UNDATED (AP) — Yordan Alvarez homered twice off Carlos Carrasco as the Houston Astros jumped on him early and held on for a 5-3 win over the New York Mets. Alvarez hit two of the season-high three homers Carrasco allowed before the pitcher left with lower back tightness in the third inning with the Astros up 5-1. Alvarez, who also homered Tuesday night, now has 21 this season to move into a tie with Mike Trout for second-most in the majors. His home run barrage in this series comes after he missed Sunday’s game with a minor hand injury.
In other MLB action:
— Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 26th and 27th home runs, Jose Trevino delivered a two-run shot that put New York ahead in the eighth inning and the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4. Judge’s 22nd career multi-homer game helped the Yankees come back from a 4-1 deficit after Isaac Paredes hit his fourth home run in two games for the Rays. Clarke Schmidt got the win and Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save in 13 attempts. The win was the 18th in 21 games for the Yankees, who maintained a 12-game lead in the AL East. Tampa Bay lost for the eighth time in 11 games and dropped two of three to the rival Yankees.
— Oscar Gonzalez tied the game with a two-run single and scored on Owen Miller’s go-ahead sacrifice fly as the Cleveland Guardians rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to beat the Minnesota Twins 11-10. Gonzalez homered earlier and finished with four RBIs for the surging Guardians, who have won the first two in a three-game series to take a one-game lead over Minnesota atop the AL Central. The teams also meet five times in four days next week in Cleveland. Carlos Correa hit two home runs for the Twins, who have lost four of five and are 8-11 in June. Max Kepler and Gio Urshela also went deep for Minnesota. Cleveland has won 11 of 13 and is 17-4 since May 30.
— Adam Duvall’s run-scoring single capped Atlanta’s three-run rally in the ninth as the Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3. Duvall’s single off Tyler Rogers drove in William Contreras from second base. The Giants wasted another strong start by Carlos Rodón, who allowed only three hits and one run in seven innings. Jake McGee blew a 3-1 lead, built on homers by Mike Yastrzemski and Darin Ruf, by allowing three runs while recording only one run in the ninth. McGee was brought in to close out the lead because Camilo Doval had pitched back-to-back games. Dansby Swanson led off the ninth with a homer.
— Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado hit two-run homers as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 and moved into first place in the NL Central. The Cardinals have taken two straight from the Brewers after falling 2-0 in the opener of the four-game series. Rowdy Tellez and Andrew McCutchen hit solo homers for the Brewers. Milwaukee threatened with two outs in the ninth as Victor Caratini walked and Tyrone Taylor was hit by a pitch. Génesis Cabrera got out of the jam by retiring Christian Yelich on a grounder to second.
— Austin Hays became the sixth player in Orioles history to hit for the cycle, completing the feat in the midst of a steady shower and shortly before play was halted for good in Baltimore’s rain-shortened 7-0 victory over the Washington Nationals. Hays pulled off the accomplishment while batting leadoff in place of Cedric Mullins, who was given the night off. Facing Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin, Hays got an infield single in the first inning, hit a solo shot in the third and tripled in the fourth. Then came a 33-minute rain delay, and it was raining again in the sixth inning when Hays ripped a double to center off Steve Cishek.
— Ian Happ and Patrick Wisdom hit two-run homers early and Alfonso Rivas added a grand slam off a position player late as the Chicago Cubs routed the Pittsburgh Pirates 14-5. Held to a total of two runs in the first two games of the series, Chicago broke out for seven runs in the second inning. The Cubs loaded the bases and Jared Eickhoff then hit Rivas with a pitch. Rafael Ortega doubled to score two and Patrick Wisdom singled home two more. Happ sent a first-pitch fastball to the shrubbery atop the center field wall. The Pittsburgh native continued his torrid June and is now hitting .380 with eight RBIs and three home runs this month.
— Rob Refsnyder hit a two-run homer in the third inning and the Boston Red Sox posted their third series sweep of the season, powering past the Detroit Tigers 6-2. Jarren Duran and Alex Verdugo each added a two-run double as Boston won for the eighth time in 10 games. Michael Wacha pitched six innings, allowing two runs and five hits. He struck out seven to help the Red Sox improve to a season-high eight games above .500. Javier Báez hit a two-run homer for the Tigers, who have lost nine of 11. Tarik Skubal lasted 4 2/3 innings and allowed six runs on six hits. He has lost his last three starts.
— Freddie Freeman homered and drove in two runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak against Cincinnati this season to six games, beating the Reds 8-4. Freeman, who tied a season high with five RBIs in the series opener on Tuesday, has seven RBIs in the series. Albert Almora Jr. hit his fifth homer of the season for Cincinnati. The Dodgers have won eight straight games at Great American Ball Park. Alex Vesia picked up the win; Ross Detwiler took the loss.
— Bo Bichette hit a grand slam and Alejandro Kirk homered for the second straight game, leading Ross Stripling and the Toronto Blue Jays over the injury-riddled Chicago White Sox 9-5. Bichette’s second career slam capped a five-run fourth inning as the Blue Jays avoided a three-game series sweep. Kirk hit an RBI single in the first and a homer to center in the third. He tops All-Star fan voting for AL catchers and leads all qualified major league catchers in batting average with .307 and OPS .857.
— Jurickson Profar had four hits, drove in two runs and scored twice for the San Diego Padres, who jumped on Madison Bumgarner early in a 10-4 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks for a three-game sweep. Jorge Alfaro hit a solo homer in the sixth and rookie José Azocar fell a home run short of the cycle in his first career three-hit game. Padres All-Star slugger Manny Machado missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle, but manager Bob Melvin returned after missing 11 games while in the COVID protocols.
— Brad Miller hit a two-run single against his former team as the Texas Rangers beat the Philadelphia Phillies for the ninth time in a row. The Rangers won 4-2 on Wednesday to hand Zack Wheeler his first loss in two months. Kole Calhoun also drove in two runs for Texas, including a tiebreaking RBI single in the third. Kyle Schwarber extended his career-best on-base streak to 26 games for the Phillies with a two-run homer in the third inning. Jon Gray, the opening day starter for the Rangers, has won consecutive starts for the first time this season.
— Pablo López allowed one unearned run in seven solid innings and the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 7-4. Garrett Cooper, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jorge Soler homered for Miami. The Marlins, who played their second home game of the season with the retractable roof open at loanDepot Park, will attempt a sweep of the three-game series Thursday. López gave up four hits, walked three and struck out six, ending a winless drought since May 7.
— Shohei Ohtani struck out a career-high 13 over eight dominant innings of two-hit ball, and the AL MVP also reached base three times in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. After giving up two leadoff singles in the first inning, Ohtani retired 16 straight Royals and 23 of the final 24 batters he faced, allowing just one baserunner over his final seven innings on a walk that was quickly erased by a double play. With the backdrop of a rare Southern California lightning storm illuminating the sky far beyond center field, Ohtani also got a single and two walks at the plate in his latest electrifying two-way performance.
— Jesse Winker homered for the second straight day, Cal Raleigh also connected and the Seattle Mariners won consecutive games for the first time in more than two weeks, beating the Oakland Athletics 9-0. J.P. Crawford doubled twice and drove in two runs. Julio Rodríguez added two hits and scored twice for Seattle, which had dropped seven of nine before starting its road trip with a pair of victories against the worst team in the majors. The A’s fell to 23-47 and used a position player on the mound. Infielder Sheldon Neuse worked a 1-2-3 ninth in his first career pitching appearance.
