Altuve, Singleton and Peña fuel 4-run 7th inning, Astros beat the Red Sox 8-4

BY KEN POWTAK Associated Press

BOSTON - Jose Altuve hit two-run homer and Jon Singleton and Jeremy Peña added RBI singles in a four-run seventh inning as the AL West-leading Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 on Friday night.

Yainer Diaz added a two-run homer for the Astros, who pounded Boston's bullpen on the way to their third straight win. Bregman and Peña finished with three hits apiece.

Altuve's homer off reliever Lucas Sims that tied the game in the seventh inning was the 224th of his career. That moved him into fourth place on the team's all-time list.

David Hamilton had a two-run double for the Red Sox, who had won three of four and were coming off a 4-2 road trip. Boston's bullpen gave up seven runs and 12 hits in the last three innings.

Starter Tanner Houck held the Astros to one run and four hits over six innings before Altuve hit a hanging sweeper from Sims (1-5) that caromed off a billboard above the Green Monster.

Bregman and Yordan Alvarez followed with singles before Diaz hit a single off Zack Kelly, loadding the bases. Singleton and Peña each lined a hit to center before Zach Dezenzo bounced into an inning-ending double play.

Reliever Tayler Scott struck out Boston star Rafael Devers swinging with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Diaz hit his shot, his 11th of the season, through a light rain and over the Green Monster in the ninth.

Former Red Sox reliever Kaleb Ort (1-0) got four outs and earned the victory.

Boston manager Alex Cora elected to walk Alvarez with runners on the corners and two outs in the fifth. Houck got the next hitter, Diaz, to bounce to short.

Trailing 1-0, Hamilton lined his two-run shot into the left-center gap off Ronel Blanco.

Blanco bounced a pickoff attempt past first, allowing Nick Sogard to score from third, making it 3-1 Boston in the fourth.
Blanco gave up three runs, two earned, in four innings in his first career start against the Red Sox.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Astros: RHP Justin Verlander is slated to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday. Manager Joe Espada said the plan was for him to go three innings or 50 pitches, "and then we'll see where we go from there."

Red Sox: Placed RHP Brayan Bello on the paternity list, but Cora said he'll make his scheduled start Monday. However, Saturday's scheduled starter, Cooper Criswell, was placed on the COVID-19 injured list.

UP NEXT

Astros rookie RHP Spencer Arrighetti (4-10, 5.33 ERA) hopes to build off his best start of the season in Saturday's second of a three-game series. He struck out 12 and allowed a run in six innings Sunday against Tampa Bay. Cora didn't have a starter after Criswell came down with COVID.