Juan Soto produced his third consecutive multi-hit game, snapping a ninth-inning deadlock with an opposite-field RBI single that pushed the New York Yankees to a 4-3 victory on Sunday and a four-game series sweep of the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Soto lined a two-out, 3-2 slider from Astros closer Josh Hader (0-1) into left field, driving home Gleyber Torres with the go-ahead run. Torres reached one batter earlier with a bloop single to shallow right field and swiped second base to set the table for Soto to deliver in the clutch.
Soto entered the series finale 6-for-12 with two runs, three walks and three RBIs. He went 3-for-5 on Sunday. Torres scored twice and also walked.
Houston mustered some drama in the ninth against Yankees closer Clay Holmes, recording a pair of singles to open the frame only for Holmes to rally and record three consecutive outs for his third save of the series, the third out coming courtesy of a sliding grab in left field by Alex Verdugo that retired Kyle Tucker.
The Yankees grabbed an early lead in the second inning on a Jose Trevina bloop single to shallow right that scored Giancarlo Stanton.
The Astros pulled even at 1-1 on a Jose Altuve home run with two outs in the third inning and fashioned a two-run rally that erased a 3-1 deficit in the sixth. Houston scored all three runs off Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt, who allowed seven hits and struck out five over 5 1/3 innings.
The rally in the sixth featured doubles from Altuve and Tucker, and a trio of singles from Yainer Diaz, Jon Singleton and Chas McCormick. Tucker plated Altuve with his double and scored when Diaz singled two batters later.
The Yankees chipped away at Astros starter J.P. France beginning in the second inning when Stanton opened that frame with a double and later scored on the two-out single by Trevino. The Yankees turned another leadoff double into a run two innings later when Anthony Rizzo snapped a 1-1 tie when he scored on another two-out single, this one from Jon Berti.
An inning later the Yankees extended their advantage by manufacturing a run, parlaying a leadoff walk and Soto single into an RBI opportunity for Aaron Judge, who delivered a sacrifice fly to center field that plated Torres and lifted the Yankees to a 3-1 lead.
France departed after retiring the first two batters of the sixth. He retired the side in order only once in the third, and allowed three runs on six hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
–Field Level Media