Astros beat Angels; Pujols homers for 2,994th hit

ASTROS 5, ANGELS 2

HOUSTON — Justin Verlander pitched seven sharp innings, AL MVP Jose Altuve hit his first home run of the season and the Houston Astros beat the Angels 5-2 Wednesday, ending Los Angeles' road winning streak at a team record-tying 11 in a row.

Albert Pujols connected off Verlander for his 619th career homer. Pujols now has 2,994 hits.

Alex Bregman hit a three-run double and Jake Marisnick homered as Houston avoided a three-game sweep. The Angels had also won 11 straight road games in 1988.

Verlander (4-0) held the Angels hitless into the fifth inning before Zack Cozart singled with two outs. Verlander gave up two runs and

four hits, striking out nine without a walk.

Verlander won his 11th regular-season decision in a row, dating to mid-August last year, before the Detroit traded him to Houston.

Ken Giles pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Nick Tropeano (1-2) retired the first 11 batters he faced, striking out six.

RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 3 Mookie Betts homered twice and drove in three runs as the Boston Red Sox snapped their season-high three-game losing streak with a win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Boston improved to 6-1 in one-run games and got their 18th win of the season, tying the franchise record for victories before May 1.

YANKEES 7, TWINS 4 Didi Gregorius homered for the fourth straight game and added two RBIs to his major league-leading total, sending the New York Yankees past the Minnesota Twins in a hazy fog for their fifth consecutive victory. Tyler Austin hit a three-run shot and made a

sparkling defensive play at first base to stop a Twins rally. With a fine effort from the bullpen, New York handed Minnesota its sixth defeat in

a row — the team’s longest skid since a seven-game slide in September 2016.

RANGERS 4, ATHLETICS 2 Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a go-ahead single in the fifth inning and the Texas bullpen protected the lead, giving the Rangers a victory over the Oakland Athletics. Four Texas relievers worked 41/3 hitless innings to stop Oakland’s four-game winning streak. Jesse Chavez (1-0) retired all four batters he faced in relief of starter Doug Fister.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES 5, REDS 4 Prized prospect Ronald Acuna Jr. singled and scored the tying run in the eighth inning of his big league debut, and the Atlanta Braves went on to beat the Cincinnati Reds. The 20-year-old Acuna became the youngest player in the majors when he was called up from Triple-A before the game. He went 1 for 5 and played left field. Ozzie Albies, the second-youngest player in the bigs at 21, homered for Atlanta.

CARDINALS 9, METS 1 Marcell Ozuna hit a tiebreaking two-run single and Michael Wacha won his fourth straight start as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets. Jedd Gyorko added a two-run homer for St. Louis, which has won nine of 11. Ozuna had just one hit in his previous 24 at-bats prior to a bases-loaded single to cap a three-run third inning that put the Cardinals in front to stay 3-1.

INTERLEAGUE

INDIANS 4, CUBS 1 Francisco Lindor and Edwin Encarnacion hit sixth-inning home runs and the Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago Cubs despite losing relief ace Andrew Miller to a left hamstring injury. Miller grabbed the back of his leg after throwing two pitches to Anthony Rizzo in the seventh inning. He was visited by manager Terry Francona and a team trainer before walking to the dugout. The team announced he had left hamstring tightness.

BREWERS 6, ROYALS 2 Jhoulys Chacin efficiently mowed through the Kansas City lineup, Milwaukee manufactured four runs in the fourth inning and the Brewers went on to beat the Royals for their eighth consecutive victory. Chacin (2-1) did not allow a hit until two outs in the fourth. The veteran right-hander wound up allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while working into the sixth inning.