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Error sends Marisnick on mad dash to home

Astros outfielder steals second and scores when throw deflects off his arm

HOUSTON -- - Perhaps the only thing more impressive than Jake Marisnick's flowing hair as he rounded the bases and slid head first into home plate Tuesday night was how quickly he did it, reaching a top speed of 20.4 mph at one point during the play, according to Statcast™.

Marisnick's mad dash home from second, following a throwing error by Red Sox catcher Ryan Hanigan, tied the game in the fifth inning and sparked the Astros on their way to an 8-3 win over the Red Sox at Minute Maid Park.

"Being able to score on that type of play, it brings a little more energy to the ballpark, fans got into it and we had some energy in the dugout," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. "Bizarre play you can't really predict, but we certainly fed off it."

The Astros were trailing, 3-1, in the fifth with Chris Carter on third and Marisnick on first and one out. With Jose Altuve at the plate, Marisnick stole second to get into scoring position, and Hanigan's throw hit his left arm and skipped into left-center field.

Marisnick's helmet came off during his head-first slide, but he quickly rose to his feet and turned on the jets, scoring on another head-first slide to tie the game after Carter had jogged home.

"I saw the ball shoot off," Marisnick said. "I didn't know where they were in the outfield. They started waving me and I ended up scoring, so that was good."

Faster than a speeding bullet? Marisnick has no idea.

"I couldn't see anything," he said. "My hair was in my face."

Marisnick went 1-for-4 with a triple in the eighth inning and made a terrific leaping catch in the ninth in left-center to rob David Ortiz of a hit. Ortiz gave him a clap after he came down with the ball.

Video: BOS@HOU: Marisnick tracks down a slicing liner in 9th

"The hit at the end was big for him," Hinch said. "He's working so hard to make some adjustments at the plate and the type of defense he can play. He's electrifying on the bases. We got back to a little bit of the things we were doing early in the year running the bases.

"Marisnick does the steal and scores from second on the lucky bounce … I'm not sure if it hit him or the middle infielder, but he creates a lot of havoc when we can get him on base. He single-handedly made Ortiz have a bad night just a couple different times. That's why he's in there. He never takes his offense to his defense. He brings that every night. For him to contribute on the offensive side and score a couple runs, that was nice to see."

Brian McTaggart is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog, Tag's Lines. Follow @brianmctaggart on Twitter and listen to his podcast.
Read More: Houston Astros, Jake Marisnick