BOSTON (AP) – Jose Altuve coasted to his third AL batting title despite going hitless in two at-bats, and the Houston Astros scored four times in the seventh inning to rally from a three-run deficit and beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Sunday in a preview of their AL Division Series matchup.
Altuve finished the season with a .346 average to easily beat Avasail Garcia of the Chicago White Sox, who finished at .330, for the batting crown. The Astros second baseman is the third right-handed hitter since 1900 to win three or more batting titles.
One day after the Red Sox won to clinch the first back-to-back AL East titles in franchise history, the teams filled out their lineups with backups to play a meaningless Game 162. Houston had already replaced starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel with Collin McHugh (5-2), and Boston manager John Farrell scratched ace Chris Sale after Saturday’s win so he could rest up for the playoffs.
Boston Red Sox’s Jackie Bradley Jr. (19) is forced out at second base as Houston Astros’ Yuli Gurriel (10) turns the double play on Sam Travis during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Boston, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
The best-of-five ALDS begins Thursday in Houston.
___
More MLB baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
Houston Astros’ Tony Kemp makes the catch on the fly out by Boston Red Sox’s Sam Travis during the second inning of a baseball game in Boston, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Boston Red Sox’s Deven Marrero waits for a pitch during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Boston, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.