Springer hits 17th homer as Astros top Red Sox

BOSTON — George Springer hit his American League-leading 17th home run and the Houston Astros continued their torrid month of May with their ninth straight victory, 3-1 over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

Springer’s two-run shot in the eighth off Rick Porcello put the Astros up 2-1 and Houston held on. The Astros improved to 12-3 this month and matched the 2017 World Series championship team for the best start in franchise history at 30-15.

Will Harris (1-0) got the win with one scoreless inning of relief. Roberto Osuna picked up his 11th save, getting Mookie Betts to fly out to right with two runners on to end it. Boston went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.

Houston won the opener of the three-game series between the last two World Series winners and a rematch of last year’s ALCS, which Boston won in five games.

Christian Vazquez went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for Boston, which entered the game second to only Houston for the best record in May at 10-3.

Porcello (3-4) pitched seven shutout innings for Boston, but Houston caught up to him in the eighth. Jake Marisnick hit a leadoff a double and Springer followed with a drive over the Red Sox bullpen to the seats in left-center, putting Houston up 2-1.

Porcello was replaced by Ryan Brasier, who allowed an unearned run after walking Michael Brantley and running into some defensive problems. Brantley took second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch before scoring on Josh Reddick’s sacrifice fly to right.

Gerrit Cole pitched five scoreless innings for Houston, allowing six hits, walking one and striking out three. He was replaced by Hector Rondon, who allowed the game’s first run after Xander Bogaerts led off with an in infield single and scored on a single by Vazquez.

Boston had been 0 for 9 with runners in scoring postion before Vazquez came through and put Boston up 1-0.

Porcello allowed two runs and six hits and a walk with three strike- outs.

ATHLETICS 7, TIGERS 2

Frankie Montas pitched two-run ball into the ninth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers for the 14th straight meeting with a victory. Montas (5-2) pitched a career-best 82/3 innings, allowing four hits while striking out a career-high ten. Lou Trivino relieved and got the final out after Montas allowed an RBI double to Miguel Cabrera. Mark Canha and Chad Pinder homered for the A’s, and Khris Davis had three hits. Oakland’s winning streak against Detroit is tied for the fifth-longest in franchise history, two short of a 16-game streak over the New York Yankees in 1989-91. Daniel Norris (2-2) allowed six runs, seven hits and a walk in 51/3 innings.

ORIOLES 5, INDIANS 1

Dylan Bundy kept Cleveland’s lineup in check — and in the ballpark — for 52/3 innings and Jonathan Villar hit a three-run homer as the Baltimore Orioles ended a three-game slide Friday night by beating the Indians 5-1. Bundy (2-5) cooled off the Indians, who scored a season-high 14 runs in Thursday’s series opener and had scored 23 times in the past two games. The right-hander, who has had

INTERLEAGUE

Texas 7, St. Louis 3 a problem giving up homers, didn’t allow an earned run on three hits. He struck out seven and threw a season-high 118 pitches. Villar connected in the third inning off Jefry Rodriguez (1-3) and Stevie Wilkerson homered in the fifth to help the Orioles win for just the second time in nine games.

YANKEES 4, RAYS 3

CC Sabathia shouted salty insults at the Tampa Bay Rays and said he tried to hit one of their batters, but both sides otherwise kept cool as the New York Yankees rallied for three runs in the ninth inning and a victory that moved them into first place in the AL East. Gio Urshela singled over Kevin Kiermaier’s head in deep right-center field to drive home the winning run with two outs. Luke Voit homered on the first pitch from José Alvarado (0-3) in the bottom of the ninth to make it 3-2, and New York tied it when pinch-runner Thairo Estrada scored on Alvarado’s bases-loaded wild pitch. Voit and Urshela had three hits apiece.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

DODGERS 6, REDS 0 Cody Bellinger hit the last of Los Angeles’ four homers, Rich Hill stuck out a season-high 10 and the Dodgers won their fourth in a row, beating the Cincinnati Reds. Corey Seager, Joc Pederson and Max Muncy also homered at one of the Dodgers’ most comfortable road stops. They’re 34-22 at Great American Ball Park, the second-best mark by any NL team, trailing only the Mets’ 32-19 record. Bellinger also had a double, raising his batting average to .410. Hill (1-1) gave by far his best performance in four starts since returning from a sprained right knee. The left-hander allowed two hits and didn’t walk a batter in six innings. He fanned 10 for the first time since June 29 last year against Colorado.

MARLINS 8, METS 6

The Marlins scored for the first time in 27 innings, pounded Jacob deGrom for seven runs and snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating the New York Mets. Garrett Cooper’s two-run single in the third brought home Miami’s first runs since Saturday — also against deGrom. Jorge Alfaro hit a 456foot home run, only the Marlins’ second homer this month, and drove in three. Brian Anderson doubled twice and scored twice. DeGrom (3-5) gave up nine hits, and the run total against him was a season high. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner’s ERA rose from 3.26 to 3.98. New York’s Pete Alonso hit two solo home runs, giving him 14 this year. J.D. Davis added his fourth homer for the Mets.

PHILLIES 5, ROCKIES 4

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer, Bryce Harper lined a two-run double and Cole Irvin tossed six effective innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Colorado Rockies. Irvin (2-0) gave up four runs — three earned — and five hits to win his second career start. Jose Alvarez and Pat Neshek each tossed a scoreless inning and Hector Neris finished for his sixth save in six tries. Ian Desmond ripped a two-run homer for Colorado. Rockies starter Jon Gray (3-4) allowed five runs and five hits in 4 innings. The NL East-leading Phillies snapped a three-game losing streak. Cesar Hernandez followed J.T. Realmuto’s two-out double with a double down the left-field line, giving the Phillies a 3-2 lead in the fourth. Harper’s double made it 5-2 in the fifth.

BRAVES 12, BREWERS 8

Max Fried allowed two hits in six scoreless innings, Dansby Swanson hit a drought-breaking, three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat the Milwaukee Brewers in a matchup of second-place teams. Swanson, Josh Donaldson and Tyler Flowers hit home runs off right-hander Corbin Burnes in a nine-run sixth inning. Freddie Freeman homered and drove in two runs. Fried (6-2) had five strikeouts and walked two batters. The Braves led 12-0 before three relievers gave up eight runs in three innings.

CUBS 14, NATIONALS 6

Kris Bryant matched a career high with three home runs and drove in five while the Chicago Cubs piled on against the Washington Nationals bullpen in a win. Albert Almora Jr., Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras also homered to help the NL Central-leading Cubs (26-16) snap a two-game skid. Javier Baez extended the majors’ longest hitting streak to 15 games. Bryant went deep in the seventh, eighth and ninth, making him the 12th player to homer in three straight innings. He finished with four hits and extended his onbase streak to 26 games, a career best and the longest active run in the majors. Contreras also had four hits. His ninth-inning homer off Matt Grace capped an 11-run barrage for the Cubs against the Nationals’ beleaguered bullpen.

INTERLEAGUE RANGERS 7, CARDINALS 3

Rougned Odor and Shin-Soo Choo homered in a seven-run second inning, Adrian Sampson got his first career win following opener José Leclerc in his first major league start and the Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals. Joey Gallo had both his hits in the highest-scoring inning this season for Texas, which beat the Cardinals in their first game in Arlington since losing Game 5 of the 2011 World Series. Texas has won all seven regular season games against St. Louis since the dramatic World Series loss that included the Rangers being a strike away from the title twice in Game 6. The Cardinals rallied for an 11-inning victory and won going away in Game 7, both wins at home. The Rangers won their third straight game, by a combined score of 29-4, coming off a five-game losing streak that matched their longest of the season.