Caratini's 2-run homer in 10th and Hader's 2-inning outing lift Astros over Guardians 10-9

HOUSTON (AP) — Pinch-hitter Victor Caratini’s two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning and Josh Hader's first two-inning outing since 2019 lifted the Houston Astros over the Cleveland Guardians 10-9 on Tuesday night.

Houston trailed 9-8 after pinch-hitter David Fry’s RBI double off Josh Hader (1-2) with two outs in the top of the 10th.

Caratini homered to right-center field off Hunter Gaddis (1-1) to give the Astros a season-high three-game winning streak. They swept a two-game series over the Rockies in Mexico City last weekend.

“I was very happy — very happy for the whole team,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “We were having a great game and the most important thing was the victory.”

Hader pitched a scoreless ninth before returning for the 10th. It was the first time he had gotten more than three outs in a regular-season game since getting four on Aug. 14, 2020, and his first two-inning appearance in five years.

“That’s something that I don’t really like doing,” manager Joe Espada said. “But when I went up to him he said, 'Yes, I want it.’ So shows how important getting a win was.”

Vogt was asked about the possibility of bringing Emmanuel Clase back for the 10th after the closer also pitched a scoreless ninth.

“We didn’t want to extend anybody too far,” he said. “You always want Clase to stay in the game, but we trust (Gaddis). We had the right piece at the right time, it just didn’t work out.”

Josh Naylor hit a three-run homer and Andrés Giménez hit his first homer this season with a two-run shot for Cleveland before Estevan Florial tied it with a three-run homer in the Guardians' five-run sixth.

Alex Bregman hit his first homer of the season, a three-run shot; Jon Singleton added a three-run home run; and Joey Loperfido singled with two RBIs in his major league debut as the Astros built an 8-3 lead before Cleveland’s comeback.

The Astros remain in last place in the AL West at 10-19 despite their winning streak.

“We know what we have to do and these guys are gonna stick their nose in there and battle and no one’s going to shy away from anything,” Bregman said. “We’re going to continue to fight and continue to compete.”

The Guardians trailed by 5 when Steven Kwan tripled to start the sixth before the home run by Giménez cut the lead to 8-5. There was one out in the inning when Naylor walked to end Hunter Brown’s night and bring on Rafael Montero.

There were two outs in the inning when Florial knocked his homer into the seats in right field to tie it.

Kwan and Giménez hit consecutive singles with no outs in the first before Naylor put the Guardians up 3-0 with his one-out homer to left field.

Bregman sent an off-speed pitch from Carlos Carrasco off the wall in left-center field with two outs in the third to tie it at 3.

The bases were loaded with no outs in the fourth when Loperfido drove in two when he lined a single to center field for his first major league hit to put the Astros on top 5-3.

Singleton sent the next pitch into the second deck in right field, punctuating the hit with a mighty bat flip, to push the lead to 8-3.

Singleton started at first base Tuesday after the Astros announced slumping veteran José Abreu agreed to be optioned to their spring training facility to help the 2020 AL MVP get back on track.

It was the first homer for Singleton, who entered without an RBI in 14 games this season, since the lefty slugged his only two of 2023 in the same game on Aug. 11.

Loperfido’s contract was selected from Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday and he started in left field in his debut, but manager Joe Espada said he’ll likely play some first base while Abreu is gone.

Abreu, in the second season of a $58.5 million, three-year contract, is batting .099 with just one extra-base hit and three RBIs. In 77 plate appearances across 22 games this season,

Brown allowed five hits and six runs with seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Carrasco yielded six hits and tied a career high with eight runs in four innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Guardians: LHP Sam Hentges (sore left middle finger) will make another rehabilitation assignment for Triple-A Columbus Wednesday. Vogt said they will evaluate him after that to see what the next move will be.

Astros: INF Grae Kessinger was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Sunday, with right shoulder discomfort. … RHP Joel Kuhnel was designated for assignment to make room for Loperfido on the 40-man roster.

UP NEXT

Houston RHP Justin Verlander (1-0, 1.74 ERA) will make his third start of the season Wednesday night when he opposes RHP Triston McKenzie (2-2, 4.91).

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

Houston Astros' Joey Loperfido, right, flips his bat as he heads to first base on his two run RBI single in front of Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, left, during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. Loperfido's hit was his first in the major leagues. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown throws against the Cleveland Guardians during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco throws against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Cleveland Guardians' Josh Naylor, left, connects for a three run home run in front of Houston Astros catcher Yainer Diaz, right, during the first inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Astros' Jon Singleton, right, drops his bat as he watches his three run home run in front of Cleveland Guardians catcher Bo Naylor, centerm and umpire Stu Scheurwater, left, during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Astros' Jon Singleton, left, and Joey Loperfido (10) collect high fives in the dugout after they both scored on the three run home run by Singleton against the Cleveland Guardians during the fourth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. Loperfido batted in two run on his RBI single for his first major league hit just before Singleton's home run.(AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Astros' Alex Bregman flips his bat as he watches his three run home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Astros' Victor Caratini (17) celebrates his walk off home run with manager Joe Espada (19) and the rest of the team after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Astros' Victor Caratini (17) rounds the bases as he celebrates his walk-off home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the 10th inning of a baseball game Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

NEW YORK (AP) — A defense witness in Donald Trump's hush money case whom the judge threatened to remove from the trial over his behavior will return to the stand Tuesday as the trial nears its end.

