Alex Bregman had two hits and an RBI in his first action in more than two months, and he scored the winning run in the 10th inning on a groundout by Jake Meyers to lift the Houston Astros to a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.
Kyle Tucker singled with no outs in the 10th to send automatic runner Bregman to third. Meyers then hit a comebacker that struck pitcher Joel Payamps (0-3) and pulled him toward first base. Payamps tossed the ball to first for the meaningless out as Bregman slid home.
Whit Merrifield hit a grand slam with two outs in the seventh to put the Royals up 5-3.
Royals starter Mike Minor allowed six hits and three runs in six innings.
1B Carlos Santana was out of the lineup for a second straight game after injuring his hip running to first base in the ninth inning on Monday night.
Royals: Brad Keller (8-12, 5.43 ERA) will start for Kansas City in the opener of a four-game series at Seattle on Thursday at 9:10.