ASTROS 7, PADRES 2
SAN DIEGO -- The Houston Astros capped a great road trip with another big victory against the slumping San Diego Padres.
Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) held San Diego to three hits in eight innings and Colby Rasmus hit a two-run home run to power the Astros to their sixth consecutive victory, 7-2, Wednesday.
The AL West-leading Astros swept the Padres for the first time since May 8-10, 2009. First-year manager A.J. Hinch had worked in San Diego's front office from September 2010 until just after A.J. Preller was hired as general manager in early August.
Houston outscored San Diego 30-9 and outhit the Padres 36-19.
The Astros head home after an 8-1 West Coast trip gave them the best road record in the majors, 10-2.
Despite having one of the best records in the majors, the Astros still have room to grow, Keuchel said.
"We weren't even playing, I don't think, that good of ball," he said. "We have a lot of potential. It's nice to see the guys in the lineup just roll it over. The potential we have is pretty good. That being said, some of the guys haven't even hit their peaks. It's just fun to be a part of right now, especially with the way some of those guys are running the bases out there and setting us up for some runs."
The Astros have won each of the last 10 games started by Keuchel, tying the team record held by Roger Clemens, Donne Wall, Nolan Ryan and Joe Niekro.
Keuchel (3-0) allowed two hits in the first, when Wil Myers hit a leadoff single and scored on Matt Kemp's one-out double to right. The left-hander then retired 23 of his final 24 batters, including 14 consecutive from the first inning until pitcher Andrew Cashner singled to right leading off the sixth.
Keuchel's ERA rose from 0.62 to 0.73. Three of his first four starts were scoreless. He's allowed runs in only two of his 37 innings this year. He struck out four and walked none.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 8, REDS 3 Ryan Braun hit his fourth career grand slam and a solo home run, powering the visiting Milwaukee Brewers to a victory over the Cincinnati Reds that provided a one-day respite from their awful start. Braun, Adam Lind and Khris Davis had solo shots off Michael Lorenzen (0-1), a 23-year-old making his major league debut.
CARDINALS 5, PHILLIES 2 Peter Bourjos hit a game-tying RBI triple, then scored the go-ahead run by beating the throw home on an infield tapper to fuel a four-run fifth inning in St. Louis’ victory over visiting Philadelphia.
MARLINS 7, METS 3 Giancarlo Stanton homered and drove in three runs, Ichiro Suzuki added a three-run home run in the eighth to blow the game open and host Miami topped New York.
NATIONALS 13, BRAVES 4 Jordan Zimmermann won for the first time in four starts and hit a three-run single to help visiting Washington beat Atlanta.
PIRATES 8, CUBS 1 Gerrit Cole allowed three hits over six innings, Andrew McCutchen had a two-run triple and Pittsburgh snapped host Chicago’s four-game winning streak.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
INDIANS 7, ROYALS 5 Jason Kipnis homered and drove in four runs to help the host Cleveland Indians snap a four-game losing streak with a victory over the Kansas City Royals. Kipnis hit a three-run home run -- his first since July 31 of last season -- in the third and then capped another three-run rally in the sixth with an RBI grounder.
RAYS 3, YANKEES 2 (13) James Loney hit a go-ahead infield single in the 13th inning, and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays outlasted the New York Yankees to avoid a three-game sweep. New York's Alex Rodriguez remained one home run shy of tying Willie Mays for fourth place at 660. A-Rod went 0 for 6 with four strikeouts and hit into a game-ending double play.
TIGERS 10, TWINS 7 Miguel Cabrera hit two of the Detroit Tigers' four home runs during a powerful rally in their victory over the host Minnesota Twins. Tom Gorzelanny (1-1) got four outs for the victory, and Joakim Soria notched his ninth save in as many attempts with a scoreless final inning.
ORIOLES 8, WHITE SOX 2 In what was believed to be the first major league game played without fans in attendance, Chris Davis hit a three-run home run in a six-run first inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the visiting Chicago White Sox. In a crisp 2 hours, 3 minutes, Baltimore won its third consecutive since snapping a five-game losing streak.
RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1 Hanley Ramirez hit a two-run home run, Rick Porcello held Toronto to one run over seven innings and the host Boston Red Sox beat the Blue Jays. David Ortiz and Mookie Betts had RBI singles for the Red Sox, who took the three-game series after losing their previous two.
MARINERS 5, RANGERS 2 Logan Morrison had a tiebreaking, two-run double to back Felix Hernandez and lead Seattle to a victory over host Texas.
Sports on 04/30/2015