Springer spurs Astros to 5th straight win
HOUSTON -- Once more, the at-bats were long and relentless. Once more, the bullpen was airtight. The Astros have found their groove and did so again on Tuesday night, when they twice rallied from deficits to beat the Yankees, 6-3, at Minute Maid Park.
George Springer’s bases-loaded double in the bottom of the eighth inning scored two runs to break a 3-3 tie and help the Astros (7-5) secure their fifth straight victory at home after a 2-5 start on the road.
"That’s why we keep playing the game," Springer said. "You never know when you’re going to get another at-bat. You never know the stage, the moment. You have to flush the last one and [move] on to the next one."
Springer’s hit off Yankees reliever Chad Green decided a game in which the Astros had baserunners in every inning except the first, collected 11 hits and drew five walks.
Michael Brantley had three hits, and José Altuve hit his 100th career home run, a towering solo shot in the top of the third inning. Altuve drove in another run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth.
So after a start that prompted all kinds of questions, the Astros are two games above .500 for the first time this season. In their last three victories, they’ve come from behind against two of the better bullpens in the game -- against the A’s on Sunday and the Yankees on Monday and Tuesday.
"I certainly like the focus and the quality of at-bats and ultimately the production," manager AJ Hinch said. "I’ve seen exactly what you’d expect to see out of this team -- good at-bats, good pitching, timely homers. I’ve seen the Astros. That’s who we are."
Starter Gerrit Cole allowed three runs in seven innings for a gritty no-decision. He remains winless on the season despite a 3.32 ERA. The Astros have scored five runs when he has been in a game.
"I’ve just been trying to settle in and find a groove," Cole said. "It was nice to battle a little bit tonight. Obviously, the New York Yankees present a handful of challenges. I just kept trying to make pitches the best I could and control what I can control. I executed mostly everything."
"[Cole] was pretty awesome,” Hinch said. "He’s really hard on himself when he misses on one or two pitches. You see how emotional he gets on the mound when he doesn’t execute a pitch. I love that about him. He’s ultra prepared and dialed it up to get out of some issues. I love when he’s on the mound."
Cole put the game into the hands of a bullpen that is arguably baseball’s best. Héctor Rondón pitched a scoreless eighth and got the victory after the Astros rallied in the bottom of the inning. Closer Roberto Osuna converted his fourth save of the season, and his 16th consecutive save as a member of the Astros.
The Astros had rallied from a 3-2 deficit to tie it on back-to-back doubles by Alex Bregman and Brantley in the bottom of the seventh. Yuli Gurriel led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, and after Josh Reddick flied out, the Astros worked Green for a pair of walks to get Springer to the plate.
Springer's hard grounder down the third-base line scored Gurriel and Robinson Chirinos easily. Tony Kemp tripped on his way home and retreated to third, but he jogged home moments later on Altuve’s sacrifice fly.
"George had had a little bit of a rough night," Hinch said. "Couple of borderline pitches didn’t go his way that ended some at-bats. It’s really easy to get frustrated. It’s also easy to try and be the superhero at the very end and try to hit the ball out of the ballpark. He had a great at-bat there at the end, and we needed it. Pretty impressive."
And about that 2-5 start?
"Again, we’re going to play all 162," Hinch said. "It’s very cliched, very coach-speak. We’re going to have some good stretches. We may have one or two mediocre stretches. That’s just the nature of the sport and the season."