Yuli Gurriel delivered a walk-off single in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros claimed a 7-6 victory in the rubber match of their three-game series with the visiting Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
Gurriel, who entered as a defensive replacement in the top of the ninth, roped a single to left field off Lou Trivino (7-8) that drove home Jason Castro with the winning run. Castro singled to left to open the ninth and advanced to third base when Yordan Alvarez added a one-out double for Houston (95-67).
Oakland’s Seth Brown keyed a three-run rally in the ninth when he drilled his second home run of the game and 20th of the season off Astros right-hander Zack Greinke, making his first relief appearance since Aug. 20, 2007. Greinke had worked two perfect frames in relief of Jose Urquidy before allowing a leadoff single to Chad Pinder and Brown’s homer.
Khris Davis followed two outs later with a pinch homer off left-hander Blake Taylor (4-4) that knotted the score.
Kyle Tucker smacked a two-run, go-ahead homer with two outs in the sixth inning that gave the Astros a 4-3 lead. Tucker knocked his 30th home run off Athletics left-hander Cole Irvin and joined Alvarez (33) and Jose Altuve (31) with 30 homers for the Astros this season.
Altuve nearly set a new single-season standard in the seventh inning but just missed a three-run blast off Athletics reliever Sergio Romo. Altuve settled for a double that scored Jake Meyers.
Chas McCormick clubbed his 14th home run and Meyers his sixth, both off Irvin, in the second and third innings, respectively. Irvin allowed four runs on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts over six innings.
Carlos Correa belted his 26th home run in the eighth.
Brown and Tony Kemp recorded solo homers off Urquidy in the second and third innings, respectively. Kemp added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to his eighth home run that scored Luis Barrera and lifted Oakland (86-76) to a 3-2 lead. Kemp finished 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.
Urquidy allowed three runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts over six innings.
Gurriel finished the season batting .319 to claim the American League batting crown. Gurriel, at 37 years old, became the second-oldest player in history to win his first batting title. Barry Bonds was 38 when he hit .370 for the San Francisco Giants in 2002.
–Field Level Media