Trump's lawyers are hoping Robert Costello's testimony will help undermine the credibility of a key prosecution witness, Trump fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen.

“They have no case," Trump said outside the courtroom Tuesday. "There’s no crime.”

But Costello angered Judge Juan Merchan on Monday by making comments under his breath, rolling his eyes and calling the whole exercise “ridiculous," prompting the judge to briefly kick reporters out of the courtroom to admonish him.

The judge told Costello, a former federal prosecutor, he was being “contemptuous," adding, “If you try to stare me down one more time, I will remove you from the stand," according to a court transcript.

Costello didn't immediately respond to a request for comment Monday from The Associated Press.

The chaotic scene unfolded after prosecutors rested their case accusing Trump of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to bury stories that he feared could hurt his 2016 campaign. The criminal trial, the first of a former U.S. president, is in the final stretch, with closing arguments expected the Tuesday after Memorial Day.

The charges stem from internal Trump Organization records in which payments to Cohen were marked as legal expenses. Prosecutors say they were really reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public before the 2016 election with claims of a sexual encounter with Trump. Trump says nothing sexual happened between them.

Trump has said he did nothing illegal and has slammed the case as an effort to hinder his 2024 bid to reclaim the White House. Trump, a Republican, called the judge a "tyrant" in remarks to reporters while leaving the courthouse Monday and called the trial a “disaster” for the country.

After jurors left for the day Monday, defense attorneys pressed the judge to throw out the charges before jurors even begin deliberating, arguing prosecutors have failed to prove their case. The defense has suggested that Trump was trying to protect his family, not his campaign, by squelching what he says were false, scurrilous claims.

Defense attorney Todd Blanche argued that there was nothing illegal about soliciting a tabloid's help to run positive stories about Trump, run negative stories about his opponents and identify potentially damaging stories before they were published. No one involved “had any criminal intent,” Blanche said.

"How is keeping a false story from the voters criminal?” Blanche asked.

Prosecutor Matthew Colangelo shot back that “the trial evidence overwhelmingly supports each element” of the alleged offenses and said the case should proceed to the jury.

The judge didn't immediately rule on the defense's request. Such long-shot requests are often made in criminal cases but are rarely granted.

The defense called Costello because of his role as an antagonist to Cohen since their professional relationship splintered in spectacular fashion. Costello had offered to represent Cohen soon after the lawyer’s hotel room, office and home were raided and as Cohen faced a decision about whether to remain defiant in the face of a criminal investigation or to cooperate with authorities in hopes of securing more lenient treatment.

Costello in the years since has repeatedly maligned Cohen’s credibility and was even a witness before last year’s grand jury that indicted Trump, offering testimony designed to undermine Cohen's account. In a Fox News Channel interview last week, Costello accused Cohen of lying to the jury and using the case to “monetize” himself.

Costello contradicted Cohen's testimony describing Trump as intimately involved in all aspects of the hush money scheme. Costello told jurors Monday that Cohen told him Trump “knew nothing” about the hush money payment to Daniels.

“Michael Cohen said numerous times that President Trump knew nothing about those payments, that he did this on his own, and he repeated that numerous times,” Costello testified.

Cohen, however, testified earlier Monday that he has “no doubt” that Trump gave him a final sign-off to make the payments to Daniels. In total, he said he spoke with Trump more than 20 times about the matter in October 2016.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove told the judge that the defense does not plan to call any other witnesses after Costello, though it may still call campaign finance expert Bradley A. Smith for limited testimony. It has not said definitively that Trump won’t testify, but that’s the clearest indication yet that he will waive his right to take the stand in his own defense.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michelle Price in New York; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C.; and Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

Former president Donald Trump waves while leaving Trump Tower on his way to Manhattan criminal court, Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Members of the press and public stand outside the courtroom after being asked to leave by Judge Juan Merchan during former President Donald Trump's hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court, Monday, May 20, 2024 in New York. Judge Juan Merchan briefly kicked reporters out of the courtroom after admonishing defense witness Robert Costello for his behavior on the stand. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Judge Juan Merchan, left, castigates witness Robert Costello about his "decorum" in the courtroom in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Former President Donald Trump sits in Manhattan Criminal Court during his ongoing hush money trial, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP)

Donald Trump, far left, watches as defense attorney Emil Bove questions Robert Costello, right, with Judge Juan Merchan presiding in Manhattan criminal court, Monday, May 20, 2024, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)