Astros beat Rangers to register 10th win in a row

ARLINGTON, Texas: George Springer hit two of Houston’s four home runs as the Astros matched their state rival for the longest winning streak in the major leagues this season at 10 games, beating the Texas Rangers 7-2 on Sunday.

The Astros scored in all four innings pitched by Martin Perez (2-6) and tied a club record from 1989 with their 10th straight road win. Houston’s first sweep of Texas since July 2014 dropped the Rangers to 3-11 since their 10-game streak.

Defending AL West champion Texas (26-31) is 15 games behind the division-leading Astros, who have the major leagues’ best record at 41-16 — and six wins in seven games against the Rangers. TIGERS 7, WHITE SOX 4: Justin Upton hit a gameending, three- run homer as Detroit overcame Justin Verlander’s groin injury to beat the Chicago White Sox for a sweep of their weekend series.

Nicholas Castellanos was hit by a pitch from David Robertson (3-2), and second baseman Yolmer Sanchez then misplayed a potential double-play ball and was only able to get Miguel Cabrera at first. J.D. Martinez was intentionally walked, and Upton hit his 11th homer.

Martinez also connected for the Tigers, who have won four straight. Justin Wilson (3-1) pitched a scoreless inning.

Todd Frazier led off the third with his eighth homer, lifting the White Sox to a 2-0 lead, and Verlander left after a four-pitch walk. CUBS 7, CARDINALS 6: Ian Happ hit two homers before pinch hitter Jon Jay drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a single as the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals to complete a three-game sweep.

Happ staked Chicago to a 6-4 lead with a solo homer in the third and a three-run drive in the fourth against Michael Wacha.

Jay, batting for reliever Pedro Strop (2-2), broke a 6-6 tie with his two-out single off Matt Bowman (1-2) in the seventh. Anthony Rizzo had three hits and scored the go-ahead run as the Cubs (28-27) moved back over .500 with their 10th home win in 12 games.

Stephen Piscotty hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Kyle Hendricks. The Cardinals tied it with two in the sixth against Hector Rondon, only to lose for the eighth time in 11 games. NATIONALS 11, ATHLETICS 10: Ryan Zimmerman hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, sending the Nationals to the victory. Matt Wieters and Michael Taylor added back-to-back homers off Frankie Montas during Washington’s five-run ninth, helping the NL East leaders improve to 5-1 on their nine-game West Coast trip. But the Nationals nearly blew an 11-4 lead in the ninth, highlighting their continued trouble with closing out games. Koda Glover allowed the first five batters to reach before he was replaced by Shawn Kelley, who surrendered a grand slam by Matt Joyce with one out. Kelley then retired the next two batters for his fourth save in six tries. Khris Davis had three hits and two RBIs for Oakland, including his 17th homer. BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 2: Justin Smoak hit a tying two-run homer off Luis Severino in the sixth inning while Josh Donaldson homered against Tyler Clippard (0-3) in the eighth as Toronto gained a four-game split despite going 0 for 24 in the series with runners in scoring position Matt Holliday hit an RBI double in the fourth off Marcus Stroman and a run-scoring doubleplay grounder in the sixth. Joe Smith (2-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Roberto Osuna pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 13th save. MARLINS 6, DIAMONDBACKS 5: A.J. Ellis hit a tiebreaking single on the 14th pitch of an at-bat against Archie Bradley in the seventh. Tyler Moore hit a three-run homer and Derek Dietrich had a pair of sacrifice flies for Miami, which finished an 8-2 homestand. Nick Wittgren (1-0) got two outs around a walk in the seventh. A.J. Ramos pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to remain perfect in eight save chances. ROCKIES 3, PADRES 1: Jeff Hoffman cruised through seven innings for Colorado while Trevor Story had two hits and two RBIs. Hoffman (3-0) struck out nine after being called up from the minors to fill in for Tylery Anderson, sidelined by y a left knee injury.