Three straight homers propel Astros to victory

Astros manager A.J. Hinch might want to consider giving Jose Altuve more days off.

A night after he was out of the starting lineup for the first time all season, the 2017 AL MVP homered twice, including the last of three straight by the Astros in the sixth inning, to lift Houston to a 5-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday in Houston.

Altuve, who pinch-hit in the ninth inning on Tuesday night, said getting a little break gave him a chance to regroup.

“It felt good. It’s always good to sit down and think about how you feel,” he said. “And I came back strong today.”

The game was tied in the bottom of the sixth when George Springer’s 15th homer this season made it 2-1. Two pitches later Alex Bregman sent an 87 mph slider from Rays’ starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-3) into the seats in left field for his 11th home run.

But the Astros weren’t done yet, as Altuve put one on the train tracks atop left field for the second time on Wednesday to push the lead to 4-1. YANKEES 7, MARINERS 5 >> Giancarlo Stanton lined a tworun homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and host New York erased a five-run deficit to beat Seattle. Gary Sanchez tied the score with a tworun homer in the eighth, and the Yankees went on to complete their largest comeback victory of the season. PHILLIES 4, CARDINALS 3 >> Odubel Herrera hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the seventh inning, Cesar Hernandez had a two-run shot, and host Philadelphia beat St. Louis. INDIANS 12, WHITE SOX 0 >> Corey Kluber (11-3) became the first pitcher with 11 wins this season and Jose Ramirez and Jason Kipnis hit three-run homers for host Cleveland.

NOTE >> The Cubs placed closer Brandon Morrow on the 10-day disabled list because of lower back tightness.