Astros head to flooded home with win
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jose Altuve homered, the Houston bullpen pitched 4.1 scoreless innings and the Astros beat the Texas Rangers 5-1 on Thursday in the last game before they return to their flood-ravaged home city.
Josh Reddick added an RBI single for the AL West-leading Astros, who avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of their instate rivals at Tropicana Field, where the series was relocated because of Hurricane Harvey.
Houston will have a previously unscheduled day off Friday and play a doubleheader Saturday against the Mets at Minute Maid Park. The downtown Houston stadium escaped major flood damage. Astros president Reid Ryan has said he hopes the weekend games “can serve as a welcome distraction” for the city.
For the Rangers, it was their first loss all year at the Tampa Bay Rays’ home park. They swept the Rays in a three-game series in June.
Chris Devenski (7-3) worked 2 1/3 innings in relief of Collin McHugh to get the win. Ken Giles pitched the final two innings for his 27th save in 30 opportunities.
McHugh allowed one unearned run, but bench coach Alex Cora pulled him one out short of a potential victory.
TWINS 5, CHISOX 4: Max Kepler was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Twins rallied to beat the White Sox for their fourth straight win.
Trailing 4-3 entering their final at-bat at Target Field, the Twins came back and held their slim lead for the second AL wild-card spot. The Twins completed a three-game sweep with their first hop-off win since current Minnesota manager Paul Molitor was plunked in the 10th at the Metrodome in 1996 to beat Kansas City.
CUBS 6, BRAVES 2: Kyle Hendricks turned in his fourth straight quality start and Chicago ran its winning streak to four with a victory over Atlanta at Wrigley.
Hendricks (6-4) allowed one earned run on five hits while striking out five and walking three in 6.2 innings as the reigning World Series champs maintained their 3½-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
BREWERS 6, NATIONALS 3: Zach Davies won his 16th game to tie Arizona’s Zack Greinke for the most victories in the majors, Jonathan Villar homered and host Milwaukee beat Washington.
Davies (16-7) scattered six hits, walked two, struck out four and lowered his ERA to 1.77 over the last nine starts, five of them victories for himself and the team.
BLUE JAYS 11, ORIOLES 8: Baltimore’s seven-game winning streak ended under a barrage of home runs by Kendrys Morales, who went deep three times and had a career-high seven RBI to provide Toronto with a victory at Camden Yards. Looking to sustain its charge into the thick of the AL playoff picture, Baltimore bolted to a 5-2 lead in the third inning before the lastplace Blue Jays stormed back behind Morales, who had four hits and scored four runs.
PHILLIES 3, MARLINS 2: Ben Lively hastened Giancarlo Stanton’s slide into a slump, and visiting Philadelphia sent Miami below —Staff & Wire reports .500. Stanton failed to get the ball out of the infield in three plate appearances against Lively and finished 0 for 5 with two strikeouts. The major league home run leader (51) is 1 for 15 this week.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, DODGERS 1: Zack Greinke earned his major league-tying 16th victory with six strong innings, and Arizona beat Los Angeles in Phoenix to complete the first series sweep of the Dodgers this season.
The Dodgers, still with by far the best record in the majors (91-40), have lost a season-worst five in a row. Associated Press