AMERICAN LEAGUE

Ramos' single ends Astros' 12-game win streak

HOUSTON -- C.J. Cron homered early and Wilson Ramos hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays to a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night to snap a 12-game winning streak by the Houston Astros.

Blake Snell (9-4) allowed 3 hits and 1 run in 7 innings, but had to pitch around a career-high 7 walks for his fifth consecutive victory. Sergio Romo pitched for the third game in a row, taking over with one out in the ninth and allowing one hit for his third save a night after blowing the save in Houston's 5-4 victory.

Houston leads Seattle in the American League West by two games. The Mariners lost to the Yankees 7-2 on Tuesday.

Matt Duffy doubled to start the eighth and advanced to third on a groundout by Jake Bauers. The Rays took a 2-1 lead when the single by Ramos sailed just over the head of a leaping Yuli Gurriel and into left field to allow Duffy to score.

Cron snapped a career-long 0 for 23 slump with a home run with one out in the second inning to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. It was the first hit since June 12 for Cron, a former Arkansas Traveler who struck out 18 times during his hitless streak.

The Astros went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position to come up one victory shy of setting the franchise record for longest winning streak in franchise history.

Justin Verlander yielded 6 hits and 1 run while fanning 10 in 6 2/3 innings. Hector Rondon (1-2) took the loss by allowing two hits and one run in one inning.

Adeiny Hechavarria doubled with two outs in the seventh inning to chase Verlander. Hector Rondon took over and retired Kevin Kiermaier to end the inning. Kiermaier went 0 for 5 in his return after sitting out since April 15 after tearing a ligament in his right thumb which required surgery.

The Astros had a runner on first base with two outs in the seventh when George Springer hit a long fly ball to right-center that Kiermaier nabbed as he leapt on the warning track before crashing into the wall of the bullpen.

YANKEES 7, MARINERS 2 Domingo German pitched two-hit ball over a career-high seven innings and Giancarlo Stanton hit one of host New York's four home runs in the Yankees' victory against Seattle. Miguel Andujar and Aaron Hicks each belted a two-run shot off Marco Gonzales (7-4) in the fifth. Hicks homered for the third consecutive game and finished with three hits from the leadoff spot as the Yankees boosted baseball's best record to 48-22, moving a season-best 26 games above .500.

TWINS 6, RED SOX 2 Eduardo Escobar had two go-ahead hits, including an RBI single that launched a four-run eighth inning for Minnesota in a victory over visiting Boston.

INDIANS 6, WHITE SOX 3 Mike Clevinger struck out 10 and allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings, and Cleveland defeated visiting Chicago.

RANGERS 4, ROYALS 1 Cole Hamels allowed four hits over seven innings, Delino DeShields doubled home two runs and visiting Texas defeated Kansas City to extend its winning streak to a season-high four games.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BREWERS 3, PIRATES 2 Rookie Freddy Peralta allowed two hits in six innings, Jesus Aguilar hammered his 14th home run of the season and Milwaukee cooled off host Pittsburgh. Peralta (2-0) struck out seven without issuing a walk, surrendering only singles to Corey Dickerson and Colin Moran in the fourth but otherwise keeping the Pirates firmly in check.

CARDINALS 7, PHILLIES 6 Matt Carpenter hit a tiebreaking home run with two outs in the ninth, helping visiting St. Louis edge Philadelphia. Carpenter also had a tying two-run double in St. Louis' four-run seventh. Tommy Pham homered and singled for the Cardinals, and Kolten Wong also went deep.

INTERLEAGUE

DODGERS 4-1, CUBS 3-2 Albert Almora Jr. hit a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning, and host Chicago beat Los Angeles 2-1 to salvage a split of the day-night doubleheader. Los Angeles began the long day at the iconic ballpark with a 4-3 victory on pinch-hitter Kyle Farmer's two-run double in the ninth.

NATIONALS 9, ORIOLES 7 Trea Turner went 4 for 4 with a home run, Anthony Rendon drove in three runs and host Washington improved to 4-0 this season against Baltimore. Adam Eaton had two hits and two RBI for the Nationals, who trailed 5-1 in the fifth inning before rallying to win.

BRAVES 11, BLUE JAYS 4 Johan Camargo hit his first career grand slam and went 4 for 5 with five RBI, and the Braves beat the Blue Jays to snap host Toronto's home winning streak at seven games.

REDS 9, TIGERS 5 Joey Votto ended a long home run drought with his third career grand slam, powering host Cincinnati past Detroit.

Sports on 06/20/2018

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