Yordan Alvarez, Spencer Arrighetti lead Astros over Red Sox.
Yordan Alvarez hit two home runs and Spencer Arrighetti recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts to help the visiting Houston Astros defeat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Saturday. Alvarez opened the scoring by hitting a solo home run in the top of the first, and then broke a 1-1 tie by hitting a two-run home run in the sixth. The two home runs gave him 24 this season. Alvarez is batting .463 with six homers in 11 regular-season games at Boston’s Fenway Park.
Arrighetti (5-10) limited Boston to two runs on two hits in seven innings. His 13 strikeouts were one more than his previous career high. Alex Bregman and Zach Dezenzo each added a solo home run for Houston, which extended its winning streak to four games. Bregman’s home run, his 16th of the year, gave the Astros a 4-1 lead in the seventh. Dezenzo’s homer came in the eighth, and was the first of his major league career. Danny Jansen (No. 8) and Masataka Yoshida (No. 7) each had a solo home run for Boston, accounting for the only hits against Arrighetti.
Boston’s Wilyer Abreu drove in two runs with a two-out single in the eighth that trimmed Houston’s lead to 5-4, but Rafael Devers was stranded at second after he led off the ninth with a double. After allowing the double, Houston closer Josh Hader retired the next three batters to record his 25th save. The Red Sox went with a bullpen game after scheduled starter Cooper Criswell was placed on the COVID-19 injured list Friday. Brad Keller (0-3) gave up three runs on six hits in four innings of relief and took the loss. Jansen led off the fifth with a solo home run that tied the
score, 1-1, but Houston regained the lead in the sixth when Alvarez hit his second homer to put the Astros in front 3-1. After Bregman’s home run stretched Houston’s lead to three runs, Yoshida made it 4-2 when he homered in the bottom of the seventh. Dezenzo’s home run put the Astros in front 5-2 before Abreu’s two-run single in the eighth.
