HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Tucker delivered a game-ending single in the ninth inning, Jose Altuve and rookie Jeremy Peña hit solo homers, and the Houston Astros beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 Thursday night.
Yordan Alvarez singled off Gregory Soto (1-2) with no outs in the ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Chas McCormick. Yuli Gurriel walked before Tucker singled on a groundball to center field to score McCormick and give Houston its fourth straight victory.
Tucker’s hit helped the Astros bounce back after closer Ryan Pressly blew the save in the top of the inning in his return from the injured list.
The Astros led 2-0 with two outs in the ninth when Pressly (1-1) allowed a single to Miguel Cabrera. Jeimer Candelario’s two-strike shot to the second deck in right field tied it at 2.
Houston starter José Urquidy allowed six hits over six scoreless innings. Héctor Neris gave up one hit in the seventh and Rafael Montero struck out one in a scoreless eighth before Pressly stumbled.
Altuve sent Tarik Skubal’s first pitch of the game into left-center for his third homer this season. Altuve was in the lineup a day after fouling a ball off his groin area.
Peña pushed the lead to 2-0 when he connected for his sixth homer on a curveball with no outs in the fifth. Peña, who replaced star Carlos Correa at shortstop this season, is off to a good start this season. His six homers lead all MLB rookies.
Skubal gave up six hits and two runs with a season-high nine strikeouts in six innings.
Cabrera had three singles to move past Al Kaline for 31st most hits in MLB history at 3,008.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: Pressly had been out since April 14 with right knee inflammation. LHP Parker Mushinski was optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land to make room for Pressly on the roster.
UP NEXT
Houston’s Luis Garcia (1-1, 4.15 ERA) opposes Beau Brieske (0-1, 3.60) when the series continues Friday night.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
