Altuve has tiebreaking hit, Alvarez homers for 3rd straight game as Astros beat Blue Jays 9-2

TORONTO (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a tiebreaking single in a four-run seventh inning, Yordan Alvarez homered for the third straight game and the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-2 on Wednesday night for their 11th win in 13 games.

Houston’s Yainer Diaz reached base four times and drove in three as the Astros handed the struggling Blue Jays their 11th loss in 15.

Alvarez twisted his left ankle taking an awkward swing on his ground ball to second base that ended the first inning, but Houston’s designated hitter reached base in his next four plate appearances.

“I just got tangled up with my feet,” Alvarez said through a translator. “Right now it’s a little bit tight. I think what helped me is I use high cleats. They’re tight around the ankle so they didn’t allow it to rotate too much.”

Houston manager Joe Espada was relieved that Alvarez wasn’t badly hurt.

“I’m holding my breath and I’m like ‘Oh, jeez,’” manager Joe Espada said. “Then all of a sudden he goes and has another stellar performance. He’s just a really good hitter.”

Alvarez doubled home a run in the third, led off the sixth with a solo homer, came around to score after being intentionally walked in the seventh, and capped his night with an RBI double in the eighth. He finished 3 for 4 with three RBIs.

“Yordan is really good, obviously,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s hitting balls all over the place.”

Alvarez has seven home runs in 13 career games in Toronto. It's the third time he's homered in three straight games.

“I made an adjustment the first day I got here and I definitely do feel the difference at the plate,” he said.

Right-hander Tayler Scott (5-2) got the win despite allowing a game-tying single to the only batter he faced. Bryan Abreu worked a perfect seventh, Bryan King pitched the eighth and Rafael Montero finished.

Toronto’s Bo Bichette struck out on a pitch that hit him in the ninth.

Bichette opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the first but Alvarez tied it with a two-out double in the third.

Alvarez gave Houston a 2-1 edge with a leadoff homer off Yusei Kikuchi in the sixth, his 19th, but Daulton Varsho tied it with a two-out single off Scott in the bottom half. Varsho went too far past first base and was thrown out to end the rally.

Chas McCormick reached on a fielding error by Blue Jays right-hander Zach Pop (0-3) to begin the seventh, and pinch-hitter Jon Singleton followed with a double. Altuve broke the 2-all tie with an RBI single.

“They took advantage of some mistakes,” Schneider said.

Pop left after Alex Bregman lined out, but Jose Cuas didn’t retire any of the four batters he faced, walking Alvarez intentionally before allowing Diaz’s two-run single on his first pitch.

“If they’re going to pitch around Yordan, Diaz needs to show discipline to get good pitches to hit and get big hits, and he’s capable of doing that,” Espada said. “That’s exactly what he’s doing.”

Cuas exited after hitting Jake Meyers and Jeremy Peña with consecutive pitches to bring home a fourth run.

Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco, who no-hit the Blue Jays on April 1, allowed two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Kikuchi allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He is winless in four starts.

ROSTER MOVES

Toronto put INF Justin Turner on the paternity list and recalled OF Steward Berroa from Triple-A Buffalo.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (neck) is playing catch every other day, manager Joe Espada said. There is no timetable for Verlander’s return.

Blue Jays: RHP Jordan Romano will be sidelined for at least six weeks after surgery for an impingement in his right elbow, manager John Schneider said. It’s not clear whether the two-time All-Star will return this season.

UP NEXT

Blue Jays RHP Chris Bassitt (7-6, 3.24 ERA) is scheduled to pitch against Astros LHP Framber Valdez (6-5, 4.11) in Thursday afternoon’s series finale.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Houston Astros pitcher Bryan King (74) works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz, left, and relief pitcher Rafael Montero celebrate their team's victory over the Toronto Blue Jays after a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros pitcher Bryan King (74) works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz (21) hits an RBI single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Mauricio Dubon (14) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Bowden Francis (44) works against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Mauricio Dubon, from left, Chas McCormick (20) and Jake Meyers (6) celebrate their team's victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Spencer Horwitz (48) forces out Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz (21) at second base during the eighth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (27) wears City Connect spikes against the Houston Astros during the third inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Daulton Varsho (25) hits an RBI single against the Houston Astros during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, top, forces out Toronto Blue Jays' Brian Serven (15) and throws to first base to complete the double play during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Chas McCormick (20) hits a single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Zach Pop (56) works against the Houston Astros during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve, center, forces out Toronto Blue Jays' Brian Serven (15) and throws to first base to complete the double play during the fifth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros pitcher Tayler Scott (50) works against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Toronto Blue Jays' Daulton Varsho (25) hits a double against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (44) hits a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (44) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the sixth inning of a baseball game in Toronto on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (Jon Blacker/The Canadian Press via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian strikes overnight left over 100,000 households without power in northern Ukraine and cut off the water supply to a regional capital, Ukrainian authorities reported Saturday, while civilian casualties rose sharply in the country's embattled east.

The northern Sumy region, which borders Russia, was plunged into dark after Russian strikes late Friday damaged energy infrastructure, the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said. Hours later, the Ukrainian public broadcaster reported that Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps.

Russian state agency RIA cited a local pro-Kremlin “underground” leader as saying that Moscow’s forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000. The report didn’t specify what weapon was used, and the claim could not be independently verified. Explosions rocked the city during an air raid warning early Saturday, according to Ukrainian media reports.

In the Donetsk region in the east, Russian shelling on Friday and overnight killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, local Gov. Vadym Filashkin reported on Saturday. Five people died in the town of Selydove southeast of Pokrovsk, the eastern city that has emerged as a front-line hotspot. The Ukrainian General Staff on Saturday morning said that Ukrainian and Russian forces clashed 45 times near Pokrovsk over the previous day.

According to Filashkin, three more people died in Chasiv Yar, the strategically located town in Donetsk that has been reduced to rubble under a montshlong Russian assault.

A Ukrainian military spokesperson on Thursday told the AP that Ukrainian forces had retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. The town's elevated location gives it strategic importance, and military analysts say its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy. It could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.

According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces on Friday and overnight launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine, and used more than 70 “glide bombs” — retrofitted Soviet-era weapons that have wrought devastation in the country in recent weeks.

In Kyiv, Ukrainian service members gathered on Saturday to pay last respects to a British combat medic who set up a charity delivering essential supplies to front-line fighters.

Peter Fouché died “in the battlefield” last Thursday as his unit clashed with Russian troops, according to his colleague at Project Konstantin, the volunteer group that since 2022 has ferried drones, vehicles, uniforms and food to Ukrainian soldiers in the east. According to its website, it has also helped evacuate 219 Ukrainian soldiers from combat zones.

At the funeral ceremony, Ukrainian soldiers carried Fouché's coffin through Kyiv’s landmark Independence Square, the site of mass protests in 2014 that forced out a pro-Russian president. Fouché's comrades held back tears as they lined up to say goodbye. Others read prayers as they held up Ukrainian flags and military insignia. Fouche’s partner, wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, knelt down to embrace the coffin.

A statement released Monday by Halyna Zhuk, Project Konstantin’s Ukrainian co-founder, called Fouché “a hero” and praised his “relentless commitment to Ukraine and her people.”

Fouché, a native of west London who turned 49 this year, helped build a field hospital in Kyiv before he started Project Konstantin, according to the group’s website, and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army. At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

In Russia, two civilians were wounded after Ukrainian forces overnight shelled a border town in the southern Belgorod region, its Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops overnight shot down a total of eight drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the south.

In Krasnodar province next to Russia-annexed Crimea, local authorities reported on damage caused during the night by falling drone debris. Debris sparked a fire at an oil depot, set fuel tanks ablaze in a separate location and damaged a cellphone tower, the reports said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Full coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Ukrainian servicemen carry a portrait and coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry a portrait and coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Partner of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, stands at the coffin during the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A Ukrainian serviceman carries a portrait of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Partner of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, mourns during the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry a coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

A Ukrainian serviceman holds a portrait of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Women hug each other during the funeral ceremony of Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Comrade of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, says his last goodbye at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

People read prayers during the funeral ceremony of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)

Ukrainian servicemen carry the coffin of British combat medic, volunteer, Peter Fouche, 49 who was killed on June 27 during his work in East Ukraine, at the funeral ceremony on the city's main square in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, July 6, 2024. Peter was founder of a charity organization, which provides vehicles, drones and other needs to Ukrainian servicemen. (AP Photo/Alex Babenko)