Astros 5, Tigers 4
HOUSTON -- Jose Altuve provided offense early and often and the Houston Astros held off the stubborn Detroit Tigers 5-4 on Sunday at Minute Maid Park to claim the rubber match of this three-game series.
Altuve went 2-for-4 with a first-inning home run that got the Astros (5-8) going plus a two-run double that followed an error by Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Altuve has four multi-hit games this season.
Houston built a 5-0 lead in support of right-hander Mike Fiers (1-1) before the Tigers (7-4) incrementally chipped away at that advantage.
Detroit homered twice off Fiers in the fifth inning, with catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia leading off the frame with his fourth home run before second baseman Ian Kinsler added a two-run blast for his fourth as well. With one out in the sixth, J.D. Martinez added an opposite-field shot to right field, his second home run on the season, cutting the deficit to one.
Fiers rebounded from the Martinez homer to strike out Nick Castellanos. The Houston bullpen patched together the final 10 outs, with Tony Sipp, Pat Neshek and Ken Giles setting the table for closer Luke Gregerson, who set the Tigers down in order in the ninth inning.
Astros right fielder George Springer added two hits, scoring on an error following his first-inning single before adding a first-pitch homer to left-center field off Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez (2-1) in the third.
Cabrera was guilty of a throwing error in the fourth that allowed Marwin Gonzalez and Jake Marisnick to advance into scoring position in advance of the Altuve single to left with two outs in the fourth inning.
Sanchez allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over five innings. Fiers, despite allowing three home runs, departed with the lead, having surrendered four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Gregerson earned his fourth save on the season.
NOTES: The Tigers will face an American League Central opponent for the first time on Tuesday when they travel to Kansas City to face the Royals. Beginning with that series, 12 of the Tigers' next 16 games are against divisional foes. Detroit finished 41-35 against the AL Central in 2015. ... Astros DH Evan Gattis will make his first start at catcher at some point over the next week to 10 days. Gattis has participated in pregame catching drills since his return from injury rehab while also occasionally catching in the bullpen. Gattis did not catch for the Astros last season, his first in Houston. ... Tigers CF Cameron Maybin went 1-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs scored for Triple-A Toledo on Saturday night while continuing his injury rehab assignment. Over nine games with the Mud Hens and Single-A Lakeland, Maybin is batting .182 (6-for-33) with five doubles, two RBIs and five runs scored. He has been sidelined since March 25 with a left wrist fracture.