Yordan Alvarez capped a six-run fourth inning with his third grand slam of the season as the Houston Astros rallied past the visiting Minnesota Twins 6-4 on Tuesday.
Alvarez tied the franchise record with his seventh career grand slam, joining Alex Bregman, Carlos Lee and Jose Altuve. It was his 26th home run of the season.
The Astros evened the three-game series at one win apiece behind Alvarez and a resilient effort from right-hander Mike Burrows, who overcame a ragged first inning to notch his first victory since May 27.
Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (5-5) kept the Astros in check through the first three innings.
However, Houston strung together three consecutive one-out hits to ignite the rally in the fourth, with Yainer Diaz delivering an RBI single that cut the Twins’ lead to 3-1. Ryan got a called third strike on Nick Allen for the second out of the frame before issuing walks to Raynel Delgado and Altuve.
Altuve challenged a called third strike that would have snuffed the rally, but an ABS review resulted in Altuve earning a bases-loaded walk. That set the table for Alvarez, who followed by driving a 1-1 sinker from Ryan 395 feet to right-center field.
Ryan allowed six runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts over four innings.
The Twins pounced on Burrows in the first. Trevor Larnach walked, Kody Clemens singled and Royce Lewis walked, loading the bases with two outs. Burrows hit Victor Caratini with a pitch to put Minnesota on top, and Ryan Kreidler followed with a two-run single to left for a 3-0 lead.
Burrows (4-8) needed 30 pitches to escape the first. He found his stride in the second inning and didn’t falter until Josh Bell smashed an RBI double to straightaway center that scored Clemens with two outs in the fifth.
Burrows allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts over five innings. Josh Hader, the fourth Houston reliever, fanned two in a perfect ninth inning for his eighth save.
