Altuve, Singleton and Peña power a 4-run 7th inning as the Astros beat the Red Sox 8-4

BOSTON — Jose Altuve hit a two-run home run and Jon Singleton and Jeremy Peña added RBI singles in a four-run seventh inning that led the AL West-leading Houston Astros to an 8-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

Yainer Diaz added a two-run homer for the Astros, who pounded Boston’s bullpen en route to their third straight victory. Alex Bregman and Peña finished with three hits apiece.

Altuve’s seventh-inning home run off reliever Lucas Sims was the 224th of his career, which ranks him fourth on the team’s all-time list.

“That’s huge,” Peña said of Altuve’s home run that tied the game at 3-3. “When Josey hits a home run, it’s like a team battery.”

David Hamilton had a two-run double for the Red Sox, who had won three of four and were coming off a 4-2 road trip. Boston’s bullpen gave up seven runs and 12 hits in the final three innings.

Starter Tanner Houck held the Astros to one run and four hits in six innings before Altuve hit a hanging sweeper off Sims (1-5) that bounced off a billboard above the Green Monster.

“Obviously we were down two runs trying to score a run,” Altuve said. “Just basically putting a ball in play. … I worked on hitting the ball again and got on base and hit it hard.”

Bregman and Yordan Alvarez followed Altuve’s shot with singles before Diaz singled off Zack Kelly to load the bases. Singleton and Peña each had a hit to center before Zach Dezenzo bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“They’re very aggressive and today we didn’t do it,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Reliever Tayler Scott retired Boston star Rafael Devers with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

“That was a pretty big one,” said Scott, who got a smile on his face when he heard it was his 100th career strikeout. “I had no idea that was my 100th. That was kind of the exclamation point on the 100th. That was pretty cool.”

Diaz scored his 11th of the season, coming through light rain and over the Monster in the ninth inning.

Former Red Sox reliever Kaleb Ort (1-0) got four outs to earn the win.

Cora elected to let Alvarez walk with runners on the corners and two outs in the fifth. Houck got the next batter, Diaz, to bounce to short.

“I was able to recover well and make the right pitches when I needed to,” said Houck, who struggled in his last two starts, giving up 10 runs in 11 innings.

With them trailing 1-0, Hamilton hit his 2-run home run into the left-center field line, deflected by Ronel Blanco.

Blanco attempted a pickoff past first base, allowing Nick Sogard to score from third base to make it 3-1 Boston in the fourth quarter.

Blanco gave up three runs, two earned, in four innings in his first career start against the Red Sox.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Justin Verlander is scheduled to make a rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Sugar Land. Manager Joe Espada said the plan was for him to throw three innings or 50 pitches, “and then see where we go from there.”

Red Sox: Placed RHP Brayan Bello on the paternity list, but Cora said he will make his scheduled start Monday. However, Saturday’s scheduled starter, Cooper Criswell, was placed on the COVID-19 injured list.

NEXT

Astros rookie RHP Spencer Arrighetti (4-10, 5.33 ERA) hopes to build on his best start of the season Saturday in the second of a three-game series. He struck out 12 and allowed one run in six innings Sunday against Tampa Bay. Cora said after the game that RHP Josh Winckowski (2-1, 3.52) would start.

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