Yordan Alvarez hits go-ahead triple in 8th inning as Astros outlast Yankees 9-7

NEW YORK (AP) — Yordan Alvarez went 3 for 5 and lined a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning off Brent Headrick as the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 9-7 on Tuesday night.

Yainer Diaz hit a pair of solo homers, including a tying shot to the short porch in right field off Headrick’s fastball to start the eighth. After Jeremy Pena singled, Alvarez ripped a low-inside sinker to the warning track in right-center for a 7-6 lead.

Alvarez increased his major league-leading batting average to .323. The slugger had his seventh career triple and first since July 21, 2024.

Pena homered off Fernando Cruz in the sixth for a 5-all tie. Daulton Varsho had two RBI singles for the Astros, who won for the sixth time in 15 games after owner Jim Crane said manager Joe Espada will finish the season.

Isaac Paredes added an RBI single off Headrick (7-3), who has allowed five homers in 68 appearances. Headrick is second in the big leagues in appearances to Toronto lefty Mason Fluharty and permitted a run for only the 12th time.

Diaz tacked on an RBI single in the ninth off rookie Bradley Hanner as the Astros scored six runs against New York’s bullpen.

Houston overcame a four-hit night by New York first baseman Luis García Jr. García hit an RBI double off Steven Okert that gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead and also launched a two-run homer in the fifth off rookie starter Ethan Packo.

It was García’s third four-hit game this season and the eighth of his career.

Bryan Abreu (5-3) allowed an RBI single to Jazz Chisholm Jr. before finishing a double play against Austin Wells with a nice grab at first base. Josh Hader got four outs for his 19th save in 19 chances.

Cody Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the third that broke a 32-game homerless drought and gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead.

Packo allowed five runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings on his 24th birthday.

New York starter Will Warren permitted three runs — two earned — and seven hits in five innings.

Astros RHP Peter Lambert (8-7, 3.68 ERA) pitches Wednesday night. The Yankees had not announced a scheduled starter.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Houston Astros' Isaac Paredes (15) runs to first base for a RBI single during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz hits an RBI single during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Yankees pitcher Brent Headrick, center, hands the ball to manager Aaron Boone, left, as he leaves during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz (21) hits a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez (44) follows through on a RBI triple during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the New York Yankees Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent Sikh separatist said Tuesday that the FBI and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have warned him that he faces a new credible threat to his life even as a man from India faces sentencing later this year for a 2023 death plot against him.

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel for Sikhs For Justice, said he was warned by FBI agents who visited him Aug. 12 that he should not travel until the threat is resolved, and, if he does, the agency should be notified in advance of his plans.

He said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police warned him by telephone on Tuesday, though neither law enforcement agency gave any details about the plot that was uncovered. Messages seeking comment from both law enforcement agencies were not immediately returned.

Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, said he was warned according to the terms of a “Duty to Warn” law in the United States that obligates U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to notify individuals when they discover credible and specific threats of murder, severe bodily harm or kidnapping.

The new threat comes as Nikhil Gupta, a man from India who pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges in February, awaits a Nov. 20 sentencing in Manhattan federal court for plotting in 2023 with others to assassinate Pannun.

The FBI has said Gupta was directed by an Indian government employee to carry out the killing. When Gupta tried, he unwittingly communicated with an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a hitman. Federal sentencing guidelines call for Gupta to spend at least two decades in prison.

Pannun, who advocates for the creation of the sovereign Sikh state and is considered a terrorist by the Indian government, said in a phone interview Tuesday that he was “unfazed and undaunted” by the attempts to silence him.

“I’m not afraid of their death threats,” he said, though he added that he hoped that the administrations of President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney would confront Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over threats to U.S. and Canadian sovereignty.

“The Modi government is proceeding under the Trump administration without fear of any consequences,” he said.

Pannun has described himself as a Sikh human rights lawyer who is campaigning to turn Punjab into a place where “all religions will have equal rights.”

He said “Duty to Warn” advisories were issued by Canadian law enforcement officials to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the ex-head of the Canadian chapter of the Khalistan Referendum, in the weeks before he was assassinated on June 18, 2023 in Surrey, British Columbia.

Pannun said the continued threats give him courage and confidence that his campaign and outspokenness is working.

“I'm going to continue, even at the cost of a bullet,” he said.

This story has been corrected to show FBI agents visited Pannun Aug. 12, not last Thursday.

FILE - Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun stands in his office in New York on Nov. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)