Yordan Alvarez belts 2 home runs, drives in 3 to lift Astros to 5-4 win over Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) — Yordan Alvarez belted two home runs and drove in three runs, rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti struck out a season-high 13 over seven innings and the Houston Astros beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Saturday.

Zach Dezenzo hit his first major-league homer and Alex Bregman added a solo shot for the AL West-leading Astros, who won their second straight over Boston and fourth straight overall.

In recording his 19th career multi-homer game, Alvarez improved his lofty career numbers in Fenway Park, where he’s batting .463 with seven homers and 19 RBIs. He entered the day leading all AL hitters with a .354 average in road games.

“You can kind of tell just by the game, the results,” Alvarez said through a team translator, when asked if he enjoys hitting in Fenway.

Boston manager Alex Cora thinks the Astros’ slugger is right up there with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge as one of the game’s best hitters. He even compared him to former Red Sox slugger and Hall of Famer David Ortiz.

“For me, he’s up there with Judge, to be honest with you,” Cora said. “It seems like he likes hitting here. That (Green Monster) keeps him closed, he can shoot it the other way. ... Closest thing to David, probably, in the game. Very, very, very similar to David Ortiz."

Danny Jansen and Masataka Yoshida each had a solo homer for the Red Sox, who lost a series for the first time in their last four.

Alvarez's second shot came off a slider from Brad Keller (0-3) and traveled an estimated 422 feet into the right-field seats.

Arrighetti (5-10) gave up just two hits — the solo homers — and walked one in his 92-pitch outing.

“Yeah, I think I was really locked in,” he said. “Honestly, I got really angry in the first inning, second inning, a little bit. That sometimes helps me. ... I don't think I necessarily had my best stuff, but I think that I was really dialed in using what I had today.”

Josh Hader got the final three outs for his 25th save despite giving up Rafael Devers’ leadoff double. It was his 25th straight successful save opportunity, a Houston club record.

Alvarez had given Houston a 1-0 lead when he sent Josh Winckowski’s changeup over Boston’s bullpen in the first.

Bregman’s seventh-inning drive sailed deep in the batters’ eye in center off Keller. Dezenzo’s went over Green Monster seats in left.

Wilyer Abreu’s two-run single sliced Boston’s deficit to 5-4 in the eighth.

Called up from Triple-A Sugar Land in April to fill an opening in Houston’s injury-depleted rotation, the 24-year-old Arrighetti kept Boston’s hitters off balance by mixing his mid-90 mph fastball with a changeup, sweeper and curveball until Jansen hit a first-pitch fastball completely out of Fenway over the Monster to open the fifth.

Arrighetti, the club’s top pitching prospect entering the season, was coming off his best start in his last outing, when he struck out 12 over six innings, holding Tampa Bay to one run in a tough-luck loss.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: RHP Kendall Graveman (right shoulder surgery) threw off the Fenway Park mound before the game. Manager Joe Espada said it was around 10 pitches and they’ll wait to see how he feels before the next step. … RHP Justin Verlander (neck discomfort) was still expected to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Saturday night.

Red Sox: RHP Liam Hendriks threw his second live BP, this time off the Fenway mound as he continues his return from ulnar collateral ligament surgery last August. He’s expected to throw another on Tuesday or Wednesday and could go on a rehab assignment after that. “Today was better than the other day,” he said. “The other day we noticed a couple of things. We, I mean, the coaching staff and my wife. She pulled up (clips) of how I used to pitch.” … 1B Triston Casas (strained rib since mid-April) continues his rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester. Cora said he won’t be back this weekend or the upcoming three games against Texas.

UP NEXT

RHP Hunter Brown (9-7, 3.98 ERA) is set to go for the Astros in Sunday’s series finale against LHP James Paxton (9-3, 4.42), who is making his third start with Boston since he was acquired in a trade from the Dodgers.

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

Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Danny Jansen celebrates after his home run in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Ceddanne Rafaela scores in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox designated hitter Masataka Yoshida, right, celebrates his home run with teammate Rafael Devers, left, in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez celebrates after his home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (44) celebrates after his home run in the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Houston Astros hitter Alex Bregman, left, celebrates after his home run with teammate Yordan Alvarez, right, in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Cedric Dempsey, the former NCAA president who helped turn Arizona into a national power as athletic director before leading the national organization through key years of transition and growth, died Saturday in San Diego, the NCAA said. He was 92.

Dempsey was revered as an administrator on campus. His nine-year tenure as the NCAA's leader included moving its headquarters and significant fiscal growth for the organization, including landmark television deals worth billions.

“Ced was instrumental in shaping the NCAA as it moved into the new century, overseeing a restructuring of the organization, and strengthening the foundation of college sports for years that followed his tenure,” current NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement released by the organization.

“His impact on the lives of student-athletes and administrators across the nation will be felt for years to come," Baker said.

Dempsey oversaw the organization’s move from the Kansas City suburbs to Indianapolis in 1999 and helped reimagine how the governing body could work best in the 21st century.

His most enduring legacy may be the role he played in creating television deals with ESPN and CBS that brought in $6.2 billion over an 11-year span.

Dempsey charmed his way through it all with a smile and wit that was lauded throughout the headquarters and the college sports world.

“Twenty-one years ago, Cedric painted a picture for me that I could one day be an athletic director,” current Arizona athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois said in a statement. “His guidance helped me see a calling I never knew could be possible. I am forever grateful for the impact he had on the trajectory of my career and on my life as a whole. He will be deeply missed by our family and by everyone in the University of Arizona community.”

Reed-Francois first met Dempsey when she was serving as an associate athletic director for Compliance and as the Senior Woman Administrator at Fresno State.

Dempsey's hires in Tucson included coaches such as Lute Olson and Dick Tomey, who became iconic figures for Wildcats fans. During his 11-year tenure, Arizona State teams won five national team championships, 39 individual NCAA titles and 17 Pac-10 crowns.

He also served as the men’s basketball selection committee chairman in 1988-89.

Dempsey grew up in Equality, Illinois, and went on to play football, basketball and baseball at Albion College in Michigan. From 1959-62, he served as the men’s basketball and cross country coach at his alma mater before stepping back in 1963 to become an assistant basketball coach.

In 1965, he started a 46-year career in administration by becoming an associate athletic director also at Albion. He left there to be the athletic director at Pacific in California, before stints at San Diego State and Houston before moving to Arizona in 1983.

Dempsey left Arizona in 1994 to become the sixth executive director/president in NCAA history, and it was there he became a national figure.

“I think the NCAA is where it is today because of Ced,” former NCAA executive committee chairman Bob Lawless said when Dempsey announced he was retiring in January 2002. “He has been a real treasure for the NCAA.”

He also served as commissioner of the All-American Football League from 2007-10 and battled cancer three times. Dempsey is a member of multiple Halls of Fame and is survived by his wife, June, and two children.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

FILE - NCAA President Cedric Dempsey speaks during a news conference at the Final Four in Minneapolis, March 29, 2001. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke, File)