HOUSTON -- Dallas Keuchel allowed seven hits in eight innings to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.
The performance comes after Keuchel (10-3) threw a six-hit shutout in a victory over the New York Yankees in his previous start. Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) struck out seven and didn't walk a batter to lower his ERA to 2.03. Pat Neshek allowed one hit in the ninth.
George Springer had a two-run home run in the third inning. Jose Altuve drove in a run in the fifth to help Houston to the victory.
The Astros have taken the first two games of this matchup of teams with the best records in the American League. Houston is 46-34 and Kansas City is 44-30.
Kansas City starter Danny Duffy (2-4) allowed 6 hits and 4 runs in 6 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list.
Keuchel has been a workhorse for the Astros, pitching six innings or more in his last 28 starts.
Lorenzo Cain had three hits for Kansas City, including two doubles, but the rest of the lineup fizzled. The Royals produced more than one hit in only one inning while being shut out for the second time in a week.
Keuchel got a little help from his defense when Springer robbed Omar Infante of a hit to center field. Springer raced and made an over-the-shoulder catch for the third out of the seventh inning.
Marwin Gonzalez singled with two outs in the third inning before Springer's soaring shot, which bounced off the foul pole in left field to make it 2-0 and snapped Springer out of an 0 for 8 slump.
Evan Gattis tripled with one out in the fourth inning. The fly ball sailed just out of reach of the glove of Cain, who raced up Tal's Hill in center to try and grab it and instead crashed to the ground and into the padded wall after coming up short. Gattis already has four triples this season after tripling just once in his first two years in the majors.
Chris Carter walked on a wild pitch by Duffy, which sailed over catcher Drew Butera's head, and allowed Gattis to score and make it 3-0.
Springer drew a one-out walk in the fifth inning before scoring on a double by Altuve to push Houston's lead to 4-0.
Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar, who was scratched from Monday's game with a bruise on his index finger, went 1 for 4.
INDIANS 6, RAYS 2 Danny Salazar (7-3) pitched two-hit ball for 7 2/3 innings and visiting Cleveland backed him with three home runs to beat Tampa Bay. Jason Kipnis, Giovanny Urshela and David Murphy homered for the Indians, driving in all six runs. Erasmo Ramirez (6-3) lost for the first time in six starts.
RANGERS 8, ORIOLES 6 Mitch Moreland hit two home runs the second night in a row, and visiting Texas celebrated the return of Josh Hamilton by defeating Baltimore. Shin-Soo Choo and Robinson Chirinos also went deep for the Rangers, who have hit eight home runs in the first two games of the series. Moreland (8 HRs, 43 RBI) homered with a man on in the second and eighth innings. It's the eighth time in club history that a player has hit multiple home runs in consecutive games.
RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 3 David Ortiz and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit home runs, Eduardo Rodriguez pitched six solid innings and visiting Boston beat Toronto. Rodriguez (4-2) gave up one run and four hits in six innings. Tommy Layne gave up a two-run home run to Jose Reyes in the seventh, Alexi Ogando got four outs and Koji Uehara finished for his 18th save. Marco Estrada (5-4) had taken no-hit bids into the eighth inning in each of his previous two starts. He walked Mike Napoli and Alejandro De Aza with the bases loaded in the first.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CUBS 1, METS 0 Kyle Hendricks outpitched Jonathon Niese in a matchup of feeble offenses, and Matt Szczur provided the one big hit as visiting Chicago snapped a five-game skid with a victory over New York. Hendricks (3-4) pitched three-hit ball for six innings and combined with three relievers to bail out the Cubs. Szczur had an RBI double off Niese (3-8) in the sixth, the team's only hit in five chances with runners in scoring position.
MARLINS 5, GIANTS 3 Major league batting leader Dee Gordon hit the first inside-the-park home run in the four-year history of Marlins Park, and the three-run shot helped Miami beat San Francisco. Miami's Justin Bour also homered. Buster Posey hit his 12th home run for the Giants. Mat Latos (3-5) gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, in 6 innings.
NATIONALS 6, BRAVES 1 Jordan Zimmermann took a shutout into the eighth inning and visiting Washington beat Atlanta to continue its season-long dominance of the division rivalry. The NL East-leading Nationals have won nine consecutive games in the season series with the Braves. Zimmermann (6-5) allowed 6 hits with no walks and 6 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings. Clint Robinson hit a two-run home run to cap Washington's four-run first inning off Shelby Miller (5-4).
INTERLEAGUE
MARINERS 5, PADRES 0 Rookie left-hander Mike Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hitter for his second consecutive shutout as visiting Seattle beat San Diego. Montgomery, who turns 26 on Wednesday, was coming off his first career shutout, a five-hitter against Kansas City.
WHITE SOX 2, CARDINALS 1 (11) Chris Sale matched a major league record by striking out at least 10 in eight consecutive starts, and Chicago outlasted host St. Louis in 11 innings on a home run by Tyler Flowers. Sale struck out 12 in eight innings. The lefty tied the mark set by Pedro Martinez in 1999 with Boston.
Sports on 07/01/2015