Zach Dezenzo drew a crucial bases-loaded walk, and the Houston Astros made the most of two errors by the Kansas City Royals in a four-run eighth inning to win 6-3 on Thursday night.
With two runners on and the Astros trailing 3-2, Yainer Diaz hit a grounder to pitcher Lucas Erceg (2-5), who attempted to catch the ball with his bare hand but bobbled it and made an errant throw that got past first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino.
José Altuve scored from second base on the play to tie the game. Pasquantino’s glove hand seemed to collide with Diaz, causing him to leave the game with an apparent injury.
Reliever John Schreiber then intentionally walked Ben Gamel to load the bases. Jeremy Peña grounded into a force out at home.
Dezenzo followed with a walk that brought Diaz home with the go-ahead run. Mauricio Dubón then hit a single to left field, scoring Ben Gamel. Peña also scored on a fielding error by left fielder MJ Melendez, making the score 6-3.
“It’s been like that the whole year,” Dubón said. “We’ve been fighting. Dezenzo had an unreal at-bat and gave me a chance to make something happen.”
Ryan Pressly (1-3) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to get the win after being activated from the 15-day injured list earlier in the day. Josh Hader pitched a perfect ninth inning to earn his 29th save of the season.
“These guys like big moments like that,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “That’s a huge win for us, right there.”
The Royals had taken the lead in the seventh inning after two errors by the Astros. With one out, Salvador Perez reached first base due to a fielding error by Peña. Paul DeJong nearly grounded into a double play, but the throw to first base was late.
Melendez walked, and Maikel Garcia reached base after third baseman Shay Whitcomb mishandled a groundball, which loaded the bases. Kyle Isbel then hit a three-run double down the left-field line off Bryan Abreu to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.
“We took advantage of an error,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “That’s what you have to do — when a good team makes a mistake, you have to take advantage of it. We made a mistake, and they took advantage of it. Same thing on the other side.”
Astros starter Hunter Brown — pitching on his 26th birthday — allowed two hits and no earned runs while striking out four and walking one in 6 2/3 innings.
Brown last faced the Royals on April 11, when he gave up nine runs on 11 hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Since that start, he has turned his season around, with an 11-5 record and a 2.98 ERA in 23 appearances.
“I could not wait to pitch against these guys,” Brown said. “I got bounced in the first inning, and that was definitely still on my mind even though it was however many months ago. So, once I got through the first inning, that was awesome. I was very thankful. That was a birthday gift, in itself.”
Veteran outfielder Jason Heyward made an impact in his Astros debut. After being released by the Dodgers and signing with Houston earlier this week, Heyward hit a two-run double down the right-field line off Royals starter Brady Singer in the bottom of the fifth inning, giving Houston a 2-0 lead.
Singer allowed five hits and two runs while striking out six and walking one in six innings.
Astros third baseman Alex Bregman was ejected in the fourth inning after he appeared to argue a strike-three call from home plate umpire Alex Tosi.
“When Alex argues balls and strikes, 99% of the time, he’s right,” Espada said.
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who leads the American League in hits, batting average, and runs, went 0 for 4 after hitting safely in 16 of his previous 17 games.
