth round of the 2019 draft.
TRAINER’S ROOMAstros: RHP Jose Urquidy (right forearm) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Sunday with Triple-A Sugar Lake. Manager Joe Espada said Urquidy will throw 60-65 pitches. … RHP Cristian Javier (neck) will come off the injured list to start against the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
Yankees: IF DJ LeMahieu (right foot) will continue ramping up this weekend, when he accompanies the team to Tampa Bay for a three-game series against the Rays. … OF Jasson Dominguez (Tommy John surgery) is expected to begin a rehab assignment within the next two weeks.
UP NEXTAstros: Continue a six-game road trip Friday night, when LHP Framber Valdez (1-1, 3.97 ERA) starts against the Tigers and RHP Casey Mize (1-1, 3.98 ERA). Valdez has given up seven runs in 10 1/3 innings in his first two starts since missing three-plus weeks due to a sore left elbow.
Yankees: Begin a six-game road trip Friday night, when RHP Clarke Schmidt (3-1, 3.50 ERA) takes the mound against Rays RHP Taj Bradley, who’s making his season debut. Schmidt has allowed three runs or fewer in 32 starts dating the beginning of 2023, the second most in the majors behind Sonny Gray (33).
ROCKIES 9, GIANTS 1DENVER (AP) — Ezequiel Tovar had a triple, double and single and Brenton Doyle hit a three-run homer in a seven-run outburst in the fourth inning as the Colorado Rockies snapped a four-game skid with a 9-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.
Colorado, which entered the game with the worst record in the majors, won for just the ninth time and avoided being swept for the fourth time this season.
Charlie Blackmon drove in two runs and finished a homer shy of hitting for the cycle for Colorado. The 37-year-old Blackmon has 762 career RBIs, fourth on Colorado’s franchise list.
Michael Conforto gave San Francisco a 1-0 lead with a solo homer in the top of the fourth before Colorado jumped on starter Keaton Winn (3-5). Tovar tripled to lead off the inning and the Rockies reeled off six straight hits, capped by Doyle’s 430-foot homer to center, his fourth of the season.
Winn got two outs, and then Blackmon tripled and Tovar doubled off of reliever Randy Rodriguez. The Rockies sent 11 batters to the plate in the fourth and tagged Winn for seven runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings.
“Winn got some pitches up and we took advantage, finally, of some mistakes and barreled balls,” manager Bud Black said.
Tovar is the second player in franchise history to have a triple and double in the same inning. Garrett Hampson did it against Arizona on Aug. 11, 2020.
Cal Quantrill (2-3) worked six innings for his second consecutive strong outing. The 29-year-old right-hander pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings at Pittsburgh on Friday and has allowed one run in his last two starts.
“It’s a lot more fun pitching with a six-run lead,” Quantrill said. “I want to win when I pitch.”
San Francisco shortstop Nick Ahmed left the game in the fourth inning when he aggravated a sore left wrist in his at-bat in the third.
“It’s the same wrist he got hit on by the line drive,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s been bothering him off and on a little bit, but obviously affected him quite a bit on that swing. We’ll get a look at him.”
DBACKS 5, REDS 4CINCINNATI (AP) — Slade Cecconi pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, Corbin Carroll drove in the game-winning run with an eighth-inning single and the Arizona Diamondbacks hung on to beat Cincinnati 5-4 on Thursday, capping a series sweep and extending the Reds’ losing skid to eight games.
Joc Pederson homered in the first inning for Arizona, which won its fourth straight. Five different players drove in runs.
“Just day by day, quality at bats,” shortstop Kevin Newman said. “The offense is starting to go a little better. Handing the at-bat off to the next guy behind you, putting him in a good position to drive a run in, knock a pitcher out, it just seems like we’re starting to play how we know we can play. I don’t think anybody in this clubhouse thinks we’re ever out of it.”
Spencer Steer’s two-out single in the seventh inning tied the game for the struggling Reds, but Carroll’s two-out hit in the eighth brought home Tucker Barnhart and gave Arizona a lead that stuck.
“When I needed them to step on the gas in the eighth inning, they gave a little bit extra,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said.
Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald struck out Will Benson and Tyler Stephenson and got TJ Friedl on a ground ball in the ninth to pick up his first save.
Cecconi (2-2) went 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits while striking out two. Kevin Ginkel (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning to get the win.
Reds starter Hunter Greene had his streak of 15 1/3 scoreless innings snapped on Pederson’s homer.
Greene allowed three runs and four hits through five innings, striking out six and walking five. Fernando Cruz (1-3) pitched the eighth and took the loss.
“It was a sluggish day,” Greene said. “I was just trying to grind through it and keep the team in the game.”
Jeimer Candelario hit his fourth home run for the Reds, and Elly De La Cruz stole two bases to push his major-league leading total to 23.
Cincinnati lost for the 11th time in 13 games and were also swept at home by the Baltimore Orioles last weekend. They haven’t scored more than four runs in a game during the losing streak, slipping a season-high five games under .500 (16-21) with a long road trip ahead.
TWINS 11, MARINERS 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Manny Margot highlighted a five-run first inning for Minnesota with a three-run double off Seattle ace Logan Gilbert, and the Twins coasted to an 11-1 victory over the Mariners to win their fifth consecutive series on Thursday afternoon.
Pablo López (4-2) pitched into the seventh with a season-high 10 strikeouts to win his third straight start. Ryan Jeffers and Max Kepler each homered and drove in two runs, Jose Miranda scored three runs on two hits and Margot matched his career high with five RBIs for the Twins (22-15), who won for the 15th time in their last 17 games.
“I don’t know what more I could ask for from our offense and the way they did their jobs,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I was sitting back for a period of time, just watching and being very impressed with the whole group.”
This matchup of premier American League starting pitchers didn’t materialize. Gilbert (3-1) ominously issued a four-pitch leadoff walk and hit his previous season high of five hits allowed in just eight batters.
The Twins got the bounces, like when Miranda checked his swing in the first inning and accidentally hit a slow-bouncing single up the third base line. But there were plenty of hard-hit balls, like the 104 mph drive Jeffers sent into the flower boxes above the wall in left-center field.
Gilbert failed to pitch into the sixth for the first time in eight starts this season. The 2018 first-round draft pick gave up eight runs, the most since he was a rookie in 2021, on nine hits and two walks while finishing five innings. The AL-leading ERA of 1.69 he took into the game rocketed up to 2.94.
“What I was doing today obviously wasn’t working,” Gilbert said.
López gave up one run on four hits without a walk in 6 1/3 innings, which included a slick catch by shortstop Willi Castro of a line drive that first glanced off the third baseman Miranda’s glove.
The stars of the show were at the plate for the Twins, who have averaged 6.6 runs and 10.1 hits over this 17-game surge. Kepler set his career high with an 11-game hitting streak and is batting .434 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 16 games since coming off the injured list. Jeffers, who entered the game ranked third in the AL in OPS, went deep for the eighth time this season.
That Twins have hit their stride with Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton sidelined — a testament to their depth.
“There’s no way to have sustained success in this game if there’s only a portion of the lineup that’s producing,” Baldelli said.
The Mariners struck out 53 times this week at Target Field, a Twins record for a four-game series. Cal Raleigh, who had a grand slam on Tuesday and a two-run double on Wednesday, whiffed in all three of his at-bats against López.
Julio Rodriguez, the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star, is batting .212 over his last 12 games with one extra-base hit and one RBI.
“There’s only a couple guys that would tell you that they’re really happy with how things have gone for them this year,” right fielder Mitch Haniger said. “We need to pick it up.”
