Yordan Alvarez belts 2 home runs, drives in 3 to lift Astros to 5-4 win over Red Sox
BY KEN POWTAK Associated Press
BOSTON - Yordan Alvarez belted two home runs and drove in three runs, rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high 13 over seven innings and the Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Saturday.
Zach Dezenzo hit his first major-league homer and Alex Bregman added a solo shot for the AL West-leading Astros, who won their second straight over Boston and fourth straight overall.
In recording his 19th career multi-homer game, Alvarez improved his lofty career numbers in Fenway Park, where he's batting .463 with seven homers and 19 RBIs. He entered the day leading all AL hitters with a .354 average in road games.
"You can kind of tell just by the game, the results," Alvarez said through a team translator, when asked if he enjoys hitting in Fenway.
Boston manager Alex Cora thinks the Astros' slugger is right up there with the Yankees' Aaron Judge as one of the game's best hitters. He even compared him to former Red Sox slugger and Hall of Famer David Ortiz.
"For me, he's up there with Judge, to be honest with you," Cora said. "It seems like he likes hitting here. That (Green Monster) keeps him closed, he can shoot it the other way. ... Closest thing to David, probably, in the game. Very, very, very similar to David Ortiz."
Danny Jansen and Masataka Yoshida each had a solo homer for the Red Sox, who lost a series for the first time in their last four.
Alvarez's second shot came off a slider from Brad Keller (0-3) and traveled an estimated 422 feet into the right-field seats.
Arrighetti (5-10) gave up just two hits - the solo homers - and walked one in his 92-pitch outing.
"Yeah, I think I was really locked in," he said. "Honestly, I got really angry in the first inning, second inning, a little bit. That sometimes helps me. ... I don't think I necessarily had my best stuff, but I think that I was really dialed in using what I had today."
Josh Hader got the final three outs for his 25th save despite giving up Rafael Devers' leadoff double. It was his 25th straight successful save opportunity, a Houston club record.
Alvarez had given Houston a 1-0 lead when he sent Josh Winckowski's changeup over Boston's bullpen in the first.
Bregman's seventh-inning drive sailed deep in the batters' eye in center off Keller. Dezenzo's went over Green Monster seats in left.
Wilyer Abreu's two-run single sliced Boston's deficit to 5-4 in the eighth.
Called up from Triple-A Sugar Land in April to fill an opening in Houston's injury-depleted rotation, the 24-year-old Arrighetti kept Boston's hitters off balance by mixing his mid-90 mph fastball with a changeup, sweeper and curveball until Jansen hit a first-pitch fastball completely out of Fenway over the Monster to open the fifth.
Arrighetti, the club's top pitching prospect entering the season, was coming off his best start in his last outing, when he struck out 12 over six innings, holding Tampa Bay to one run in a tough-luck loss.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: RHP Kendall Graveman (right shoulder surgery) threw off the Fenway Park mound before the game. Manager Joe Espada said it was around 10 pitches and they'll wait to see how he feels before the next step. ... RHP Justin Verlander (neck discomfort) was still expected to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday night.
Red Sox: RHP Liam Hendriks threw his second live BP, this time off the Fenway mound as he continues his return from ulnar collateral ligament surgery last August. He's expected to throw another on Tuesday or Wednesday and could go on a rehab assignment after that. "Today was better than the other day," he said. "The other day we noticed a couple of things. We, I mean, the coaching staff and my wife. She pulled up (clips) of how I used to pitch." ... 1B Triston Casas (strained rib since mid-April) continues his rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester. Cora said he won't be back this weekend or the upcoming three games against Texas.
UP NEXT
RHP Hunter Brown (9-7, 3.98 ERA) is set to go for the Astros in Sunday's series finale against LHP James Paxton (9-3, 4.42), who is making his third start with Boston since he was acquired in a trade from the Dodgers.