x

Sports Minute: Springer hits inside-the-park HR, Astros top D-backs 3-2

3 years 5 months 3 weeks ago Sunday, September 20 2020 Sep 20, 2020 September 20, 2020 5:03 PM September 20, 2020 in Sports - AP - Texas

By JORDAN GODWIN
Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — George Springer homered twice, including an inside-the-park shot, to lead the Houston Astros over the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Sunday.

Carlos Correa drove in the go-ahead run for Houston with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.

Playing what could be his final home game with the Astros as he is set to enter free agency in the offseason, Springer pushed his 2020 total to 13 home runs.

Houston improved to 27-26 and will finish the regular season on the road against Seattle and Texas.

Springer’s first of the day was an inside-the-park homer off Taylor Widener in the sixth inning on a fly ball to center field that bounced off the wall, over the head of a leaping Daulton Varsho. It was his second career inside-the-park homer.

Springer’s second homer came in the seventh off Hector Rondon. Springer pumped his first after the ball narrowly cleared the fence and a leaping Kole Calhoun to tie the game at 2.

Springer’s seventh-inning homer was the 2,000th hit by an Astros player in the history of Minute Maid Park, which opened in 2000. Springer also hit the 1,500th home run at the stadium in 2016. Lance Berkman hit the 1,000 milestone in 2010. The tally includes the regular season and postseason.

The Astros took the lead in the eighth on Correa's sac fly off Junior Guerra (1-2) that scored Alex Bregman.

Ryan Pressley pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save. Blake Taylor (2-1) retired Arizona in the eighth.

Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner frequently expressed frustration with plate umpire Adam Hamari’s strike zone, becoming especially demonstrative in the third. After the inning, Bumgarner had a long conversation with Hamari before heading to the dugout.

In the fourth, players in the Arizona dugout continued to yell at Hamari until he stopped the game to yell back, eventually throwing out manager Torey Lovullo for his third ejection of the season.

Bumgarner allowed two hits and struck out seven in five innings. The veteran lefty, who entered 0-4 with an ERA of 8.53, extended his winless streak to 13 starts, including eight since signing with Arizona in the offseason.

The Diamondbacks loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth but scored just one run on a double play.

Nick Ahmed homered off Astros starter Jose Urquidy to left-center, putting Arizona up 2-1 in the fifth.

Urquidy permitted two runs on six hits and two walks in six innings, his third straight start allowing two runs or less in six innings or more.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Diamondbacks: Widener was reinstated from the 10-day injured list, three weeks after sustaining a strained right ribcage. RHP Joel Payamps was optioned to the alternate training site.

Astros: 1B Yuli Gurriel was back in the lineup after resting Saturday with a minor hand injury sustained on an attempted steal a week prior.

UP NEXT

Diamondbacks: LHP Caleb Smith (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season when Arizona hosts Texas on Tuesday night.

Astros: RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (3-2, 4.87) goes Monday in Seattle. He is coming off a 1-0 loss to Texas.

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

More News


Radar
7 Days