Pinch-hitter Victor Caratini’s two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and Josh Hader’s first two-inning outing since 2019 helped the Houston Astros defeat the Cleveland Guardians 10-9 on Tuesday night.
Houston was behind 9-8 after pinch-hitter David Fry’s RBI double off Josh Hader (1-2) with two outs in the top of the 10th.
Caratini hit the ball over right-center field off Hunter Gaddis (1-1) to give the Astros a season-high three-game winning streak. They swept a two-game series over the Rockies in Mexico City last weekend.
“I was very happy — very happy for the whole team,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “We were having a great game and the most important thing was the victory.”
Hader pitched a scoreless ninth before returning for the 10th. It was the first time he had gotten more than three outs in a regular-season game since getting four on Aug. 14, 2020, and his first two-inning appearance in five years.
“That’s something that I don’t really like doing,” manager Joe Espada said. “But when I went up to him he said, ‘Yes, I want it.’ So shows how important getting a win was.”
Vogt was questioned about the chance of letting Emmanuel Clase pitch the 10th inning after he pitched a scoreless ninth.
“We didn’t want to tire anyone out too much,” he said. “We always prefer Clase to stay in, but we believed in (Gaddis). We had the right option at the right moment, but it just didn’t work out.”
Josh Naylor hit a three-run homer and Andrés Giménez hit his first homer of the season with a two-run shot for Cleveland before Estevan Florial equalized with a three-run homer in the Guardians’ five-run sixth.
Alex Bregman hit his first homer of the season, a three-run shot; Jon Singleton added a three-run home run; and Joey Loperfido singled with two RBIs in his major league debut as the Astros took an 8-3 lead before Cleveland’s comeback.
The Astros are still in last place in the AL West at 10-19 despite their winning streak.
“We know what we have to do, and these guys are going to fight and not shy away from anything,” Bregman said. “We’re going to keep battling and competing.”
The Guardians were behind by 5 when Steven Kwan tripled to begin the sixth before Giménez’s home run reduced the lead to 8-5. There was one out in the inning when Naylor walked, ending Hunter Brown’s night and bringing on Rafael Montero.
Florial hit his homer into the right field seats to tie the game with two outs in the inning. Kwan and Giménez singled in a row with no outs in the first before Naylor’s homer to left field gave the Guardians a 3-0 lead with one out.
Bregman hit an off-speed pitch from Carlos Carrasco off the left-center field wall with two outs in the third to equalize at 3.
The bases were loaded with no outs in the fourth when Loperfido brought in two runs with a single to center field for his first major league hit, putting the Astros ahead 5-3.
Singleton then hit the next pitch into the right field second deck, emphasizing the hit with a strong bat flip, extending the lead to 8-3.
Singleton started at first base on Tuesday after the Astros revealed slumping veteran José Abreu agreed to be sent to their spring training facility to help the 2020 AL MVP recover.
It was the first homer for Singleton, who had entered without an RBI in 14 games this season, since the lefty hit his only two of 2023 in the same game on Aug. 11.
Loperfido’s contract was chosen from Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday, and he made his debut starting in left field, but manager Joe Espada said he’ll probably play some first base while Abreu is away.
Abreu, in the second year of a $58.5 million, three-year deal, is hitting .099 with only one extra-base hit and three RBIs. In 77 plate appearances across 22 games this season,
Brown gave up five hits and six runs with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Carrasco allowed six hits and tied his career-high with eight runs in four innings.
