Wil Myers hits 3-run bomb as Padres outlast Astros

EditorsNote: Edit 1: Corrected punctuation in final graf.

Wil Myers bashed a three-run, opposite-field home run to right field in the top of the 12th inning as the San Diego Padres came from behind for an 11-8 victory over the host Houston Astros on Saturday.

Myers’ fifth homer of the season came against Astros right-hander Ralph Garza Jr. (0-1), who was making his big league debut.

Jake Cronenworth, who started the inning at second base, and Fernando Tatis Jr. scored ahead of Myers. The Astros opted to intentionally walk Tatis, whose three-run homer in the top of the ninth tied the game at 6-6 and led to extra innings.

Tatis was 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and six men left on base before his home run off Astros closer Ryan Pressly with two outs in the ninth. It came one pitch after Houston first baseman Taylor Jones failed to catch a foul pop fly. Jones was in the lineup in place of Yuli Gurriel, who was scratched with a finger injury.

Tatis’ 15th homer of the season came after Manny Machado (walk) and Cronenworth (double) reached with two outs. The Padres have won five of six series — the other was a split of a four-game series — and 16 of their last 19 games overall.

Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer, his eighth, to right field in the fourth inning, ending a stretch of 26 1/3 consecutive innings without a home run allowed for Padres right-hander Yu Darvish.

The Astros, who finished 3-for-22 with runners in scoring position, extended to a 5-0 lead an inning later.

Darvish had allowed one run or fewer in eight of his first 10 starts. He worked five innings on Saturday, surrendering five runs (four earned) on four hits, and three walks, and he struck out five. The four earned runs were the most since his first start of the season.

Astros right-hander Jake Odorizzi returned after missing six turns in the rotation with a right forearm injury. He needed 23 pitches to complete the first, but stranded two runners in that frame and retired 14 consecutive batters through the fifth inning.

That span ended when Victor Caratini and Tommy Pham singled in succession to lead off the sixth, with Pham later scoring on Tatis’ run-scoring groundout.

Odorizzi allowed just one run on three hits and one walk with four strikeouts while working 5 1/3 innings and tossing 87 pitches (53 strikes).

Winning pitcher Austin Adams gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the 11th inning, and Miguel Diaz picked up his first save of the season with a perfect bottom of the 12th.

–Field Level Media

source: reuters.com