HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros are in first place in the American League West -- the first time they have led their division this late in the season in 12 years.
Rookie Lance McCullers pitched seven solid innings and Preston Tucker and Jon Singleton hit home runs to help the Astros to a 6-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night that regained the division lead for Houston.
Houston won the first two games of the series to move one game ahead of the Angels, who came into town leading the division. It's the latest the Astros have been atop their division since Sept. 21, 2003, when they led the National League Central.
"These are big games for us, no dancing around it," McCullers said. "I think we've played really well and we're going to continue to play really well going forward."
McCullers (5-3) allowed 5 hits and 1 run with 5 strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 2.48.
The Astros trailed by one before a two-run fifth, capped by an RBI single by Jose Altuve made it 2-1. Tucker hit a solo home run in the sixth and Singleton's shot came in the seventh to push the lead to 4-1.
Los Angeles starter Garrett Richards (10-8) yielded 7 hits and 4 runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Conor Gillaspie's RBI triple put the Angels ahead 1-0 early, but they were unable to string hits together after that with star Mike Trout out again with a left wrist injury.
"He's a huge part of our offense, but if one guy is going to be out of the lineup you have to have a good enough one to go out and make things happen," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said.
The Astros added two runs in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by Hank Conger and an RBI single by Singleton.
Albert Pujols hit his 30th home run of the season off Luke Gregerson to cut the lead to 6-2 in the ninth inning. It made him just the sixth player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in at least 13 seasons and the only one to do it in his first 15 seasons.
Johnny Giavotella added an RBI single with two outs in the inning, but Gregerson retired Carlos Perez to end the game.
Luis Valbuena doubled to lead off the bottom of the fifth, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Colby Rasmus to tie it at 1-1. Houston took a 2-1 lead on an infield single by Altuve, which extended his hitting streak at Minute Maid Park to 18 games, a record for the park.
Tucker added his home run to start the sixth.
Singleton's shot chased Richards with one out in the seventh and pushed the lead to 4-1. It was the first home run in the majors this season for Singleton, who hit 17 at Class AAA Fresno before he was called up June 26.
"It is a weight off my shoulders," Singleton said. "It's definitely a good chance for me to kind of like be happy about what I did today. ... I can take a deep breath after tonight's game."
Erick Aybar doubled with one out in the second and scored on Gillaspie's two-out triple to make it 1-0.
The Angels got both of their new acquisitions in the lineup Wednesday, with David DeJesus starting in Trout's place in center field and David Murphy playing left field. DeJesus was traded from Tampa Bay and Murphy from Cleveland on Tuesday.
INDIANS 14, ROYALS 1 Corey Kluber took a shutout into the ninth inning, rookie Francisco Lindor hit a three-run home run and had a career-high four RBI, and Cleveland avoided a winless homestand with a victory over Kansas City. Michael Brantley, Yan Gomes and rookie Giovanny Urshela also hit home runs for Cleveland, which had been outscored 37-10 in losing the first six games of the homestand. Michael Bourn was 4 for 5 as Cleveland had a season-high 18 hits. Kluber (6-11) held Kansas City to five hits.
RANGERS 5, YANKEES 2 Colby Lewis went six innings for his 11th victory and host Texas snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over AL East-leading New York. Adrian Beltre had two hits and scored twice for the Rangers, who won for only the second time in their last 14 home games. After the Yankees scored 2 runs in the second, 9 fewer than in the same inning the previous night in a 21-5 victory, the Rangers went ahead to stay with 3 runs in the second off Masahiro Tanaka (7-4).
TIGERS 2, RAYS 1 Justin Verlander outlasted Chris Archer for his first victory this season and Detroit avoided a three-game sweep by beating host Tampa Bay. Verlander (1-3), who retired his first 14 batters before Asdrubal Cabrera homered on an 0-1 pitch with 2 outs in the fifth, gave up 1 run, 4 hits and had 10 strikeouts. Archer (9-8) lost a perfect game bid and the lead in the seventh inning.
WHITE SOX 9, RED SOX 2 Adam Eaton opened the game with a home run, Jose Quintana pitched 6 1/3 solid innings and visiting Chicago beat Boston for its seventh consecutive victory. Eaton and Melky Cabrera each had three hits.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
NATIONALS 7, MARLINS 2 Bryce Harper blasted two home runs into the upper deck and drove in four for Washington in a victory over host Miami. Michael Taylor also homered and drove in two for Washington.
PADRES 7, METS 3 Justin Upton homered and drove in three runs and Yonder Alonso also connected as visiting San Diego beat New York despite three long balls from Lucas Duda.
REDS 1, CARDINALS 0 Jay Bruce homered in the second to back Anthony DeSclafani’s seven innings of three-hit ball, and visiting Cincinnati shut out St. Louis for the second consecutive night.
CUBS 3, ROCKIES 2 Jon Lester struck out 14, one shy of his career high and the most for a Cubs pitcher in more than a decade, leading Chicago over visiting Colorado. A day after he was acquired from Toronto, Jose Reyes was 1 for 3 with a walk and a stolen base in his Rockies’ debut. Lester (6-8) struck out seven of his first eight hitters and nine of the first 14. He allowed 2 runs, 5 hits and 1 walk in 8 innings. He became the first Cubs pitcher to strike out 14 since Mark Prior had 16 on Sept. 30, 2004.
GIANTS 5, BREWERS 0 Hunter Pence doubled in Matt Duffy to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning and host San Francisco held on to beat Milwaukee.
INTERLEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 8, MARINERS 2 Welington Castillo hit two home runs off Seattle ace Felix Hernandez, including a two-run shot in the first inning, and visiting Arizona won its fifth consecutive game.
PIRATES 10, TWINS 4 Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and turned an RBI single into a race around the bases while Minnesota made two errors in a five-run sixth inning, helping former Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano and visiting Pittsburgh complete a two-game sweep. Jung Ho Kang hit a home run for the second consecutive day for the Pirates, after going deep for the go-ahead run in the ninth on Tuesday night. McCutchen’s two-run, two-strike, two-out drive off Ervin Santana (2-1) in the fifth inning tied the game at 3-3, and the Twins unraveled in the sixth.
BLUE JAYS 8, PHILLIES 2 Troy Tulowitzki homered and had three hits in his Blue Jays debut as Toronto beat visiting Philadelphia. The five-time All-Star went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. He scored three times.
ORIOLES 2, BRAVES 0 Chris Tillman took a three-hitter into the ninth inning, Jonathan Schoop and J.J. Hardy homered and host Baltimore beat skidding Atlanta.
Sports on 07/30/2015