Watch: Astros defeat Red Sox 5–4 on Jose Altuve walk-off home run
Astros second baseman Jose Altuve gave Houston a 5–4 win over the Boston Red Sox Thursday night at Minute Maid Park with a walk-off solo home run.
Both teams swapped leads during the game, with the Red Sox scoring two runs in the eighth inning to even the score at 4–4.
Lefthander Craig Breslow entered in the bottom of the eighth and set the Astros down in order, but after getting Colby Rasmus to fly out to left to open the bottom of the ninth, Altuve stepped in and drove the fifth pitch he saw from Breslow, a 90 MPH fastball, over the leftfield wall.
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Umpires reviewed the home run and upheld the call. The home run was the Astros’ first walkoff of the season, as well as the first of Altuve’s career and his second career ninth-inning home run. His first came Sept. 28, 2012, against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Altuve finished Thursday’s game 4-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI. After making his third All-Star Game appearance earlier this month, Altuve is batting .304 with nine home runs and 42 RBIs.
The win moved the Astros to 54–43 and gave them the series sweep of the Red Sox, who fell to 42–54 and lost their eighth straight.
- Mike Fiammetta