Aledmys Diaz went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, including the game-winning RBI in the 10th inning, as the Houston Astros defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-3 Thursday afternoon in the finale of a four-game series.
The Astros avoided the four-game sweep after allowing three come-from-behind wins by the Royals in the first three games.
Diaz worked a full count with the bases loaded before singling in the go-ahead run. Yuli Gurriel was placed at second to start the inning. He went to third on a single by Yordan Alvarez. Carlos Correa drew a walk before Diaz came up.
Chas McCormick then drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to two runs. Taylor Jones drove in Correa with a sacrifice fly to cap a three-run inning.
Ryan Pressly (5-1) picked up the win in relief. Wade Davis (0-3) was the losing pitcher. Cristian Javier earned his second save.
The Royals got a run in the first on a sacrifice fly by Salvador Perez. Whit Merrifield led off with a single. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Nicky Lopez, and stole his 35th base of the season to get to third.
Lopez then snapped a personal streak of 464 at-bats without a home run with a two-run blast in the third. Lopez's last home run came Aug. 8 of last season against the Twins. Cam Gallagher drew a walk to lead off. He went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout before scoring ahead of Lopez.
The Astros got a run in the fourth, but could have had more. Correa led off with a double and went to third on a single by Diaz. McCormick's fielder's choice drove in Correa, but Royals starter Mike Minor retired the next two batters.
Houston tied it in the sixth. Correa stroked a one-out single and scored on a double by Diaz. Diaz then scored the tying run on a double by McCormick that chased Minor.
--Field Level Media
Houston | Kansas City | |
Luis Garcia | Player | Mike Minor |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
5.0 | IP | 5.1 |
3 | Strikeouts | 4 |
4 | Hits | 7 |
5.40 | ERA | 5.06 |
Houston | Kansas City | |
Aledmys Diaz | Player | Cam Gallagher |
3 | Hits | 1 |
2 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 1 |
.600 | Avg | 1.000 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
Houston | 10 | 0 | 14 | .263 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Kansas City | 7 | 1 | 10 | .212 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |