(AP) Astros manager A.J. Hinch is quite comfortable when Yuli Gurriel is at the plate with runners are in scoring position.
Gurriel hit a grand slam in Houston’s eight-run second inning, helping Gerrit Cole and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Sunday.
“He just has a knack for really putting the barrel on the ball and doing incredibly positive things,” Hinch said. “His balance, his bat-to-ball skills, his bat path: Everything lines up when he can execute his game plan and he doesn’t miss pitches.
“He can hit anything anywhere and he usually hits it hard. And that was a big knockout blow for them early in the game.”
Gurriel finished with three hits as the AL West-leading Astros won for the 15th time in 17 games. Jose Altuve drove in two runs and scored twice, and Evan Gattis connected for a pinch-hit homer.
Cole (9-1) struck out eight while pitching five innings of one-run ball. The right-hander has struck out at least eight in 12 of his 16 starts.
“You know ideally I’d like to get a little more length there, especially after the bullpen had to work last night,” Cole said. “Some of that is out of my control a little bit. So, just kind of get back to the grind and get to the next one.”
Houston loaded the bases with one out in the second, and Tony Kemp brought home the first run when he reached on catcher’s interference on Drew Butera. George Springer then lined out, but Alex Bregman walked, Altuve hit a two-run single and Carlos Correa walked before Gurriel connected against Jason Hammel (2-9) for his second career grand slam.
“Put guys on base for free and make mistakes and that’s what happens,” Hammel said.
Gurriel also hit a solo drive in Saturday’s 4-3 win in 12 innings. It’s the first time since July 21-22, 2017, that Gurriel has homered in back-to-back games.
“My concentration level definitely is focused when there are runners on base and guys that we want to get to score,” Gurriel said through a translator.
Kansas City dropped to 3-18 in June. Hammel was tagged for nine runs, matching his season high, and walked five in four innings.
Lucas Duda hit his fifth homer for the Royals, and Rosell Herrera singled in a run.
