Herrera robs homer run, triples as Royals beat Astros

HOUSTON — Royals rookie Rosell Herrera kept the game scoreless with a home-run robbery in the eighth inning and hit an RBI triple in the ninth, and struggling Kansas City beat the Houston Astros 1-0 on Friday night.

Herrera helped the Royals end a nine-game skid by bringing back Alex Bregman’s would-be homer. The right fielder reached over the short outfield wall to snag the first out in the eighth.

Adalberto Mondesi then singled off Ken Giles (0-2) to start the ninth, stole second and took third on a flyout by Whit Merrifield. Herrera then sent a ball to center field to score Mondesi and make it 1-0.

Herrera also had a double and is batting .278 in five games since being cut by Cincinnati and acquired by the Royals.

Friday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE

Arizona 2, Pittsburgh 1, 13 innings Philadelphia 12, Washington 2 Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 3 L.A. Dodgers 5, N.Y. Mets 2 Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 1 Colorado 11, Miami 3

San Diego at San Francisco (n)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Oakland 11, Chicago White Sox 2, 1st game Cleveland 10, Detroit 0

Tampa Bay 2, N.Y. Yankees 1

Boston 14, Seattle 10

Kansas City 1, Houston 0

Chicago White Sox 6, Oakland 4, 2nd game Texas 8, Minnesota 1

L.A. Angels 2, Toronto 1

INTERLEAGUE

Baltimore at Atlanta (n)

Danny Duffy pitched six innings of two-hit ball for the Royals, and the bullpen didn’t allow another knock. Justin Grimm (1-2) pitched a scoreless eighth and Tim Hill threw

a perfect ninth for his first save.

RAYS 2, YANKEES 1 Six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a five-hitter, and the Rays beat the New York Yankees. Utilizing a bullpen day, the Rays improved to 14-31 against teams with a .500 or better record with the victory over the team with the majors’ best record.

RANGERS 8, TWINS 1 Mike Minor threw six solid innings, Shin-Soo Choo homered and the Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins for their sixth consecutive victory. Bouncing back from a rough May, Minor (5-4) has thrown three straight quality starts for the first time since throwing six straight in 2014 for Atlanta.

ATHLETICS 11 -4, WHITE SOX 2-6 Lucas Giolito pitched into the eighth inning before Xavier Cedeno worked out of a jam, and the Chicago White Sox snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating the Oakland Athletics to salvage a doubleheader split. The White Sox bounced back after getting pounded 11-2 behind a pair of three-run homers by Franklin Barreto.

INDIANS 10, TIGERS 0 Rookie Shane Bieber struck out nine in a career-high seven innings, Yonder Alonso hit a grand slam and the Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers for their fifth straight victory. Edwin Encarnacion also connected for Cleveland, which leads second-place Detroit by six games in the AL Central.

RED SOX 14, MARINERS 10 J.D. Martinez homered and drove in five, and the Boston Red Sox rallied from a five-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners despite a monster game from Nelson Cruz. Cruz had a pair of three-run homers and drove in seven, but the Mariners still lost their season-worst fifth straight game, including three earlier this week at Yankee Stadium. NATIONAL LEAGUE

REDS 6, CUBS 3 Eugenio Suarez hit a goahead homer off Jose Quintana in the fifth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds held on for their fifth straight victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Reds have won the first two games in the series, a recent rarity in the rivalry. It’s only the second time in the last two years that they’ve won backto-back games in a series against the Cubs.

DODGERS 5, METS 2 Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam to break a scoreless tie in the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the sinking New York Mets behind Alex Wood’s effective pitching. Yasiel Puig added a solo home run in the ninth, and the defending NL champions won their 10th straight against the Mets dating to May 2016. PHILLIES 12, NATIONALS 2 Odubel Herrera homered for the fifth straight game and finished with four hits, helping the Philadelphia Phillies rout the Washington Nationals. Herrera

hit a tiebreaking two-run shot in the third for his 13th homer, matching the club record for consecutive games with a long ball. He has connected in six of his last seven overall. DIAMONDBACKS 2, PIRATES 1,

13 INNINGS Ketel Marte’s two-out single in the 13th inning led the Arizona Diamondbacks to a victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Marte’s liner into center field off Tyler Glasnow (1-2) scored Jon Jay from second base as the NL West-leading Diamondbacks won for the fourth time in five games. Jay walked to start the rally, then advanced to second on a two-out wild pitch before Marte followed an intentional walk to David Peralta with his winning hit.

BREWERS 2, CARDINALS 1 Jesus Aguilar homered to break up rookie Jack Flaherty’s nohit bid in the seventh inning, then homered again in the ninth to lift the Milwaukee Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams got just three hits. The benches and bullpens briefly cleared in the eighth after Eric Sogard slid into St. Louis shortstop Yairo Munoz, who caught a wide throw on a bunt play in the eighth. ROCKIES 11, MARLINS 3 Jon Gray struck out 12 in seven dominant innings, Nolan Arenado homered in Colorado’s six-run fourth, and the Rockies won their fourth in a row by beating the Miami Marlins. It was Gray’s 12th career 10-plus strikeout game and the fourth this season.