Brewers leave Royals in a daze to make it 8 straight

KANSAS CITY: Ryan Braun had three hits and beat out an infield single to key a fourrun fourth inning as the visiting Milwaukee Brewers ran their winning streak to eight games with a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

Jesus Aguilar had two RBIs as the Brewers swept the two-game interleague series.

Mike Moustakas hit his seventh homer and Salvador Perez had an RBI groundout in his second game back from a knee injury for Kansas City, who dropped to 1-9 at home.

Milwaukee’s Jhoulys Chacin (2-1) gave up four hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings for his second consecutive victory. He struck out three and walked one.

Alex Bregman hit a three-run double, and Jose Altuve and Jake Marisnick homered to back seven innings of strong pitching by ace Justin Verlander as Houston beat visiting Los Angeles 5-2 to salvage the final game of a three-game series.

Verlander (4-0) surrendered just two runs while scattering four hits in seven innings. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.

Since joining the Astros’ rotation on Sept 5, 2017, he is 9-0 in his 11 starts and has allowed just 38 hits while striking out 91 batters. He joins Roger Clemens (9-0 in 2004) as the only Houston pitchers to win their first nine decisions with the team.

Chris Devenski and Ken Giles faced the minimum in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, with Giles earning his second save of the season.

Trevor Richards struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings and as visiting Miami beat Clayton Kershaw 8-6 at Los Angeles.

JT Realmuto hit a pair of home runs, giving him a hit in all 19 of his games played against the Dodgers, the longest streak against the franchise to start a career since at least 1900.

Richards, who said he was on his firstever trip to the West Coast, made it a memorable one by giving up just one hit. He did not get the required 15 outs to qualify for the victory, though.

Kershaw (1-4) walked six to tie a career high and gave up a three-run home run to former teammate Miguel Rojas. The lefthander lasted just five innings, giving up the three runs on five hits while striking out seven.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled home the goahead run with two outs in the fifth inning, and the Texas bullpen pitched no-hit ball the rest of the way, helping the Rangers close out a losing homestand with a 4-2 victory over Oakland.

The A’s had a four-game winning streak snapped despite a two-run home run by Khris Davis, his seventh of the season.