Astros rookie excels as Rays blanked again
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rookie Hunter Brown combined with relievers Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly on a two-hitter as Houston beat Tampa Bay 1-0 on Wednesday, shutting out the majors-leading Rays for a second straight game.
Brown (3-0) had a career-high eight strikeouts and walked two in seven innings. The Astros had snapped Tampa Bay’s 14-game home win streak to start the season, the best in the majors since 1901, with Tuesday’s 5-0 victory. The Rays’ only hits in Wednesday’s game — which took 2 hours, 7 minutes — were singles by ninth-place hitter Manuel Margot in the third and sixth innings.
Alex Bregman was credited with an RBI when Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco was charged with an error for misplaying a potential inningending double-play grounder with runners on the corners in the first.
■ Yankees 12, Twins 6: At Minneapolis, Aaron Judge had a three-run double among his three hits for New York and dodged an injury scare from an awkward headfirst slide on a steal try on his 31st birthday.
■ Guardians 4, Rockies 1: At Cleveland, Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer to back Tanner Bibee (1-0), who allowed one run while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings in his major league debut.
■ Reds 5, Rangers 3: At Cincinnati, Nick Senzel hit a walk-off two-run homer in the ninth, ending Cincinnati’s streak of 79 innings without a homer — its longest such stretch since 1991.
■ Blue Jays 8, White Sox 0: At Toronto, Bo Bichette went 3-for-4 with a homer and three
RBIS to back Yusei Kikuchi (4-0), who struck out eight in 5 2/3 shutout innings.
■ Phillies 6, Mariners 5: At Philadelphia, Nick Castellanos had a two-run homer among his three hits and totaled three RBIS to help Philadelphia overcome a 5-2 deficit.
■ Giants 7, Cardinals 3: At San Francisco, Mitch Haniger scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the fifth after St. Louis center fielder Lars Nootbaar dropped a fly ball.
■ Diamondbacks 2, Royals 0: At Phoenix, Zac Gallen (4-1) struck out 12 over 6 1/3 innings while stretching his scoreless innings streak to 28 for Arizona.
■ Pirates 8, Dodgers 1: At Pittsburgh, Jason Delay had three hits and three RBIS to back Roansy Contreras (3-1), who allowed two hits in six shutout innings.
■ Padres 5, Cubs 3: At Chicago, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a go-ahead two-run single in the San Diego seventh and an RBI single in the ninth.
■ Orioles 6, Red Sox 2: At Baltimore, Ramon Urias had four singles and scored three runs as Baltimore won its fifth straight series.
■ Brewers 6, Tigers 2: At Milwaukee, Freddy Peralta (3-2) held Detroit to no earned runs while striking out eight in six innings.
■ Angels 11, Athletics 3: At Anaheim, Calif., Brandon Drury hit a two-run homer and an RBI double for Los Angeles.
■ Braves 6, Marlins 4: At Atlanta, Vaughn Grissom hit a go-ahead RBI single in Atlanta’s fourrun eighth.
PCL
■ Aviators 18, Rainiers 17: At Las Vegas Ballpark, Max Schuemann hit a go-ahead three-run double in a 10-run seventh by the Aviators (10-13), who held a 23-16 edge in hits. Jake Scheiner went 4-for-6 with two homers and six RBIS for Tacoma (13-9), which had won four straight.