ARLINGTON, Texas -- Josh Reddick and Tony Kemp homered, Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) worked seven solid innings to win for only the second time in his last nine starts and the AL West-leading Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 5-3 on Tuesday night.
Houston is 11-4 this season against its instate division rival, with seven consecutive road victories in the series. Houston is a majors-best 31-14 on the road this season.
Texas leadoff hitter Shin-Soo Choo walked twice and had two singles to extend his career-best on-base streak to 43 games, the longest in the majors since Atlanta's Freddie Freeman's 46-gamer two years ago. Choo is three games shy of Julio Franco's team record of 46 in a row set 25 years ago.
Keuchel (5-8), the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner, struck out seven while allowing only two runs.
The Astros used three relievers to get through the eighth. Texas already had a run in before Hector Rondon took over against pinch-hitter Joey Gallo, who worked a 12-pitch at-bat into a two-out walk to load the bases before Robinson Chirinos struck out. Rondon then worked the ninth for his sixth save in eight chances.
Houston went ahead to stay in the first when Yuli Gurriel and Reddick had RBI doubles off Austin Bibens-Dirkx (1-2). Reddick added a solo home run in the third before Kemp's two-run drive that just cleared the eight-foot wall in right-center.
The Astros have hit home runs in 23 consecutive road games, a club record.
INDIANS 6, ROYALS 4 Yan Gomes hit a sixth-inning grand slam as visiting Cleveland rallied to beat Kansas City. The Indians lead the AL with eight grand slams. Edwin Encarnacion led off the sixth with a walk and Brandon Guyer was hit by a pitch from Danny Duffy (4-8). Yonder Alonso's infield single loaded the bases. Gomes drove a 1-0 Duffy pitch into the left-field bullpen. Chad Allen got the final four outs for his 17th save in 18 chances.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ROCKIES 8, GIANTS 1 Antonio Senzatela pitched seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season, Nolan Arenado hit his NL-leading 22nd home run and host Colorado beat San Francisco. Colorado's Charlie Blackmon had three hits, including his first home run since June 20. Trevor Story had an RBI triple for the Rockies, who have won five of six.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, CARDINALS 2 Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run homer, Zack Greinke pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the host Arizona Diamondbacks ended a four-game losing streak. Goldschmidt followed a four-hit night Monday with a three-run home run off Jack Flaherty (3-4) in the fifth inning.
INTERLEAGUE
RED SOX 11, NATIONALS 4 Xander Bogaerts hit a three-run home run during a six-run fifth inning, J.D. Martinez and Eduardo Nunez also went deep, and the visitingBoston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals. Martinez drove in four and leads the majors with 26 home runs and 71 RBI. Boston has won 17 of its last 19 interleague games. Washington has lost four consecutive and 16 of 21 to fall to 42-42, its first time at .500 since it was 17-17.
YANKEES 8, BRAVES 5 Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Kyle Higashioka each hit home runs and host New York went ahead early and hung on to beat Atlanta. Aaron Judge had two hits and a walk, and he stole two bases for the first time in his career. Hicks also walked twice as New York drew eight walks.
PHILLIES 3, ORIOLES 2 Zach Eflin pitched seven strong innings for his sixth consecutive victory and Andrew Knapp had the winning hit for the second straight game. Rhys Hoskins had a two-run double for the host Phillies, who have won 11 of 16.
CUBS 5, TIGERS 3 Anthony Rizzo drove in his second run of the game in the seventh inning to snap a tie, Kyle Schwarber followed with a solo home run in the eighth and host Chicago rebounded from an early three-run deficit to edge Detroit for its fifth consecutive victory.
BREWERS 2, TWINS 0 Eric Thames hit a two-run home run and three pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout as host Milwaukee beat Minnesota. The Twins fell to 1-7 on their current nine-game road trip.
BLUE JAYS 8, METS 6 Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a tiebreaking two-run home run in the eighth inning and host Toronto rallied from a five-run deficit to beat New York. Yangervis Solarte hit a tying three-run home run off Robert Gsellman in the seventh before Gurriel went deep off Tim Peterson (1-1) in the eighth as the Blue Jays won for the 11th time in 14 home games.
ATHLETICS 6, PADRES 2 Jed Lowrie hit a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double in the decisive sixth, Mark Cahna added a solo home run in that inning, and the host Oakland Athletics rallied to beat the San Diego Padres.
WHITE SOX 12, REDS 8 (12) Daniel Palka and Avisail Garcia each homered twice, and Yoan Moncada tripled with the bases loaded in the 12th inning as the visiting Chicago White Sox pulled off their biggest comeback of the season, beating the Cincinnati Reds.
Sports on 07/04/2018