HOUSTON (AP) — Kyle Tucker hit a grand slam in the fifth inning to rally the Houston Astros to a 7-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.
Houston trailed 2-0 before breaking loose for a six-run rally in the fifth. José Altuve doubled and scored on a single by Yuli Gurriel. Yordan Alvarez followed with another single, and Alex Bregman walked to load the bases for Tucker. After Tucker missed badly on an 82 mph slider from Sam Moll to make it a 1-2 count, the left-hander went back to the same pitch and this time Tucker pulled it a few rows deep into the right field seats.
“I hit it pretty well, and I was like, ‘All right, sweet,’” Tucker said. “But then I was thinking about when I flew out so I was like, ‘Please go over.’ Luckily, it went over and we were able to take the lead from there and keep it.”
Tucker’s 21st homer of the season gave Houston a 5-2 lead. After Moll (2-1) was replaced, Aledmys Díaz singled and Jeremy Peña doubled to keep the rally going and extend the lead to 6-2.
Astros starter Luis Garcia (9-8) went six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out six. Garcia snapped a three-game losing streak after receiving three runs or less of run support in each of those starts.
Oakland had plenty of traffic on the bases early against Garcia. Jonah Bride doubled in the second inning to score Vimael Machín, and Tony Kemp scored in the third inning on a balk by Garcia that put Oakland up 2-0. Garcia and Astros manager Dusty Baker briefly argued with the umpires after the call.
Skye Bolt doubled off Will Smith in the seventh to score Bride and Machín. Bolt scored on a single by Ramón Laureano to pull Oakland within 6-5.
“There were some good at-bats at the bottom of the order tonight,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “We had 11 hits…