Keuchel excels as Astros down Rangers 7-1
ARLINGTON, Texas: Unbeaten lefty Dallas Keuchel earned his MLBleading ninth win, pitching six scoreless innings as the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 7-1 after a long rain delay Friday for their eighth straight victory.
Carlos Correa and George Springer each hit a three-run homer for the Astros (39-16), who have the best record and longest winning streak in the majors.
Correa’s homer came in the fifth off Rangers ace Yu Darvish (5-4), winless in his last eight starts against Houston.
After the start was delayed two hours because of rain, Keuchel (9-0) struck out seven and walked two while limiting the Rangers to three hits. The 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when he got Rougned Odor on an inning-ending groundout.
Cubs 3 2: In Chicago, Jason Heyward hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs broke a six-game losing streak with a victory over St. Louis.
Heyward also had an RBI double in the sixth and Kris Bryant homered as the Cubs washed away some of the sting from a winless road trip against the Dodgers and Padres. Anthony Rizzo reached four times and scored two runs a day after he got engaged.
Pedro Strop (1-2) struck out Yadier Molina with the bases loaded for the final out of the Cardinals eighth, and Wade Davis finished for his 11th save.
Dexter Fowler homered for St. Louis in his first game at Wrigley Field since he signed with the Cardinals in the offseason.
Tigers 15 White Sox 5: In Detroit, Miguel Cabrera had his 1,000th career extra-base hit, J.D. Martinez fell a single short of the cycle as Detroit beat the White Sox.
Cabrera and Martinez combined for five hits, all for extra bases, and six RBIs in eight at-bats. John Hicks and Mikie Mahtook also homered for Detroit.
Michael Fulmer (6-3) allowed a season-high five runs and seven hits in seven innings. The Tigers had been shut out in his past two starts.
Twins 11 Angels 5: In Anaheim, California, Joe Mauer, Robbie Grossman and Max Kepler each hit a two-run homer to power Minnesota.
For the third consecutive game, the Angels’ Albert Pujols remained at 599 career home runs while going 0 for 4.
Kyle Gibson, in his third start since a brief minor-league demotion, turned in his best game of the season. Gibson (2-4) took a shutout into the sixth inning before tiring and giving up two runs. He allowed six hits in a season-high 5 2/3 innings.
Nationals 13 Atlhletics 3: In Oakland, California, Daniel Murphy and Brian Goodwin each had four hits, including a home run, and Stephen Strasburg pitched seven strong innings as Washington defeated Oakland.
Murphy was 4 for 5 with two RBIs, including his 10th home run. He’s 10 for 18 with three extra-base hits and five RBIs over his last four games since missing three games last weekend with an illness.
Goodwin played right field in place of Bryce Harper, who was serving the third of his four-game suspension for his role in Monday’s brawl with the San Francisco Giants. His home run was his career first and the four hits were a career high.
Dodgers 2 Brewers 1, 12 innings: In Milwaukee, Cody Bellinger homered in the 12th inning off Milwaukee reliever Neftali Feliz (1-5), salvaging a win for the Dodgers on a night when ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw recorded his 2,000th strikeout.
Kenley Jansen (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win, stranding the potential tying run at third with one out in the speedy Jonathan Villar by striking out Orlando Arcia looking and getting Travis Shaw to pop out to short.
Los Angeles pitching had a franchise-record 26 strikeouts, handing the Brewers the dubious distinction of tying the MLB mark for most whiffs in a game. Jansen’s strikeout of Hernan Perez in the 11th was his 36th of the season without having allowed a walk all year, setting a major league mark.
Both teams combined for 42 strikeouts, a National League record.
Reds 2 Braves 2, 10 innings: In Cincinnati, Eugenio Suarez scored the tying run in the ninth on Jim Johnson’s wild pitch, and Devin Mesoraco led off the 10th with a homer, rallying Cincinnati past Atlanta.
Mesoraco, who got into the game as a defensive replacement in the 10th, connected off Jose Ramirez (2-2) for his first career game- ending homer. Raisel Iglesias (2-0) faced three batters in the top of the 10th.
Second baseman Brandon Phillips returned to Great American Ball Park for the first time since his trade in February after 11 seasons in Cincinnati. He went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.