Alvarez powers Astros past Yanks
Dodgers extend domination of Reds
HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez homered twice as the Houston Astros defeated the New York Mets 5-3 to complete a two-game sweep Wednesday.
Next up, a trip to New York to face the MLB-leading Yankees and slugger Aaron Judge, the only player who’s hit more homers than Alvarez this year.
“Whenever a player goes to New York and plays there, it’s just really exciting with the history of that team and the ballpark,” Alvarez through a translator. “We know they’re a really good team so we’re just going to compete and try to win.”
Alvarez hit two of the seasonhigh three homers allowed by Carrasco (8-3). The right-hander exited with lower back tightness in the third inning.
Alvarez, who also homered Tuesday, has 21 this season.
Albuquerqeu’s Alex Bregman added a two-run homer for Houston, which won its third straight.
The National League-leading Mets entered this series having won four of five games but continued to struggle in Houston, where they’ve lost eight in a row.
DODGERS 8, REDS 4: In Cincinnati, Freddie Freeman homered and drove in two runs, giving him seven RBIs in the series.
Albert Almora Jr. hit his fifth homer of the season for Cincinnati, which has lost eight straight at home over two seasons against the Dodgers.
The Dodgers’ .619 winning percentage at Great American Ball Park (39-24) is the secondbest of any NL team, behind the Mets’ 36-21 (.632).
YANKEES 5, RAYS 4: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 26th and 27th home runs, Jose Trevino delivered a two-run shot that put New York ahead in the eighth inning and the Yankees beat Tampa Bay.
Judge’s 22nd career multihomer game helped the Yankees rally from a 4-1 deficit after Isaac Paredes hit his fourth homer in two games for the Rays.
Clarke Schmidt (4-2) got the win and Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save in 13 attempts.
GUARDIANS 11, TWINS 10: In Minneapolis, Oscar Gonzalez tied the game with a two-run single and scored on Owen Miller’s go-ahead sacrifice fly as Cleveland rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to beat Minnesota.
Gonzalez homered earlier and finished with four RBIs for the Guardians, who have won the first two in a three-game series to take a one-game lead over Minnesota atop the AL Central.
Carlos Correa hit two home runs for the Twins.
CARDINALS 5, BREWERS 4: In Milwaukee, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each hit tworun homers as St. Louis beat Milwaukee and moved into first place in the NL Central.
The Cardinals have taken two straight from the Brewers after falling 2-0 in the opener of the four-game series.
Rowdy Tellez and Andrew McCutchen hit solo homers for the Brewers. McCutchen also had an RBI double.
BRAVES 4, GIANTS 3: In Atlanta,Adam Duvall’s runscoring single capped Atlanta’s three-run rally in the ninth to beat San Francisco.
Duvall’s single off Tyler Rogers drove in William Contreras from second base.
The Giants wasted another strong start by Carlos Rodón, who allowed only three hits and one run in seven innings.
BLUE JAYS 9, WHITE SOX 5: In Chicago, Bo Bichette hit a grand slam and Alejandro Kirk homered for the second straight game, leading Ross Stripling and Toronto over the White Sox.
Bichette’s second career slam capped a five-run fourth inning as the Blue Jays avoided a threegame series sweep.
The White Sox were stretched at shortstop. Tim Anderson, who returned Monday after missing 18 games because of a right groin strain, didn’t play under doctor’s orders, manager Tony La Russa said before the game.
RANGERS 4, PHILLIES 2: In Arlington, Texas, Brad Miller hit a two-run single against his former team and Texas beat Philadelphia for the ninth time in a row to hand Zack Wheeler (6-4) his first loss in two months.
Kole Calhoun also drove in two runs for the Rangers, whose winning streak against the Phillies dates to the opening day of the 2014 season.
Jon Gray (3-3) won consecutive starts for the first time this season.
RED SOX 6, TIGERS 2 : In Boston, Rob Refsnyder hit a two-run homer in the third inning and Boston posted its third series sweep of the season, powering past Detroit.
Jarren Duran and Alex Verdugo each added a two-run double as Boston won for the eighth time in 10 games. Michael Wacha (6-1) pitched six innings, allowing two runs and five hits with seven strikeouts to help the Red Sox improve to a season-high eight games above .500.
PADRES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 4: In San Diego, Jurickson Profar had four hits, two RBIs and scored twice for San Diego, which jumped on Madison Bumgarner (3-8) early against Arizona for a three-game sweep.
Jorge Alfaro, whose walk-off single in the 10th inning Tuesday night gave the Padres a 3-2 win, hit a solo homer in the sixth. Rookie José Azocar fell a home run short of the cycle in his first career three-hit game.
ORIOLES 7, NATIONALS 0 (6): In Baltimore, Austin Hays became the sixth player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle, completing the feat amid a steady shower and shortly before play was halted for good in Baltimore’s rain-shortened win over Washington.
Soon after Hays doubled in the sixth inning for the cycle, rain stopped play for a second time. The game was eventually called after six innings.
MARLINS 7, ROCKIES 4: In Miami, Pablo López (5-3) allowed one unearned run in seven solid innings and Miami beat Colorado.
Garrett Cooper, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jorge Soler hit home runs for Miami.
López (5-3) gave up four hits and struck out six.
CUBS 14, PIRATES 5: In Pittsburgh, Ian Happ and Patrick Wisdom hit two-run homers early and Alfonso Rivas added a grand slam off a position player late as Chicago romped.
Held to a total of two runs in the first two games of the series, Chicago broke out for seven runs in the second inning against Jared Eickhoff (0-1).