Astros go big in 6th, sweep doubleheader
HOUSTON: George Springer had three hits and the Houston Astros beat the New York Mets 4-1 on Saturday to sweep a day-night doubleheader in their first games at home since the city was devastated by Hurricane Harvey.
The Astros won the first game 12-8 behind Springer’s career-high 30th home run.
In the nightcap, Josh Reddick tied it at 1 with an RBI single off Seth Lugo (5-4) with no outs in the sixth before Jose Altuve avoided Kevin Plawecki’s tag at home to score on a single by Marwin Gonzalez.
Joe Musgrove (7-8) pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings for the win, and Ken Giles pitched a perfect ninth for his 28th save.
Mets third baseman Wilmer Flores fouled a ball off his face in the fourth inning, was taken off the field with his nose bleeding heavily and sent to a hospital for X-rays.
A crowd of 30,319 attended the doubleheader opener, and 34,904 came out for the second game.
In the opener, New York’s Matt Harvey (4-4) was pounded for seven runs and eight hits in a career-low two innings. Harvey had not pitched for the Mets since June 14 because of a stress injury to the scapula bone in his right shoulder.
Houston right-hander Charlie Morton (11-6) struck out nine in five innings, giving up two runs and six hits.
In Detroit, Corey Kluber pitched eight strong innings and Cleveland won their 10th straight game, beating the Tigers 5-2.
Joe Mauer went 4 for 4 for Minnesota, and Eduardo Escobar hit two home runs while driving in six runs in their massive 17-0 win over the Royals.
In Denver, Patrick Corbin pitched effectively into the sixth inning, JD Martinez hit a three-run home run and Arizona won their season-high ninth straight game with a 6-2 victory over the hosts.
Jean Segura raced home from third base on a wild pitch with two outs in the ninth inning, and Seattle rallied from four runs down to edge Oakland 7-6.
In San Diego, Carlos Asuaje homered and Erick Aybar had three singles off Yu Darvish, who failed to get an out in the fourth inning as the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 in the night game to complete a sweep of a doubleheader against the runaway NL West leaders.
In the first game, Yangervis Solarte homered with one out in the ninth to lift the Padres to a 6-5 victory.
In New York, Matt Holliday made a smashing return to the Yankees’ line-up, hitting a three-run homer that helped Masahiro Tanaka to another win as the hosts beat the Red Sox 5-1.
In Chicago, Rene Rivera hit a grand slam, Anthony Rizzo added a three-run triple and the Cubs held off the Braves 14-12 in Jon Lester’s return from the disabled list.
Trea Turner’s double to the centre-field wall scored Wilmer Difo from first base in the eighth inning, and Washington rallied for a 3-2 road win over the Brewers.
Giancarlo Stanton hit his major leagueleading 52nd home run, and Miami snapped a five-game losing streak with a 10-9 win over the Phillies.