Jose Siri and Chas McCormick clubbed back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning and the Houston Astros rallied to claim the rubber match of their interleague series with the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6 on Sunday.
Siri pulled the Astros even at 6-6 with his two-run shot off Arizona reliever Brandyn Sittinger (0-1), a 423-foot blast to left-center field that scored Carlos Correa. After Siri socked his third home run, McCormick followed with his 13th, driving a 1-0 fastball from Sittinger 417 feet to center field.
Pete Solomon (1-0) allowed one run and one hit and three walks with three strikeouts over four innings of relief to earn his first career victory. Astros closer Ryan Pressly notched his 25th save by striking out the side in the ninth while pitching in a third consecutive game.
Arizona right-hander Zac Gallen appeared to be in trouble early, allowing a three-run homer to Correa with two outs in the first. Correa spotted Houston the lead with his 24th homer but Gallen settled down until Correa and Kyle Tucker doubled in succession to open the fourth.
Tucker cut the deficit to 5-4 with his double and advanced to third with no outs when McCormick reached on an error by Arizona shortstop Josh Rojas. But a baserunning mistake by Tucker led to a double play and Gallen retired Martin Maldonado to end the threat and preserve the lead. He followed by retiring the Astros in order in the fifth and sixth, striking out the side in the latter.
Astros veteran right-hander Zack Greinke continued his recent struggles. He needed only 23 pitches to retire the first six batters he faced, and despite allowing a solo home run to Diamondbacks right fielder Pavin Smith in the third, Greinke had just 38 pitches on his ledger and a 3-1 lead entering the top of the fourth.
But with one out in that frame, the Diamondbacks rallied and claimed the lead. David Peralta started the comeback with a single and was the first of five consecutive batters to reach safely against Greinke, with Carson Kelly and Daulton Varsho producing back-to-back RBI singles that pulled the Diamondbacks even at 3-3. Christian Walker capped the rally with a two-run single.
Greinke needed 30 pitches to escape the fourth, his final inning of work and allowed five runs on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts. He did move into a tie with Cy Young for 23rd on the career strikeouts list with 2,806, but Greinke owns a 12.46 ERA over his last three starts.
–Field Level Media