Napoli’s blast, Cashner’s strong 8 rout Astros
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Andrew Cashner pitched eight strong innings, Mike Napoli hit a three-run home run and the Texas Rangers beat the Houston Astros 8-1 Wednesday night in a game relocated to Florida because of Hurricane Harvey.
A crowd of 6,123 — up from 3,485 the previous night for the opener of a three-game series at Tropicana Field — watched Cashner (8-9) limit the AL West leaders to three hits, one after the second inning.
Napoli’s home run off former Arkansas Razorback Dallas Keuchel (11-3) capped a six-run fourth inning for the Rangers, who have won two consecutive following a three-game skid.
Keuchel retired 10 in a row to begin the game before Texas broke through for 6 runs within a span of 6 batters. Joey Gallo drew a bases-loaded walk, Carlos Gomez delivered a two-run single and Napoli capped the surge with his 28th home run of the season.
Cashner, meanwhile, shut the Astros down after giving up a single, double and Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly in the second inning. The righthander allowed two baserunners after that, one of them on an error.
Ricky Rodriguez finished the combined four-hitter, giving up an infield single to Jose Altuve in the ninth.
The loss dropped Keuchel to 2-3 over seven starts since returning from a stint on the 15-day disabled list due to neck discomfort. The Astros ace allowed 6 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks and struck out 7 over 6 innings.
ORIOLES 8, MARINERS 7 Welington Castillo Wednesday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta 9-5, Philadelphia 1-2 Milwaukee 6, St. Louis 5 Washington 4, Miami 0 NY Mets 2, Cincinnati 0 Chicago Cubs 17, Pittsburgh 3 San Diego 5, San Francisco 0 Arizona 6, LA Dodgers 4 AMERICAN LEAGUE Cleveland 2-9, NY Yankees 1-4 Baltimore 8, Seattle 7
Boston 7, Toronto 1
Texas 8, Houston 1 Minnesota 11, Chicago White Sox 1 Tampa Bay 5, Kansas City 3 Oakland at LA Angels, (n) INTERLEAGUE Detroit 6, Colorado 2 went 4 for 4 with 1 home run and 3 RBI, Jonathan Schoop singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and host Baltimore beat Seattle.
INDIANS 2-9, YANKEES 1-4 Trevor Bauer won his career-best seventh consecutive decision and Jose Ramirez tied his big league high with four hits as visiting Cleveland beat New York in the opener. Yandy Diaz hit a two-run single in the first inning as the Indians won the second game.
RED SOX 7, BLUE JAYS 1 Mitch Moreland had a pinch-hit home run and drove in four runs, Hanley Ramirez added a solo blast and Boston beat host Toronto.
TWINS 11, WHITE SOX 1 Jose Berrios pitched seven scoreless innings, Brian Dozier had four hits and Eddie Rosario homered twice as Minnesota defeated visiting Chicago.
RAYS 5, ROYALS 3 Logan Morrison, Steven Souza Jr. and Adeiny Hechavarria each went deep and Tampa Bay beat host Kansas City. NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 6, CARDINALS 5 Domingo Santana and Jonathan Villar homered in the sixth inning, and center fielder Keon Broxton made a leaping catch over the wall for the final out in Milwaukee’s victory over visiting St. Louis.
NATIONALS 4, MARLINS 0 Stephen Strasburg tossed a complete game six-hitter and also homered, Wilmer Difo added a home run and host Washington defeated Miami.
BRAVES 9-5, PHILLIES 1-2 Ender Inciarte singled his first four times up and hit a two-out triple in the seventh as visiting Atlanta beat Philadelphia in the first game. Inciarte had three more hits as Atlanta beat Philadelphia to complete the doubleheader sweep.
METS 2, REDS 0 Rafael Montero took a one-hitter into the ninth inning, and New York held on for a victory over host Cincinnati.
CUBS 17, PIRATES 3 Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs, Ian Happ and Anthony Rizzo also went deep to back Jose Quintana, and Chicago pounded visiting Pittsburgh.
PADRES 5, GIANTS 0 Travis Wood (Bryant) homered and pitched into the fifth inning, Jose Pirela also went deep and host San Diego beat San Francisco. DIAMONDBACKS 6, DODGERS 4 Paul Goldschmidt homered for the third consecutive game, Robbie Ray fanned 10 in 62/3 innings and Arizona held on to beat visiting Los Angeles. INTERLEAGUE
TIGERS 6, ROCKIES 2 Justin Verlander struck out nine over six innings and aided his own cause by driving in his first career run as Detroit beat host Colorado.