Astros make it 2 straight in Boston

BOSTON — Alex Bregman hit his 30th home run, Charlie Morton returned from the disabled list with five solid innings and the Astros beat the Red Sox 5-3 on Saturday for their seventh straight victory.

Martin Maldonado also homered for the AL West-leading Astros, who have won the first two legs of the three-game rematch of last year’s AL Division Series. The defending World Series champion Astros will try to sweep the major-league-leading Red Sox on Sunday night.

Morton (14-3) was activated from the DL after missing his last start with discomfort in his right shoulder. He allowed a run on three hits in the first inning, but the Red Sox didn’t score again until Xander Bogaerts hit a solo home run in the fifth.

Morton matched his win total from 2017. He allowed two runs on seven hits, striking out three and walking two. Roberto Osuna took over in the ninth and got his 15th save despite allowing a run. Osuna got out of a jam when J.D. Martinez grounded into a gameending double play.

Eduardo Rodriguez (12-4) pitched 31⁄ innings. The Astros

3 tagged him for five runs on six hits, including solo homers by Bregman and Maldonado.

Tyler White belted an RBI triple and scored on Jake Marisnick’s sacrifice fly in the third, when a pair of runs put the Astros up for good.

Bregman made it 3-1 in the fourth with his towering shot that bounced off a sign above the Green Monster, and Maldonado led off the fifth with his ninth of the season.

Bogaerts went 3-for-4 with two RBIs. He gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead in the first on a single after back-to-back singles by Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi.