Bregman hits 2-run shot in 9th to lift Astros past Blue Jays

HOUSTON — Alex Bregman hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to complete a big rally in the Houston Astros’ 7-6 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.

It was Bregman’s third straight game with a homer and it capped a huge comeback for the Astros. They trailed 5-0 in the middle of the first inning after a terrible start by Dallas Keuchel.

The Astros trailed by one when Tony Kemp singled off Ryan Tepera (5-3) with no outs in the ninth and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then with one out in the inning, Bregman sent a fastball to left field, where it bounced off the wall above the Crawford Boxes, to give Houston the victory.

Bregman also doubled twice after hitting a homer and doubling three times in a win on Tuesday night.

Will Harris (3-3) allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth.

After the Blue Jays took a 5-0 lead in the first, Houston scored three in the bottom of the first to close the gap and got within one Evan Gattis’ RBI double in the fifth. But Kevin Pillar singled and scored on an error in the sixth to make it 6-4. Marwin Gonzalez snapped an 0 for 23 slump with a solo shot to the bullpen in right-center off Tyler Clippard with two outs in the eighth inning to cut the lead to one.

RANGERS 5, PADRES 2

ARLINGTON, Texas — Mike Minor took a perfect game into the seventh inning, Shin-Soo Choo reached base for the 40th straight game and Texas beat San Diego.

Minor (6-4) was perfect until Eric Hosmer’s single up the middle with one out in the seventh. One out later, center fielder Delino DeShields preserved Minor’s shutout by leaping to rob Hunter Renfroe of a home run. Minor struck out five and threw 85 pitches.

Choo tied Philadelphia’s Odubel Herrera for the longest on-base streak this season. Choo was hit by a pitch leading off the first inning and also had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Keone Kela pitched a perfect ninth for his 20th save, the most in the majors this season without a blown save. Clayton Richard (7-7) took the loss.

PIRATES 5, METS 3

NEW YORK — David Freese hit a go-ahead, two-run single and Pittsburgh rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to beat New York.

Gregory Polanco had an RBI single and Josh Bell added a sacrifice fly in the ninth as the Pirates, shut down by Zack Wheeler most of the night, came back against a beleaguered New York bullpen to win for just the second time in eight games.

Wilmer Flores homered and Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits for New York, which has dropped eight of nine. Mets relievers have 21 losses this season, most in the majors.

Felipe Vazquez (3-2) threw two scoreless innings for the win.

Jeurys Familia (3-4) took the loss.

PHILLIES 3, YANKEES 0

PHILADELPHIA — Zach Eflin limited New York to four hits in seven innings, and Rhys Hoskins hit a three-run homer in Philadelphia’s victory.

Eflin won his fifth straight start and kept the surprising Phillies in the thick of the NL East race.

Eflin (6-2) became the first Phillies pitcher to win five starts in a month (he had a 1.76 ERA in June) since Cole Hamels went 5-0 in May 2012.

Searanthony Dominguez finished for his fifth save. Luis Cessa (0-1) lasted only three innings in his first start for the Yankees since Aug. 14.

DIAMONDBACKS 2, MARLINS 1

MIAMI — Robbie Ray pitched six scoreless innings in his first game in nearly two months in Arizona’s victory over Miami.

Ray (3-0) allowed two hits and issued two walks. He struck out six in his first game since April 29. Ray had been on the disabled list with a strained right oblique.

Daniel Descalso homered and Deven Marrero knocked in a run to help the Diamondbacks win for the sixth time in seven games. Brad Boxberger allowed Starlin Castro’s leadoff homer in the ninth and walked the ensuing batter before retiring the next three for his 19th save.

Wei-Yin Chen (2-5) was the loser.

MARINERS 8, ORIOLES 7, 11 INNINGS

BALTIMORE — Denard Span hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 11th inning after Kyle Seager delivered a two-run homer in the ninth, and Seattle beat Baltimore.

Playing without injured Nelson Cruz for a second straight game, the Mariners got a home run from Ryon Healy and had 14 hits while improving their record in extra innings to 7-0.

Jean Segura led off the 11th with a double against Mychal Givens (0-5), and Span drove in the go-ahead run with a deep fly to center off Donnie Hart. Chasen Bradford (5-0) worked the 10th, and Edwin Diaz got three outs for his major league-leading 30th save, a club record before the All-Star break.

The Orioles trailed 5-4 in the eighth inning before Chris Davis interrupted his season-long slump with a three-run homer off Alex Colome. In the Seattle ninth, Mitch Haniger singled off Zach Britton and Seager delivered his 15th home run and second in two nights.

INDIANS 5, CARDINALS 1

ST. LOUIS — Edwin Encarnacion and Lonnie Chisenhall hit back-to-back homers, and rookie Shane Bieber pitched six strong innings to help Cleveland beat St. Louis.

Bieber (3-0) struck out seven to become the seventh pitcher in baseball’s modern era to strike out six or more batters in each of his first four major league starts. Bieber has given up just two runs in his last three starts and lowered his ERA to 2.22. Cleveland avoided a series sweep and has won eight of 10.

Bieber ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Jack Flaherty in the fourth for a double, his first major league hit. Jose Martinez snapped Bieber’s scoreless innings streak at 14 innings with a one-out RBI single in the third. Encarnacion and Chisenhall gave the Indians a 2-0 lead in the second, marking Cleveland’s fifth back-to-back home runs this season. Flaherty (3-3) was the loser.

ROYALS 5, BREWERS 4

MILWAUKEE — Mike Moustakas’ solo homer opened a five-run seventh inning that snapped an extended run-scoring slump for Kansas City, and the Royals held off Milwaukee.

Danny Duffy (4-7) allowed five hits over six effective innings for the Royals.

Wily Peralta, a former Brewer, closed it out the game after Brad Miller hit a three-run homer off reliever Tim Hill with nobody out in the ninth to get the Brewers to 5-4.

Brewers starter Brent Suter (8-5) allowed six hits and four runs before leaving with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh.

ATHLETICS 3, TIGERS 0

DETROIT — Jed Lowrie hit an RBI double in the fourth inning and Chris Bassitt pitched six innings in Oakland’s victory over Detroit.

The A’s won for the ninth time in 11 games and moved five games over .500 for the first time this year. They did not clear the fences, ending their major league-record road homer streak at 27 games.

Lowrie had the winning RBI for the third straight game.

Bassitt (1-3) gave up two hits and five walks while striking out five. Lou Trivino pitched the ninth for his second save. Mike Fiers (5-5) was the loser.

GIANTS 1, ROCKIES 0

SAN FRANCISCO — Brandon Crawford homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the San Francisco Giants their fourth straight victory, 1-0 over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.

After starters Madison Bumgarner for San Francisco and Kyle Freeland for Colorado put up matching performances of seven spotless innings, the game was decided by the bullpens.

Left-hander Harrison Musgrave (0-3) entered in the ninth to face the left-handed-hitting Crawford. The move backfired when Crawford launched a high drive that cleared the wall in right field for his third career walk-off homer, sending the Rockies to their fourth consecutive loss.

Crawford was mobbed by teammates at home plate as the Giants improved to 42-39 at the halfway point of the season, 12 games ahead of their pace from a year ago.

Reyes Moronta (4-1) got two outs for the win.

REDS 6, BRAVES 5

ATLANTA — Adam Duvall had a two-run single in the seventh inning, Jose Peraza homered and scored twice, and Cincinnati beat Atlanta.

The Reds have won two straight and nine of 10, taking two of three from the NL East-leading Braves. Closer Raisel Iglesias had a perfect ninth to earn his 15th save in 17 chances.

Jackson Stephens (2-0) struck out two in 1 2/3 innings. The Reds took advantage of another shaky outing by reliever Sam Freeman (2-4), scoring three runs in the seventh inning for a 6-5 lead.

WHITE SOX 6, TWINS 1

CHICAGO — Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia homered for Chicago, and James Shields limited Minnesota to four hits over seven innings.

Shields (3-9) struck out five and walked just two in his only scoreless start of the season.

Ehire Adrianza had four hits and an RBI for Minnesota, which has dropped two straight games and five of six. Twins starter Kyle Gibson (2-6) allowed five runs on 11 hits in seven innings.

RED SOX 9, ANGELS 6

BOSTON — J.D. Martinez hit his major league-leading 25th home run, Rafael Devers delivered a tiebreaking double and the Boston Red Sox beat the skidding Los Angeles Angels 9-6 on Wednesday night after squandering a six-run lead.

Martinez’s homer capped a six-run second for the Red Sox, who won for the fifth time in six games. Eduardo Nunez and Sandy Leon also went deep in the inning. Boston improved to 5-0 against the Angels this season and has outscored them 45-10.

Martin Maldonado launched a three-run homer and Ian Kinsler had a solo shot for the Angels, who lost their fifth straight and 12th in 16 games.

DODGERS 7, CUBS 5

ST. LOUIS — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger each hit a solo home run, Joc Pederson added a two-run shot and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-5 on Wednesday night.

The Dodgers improved to 17-6 in June and have slugged a major league-leading 51 homers this month. That’s the second-most during any month in franchise history, and with three days remaining they have a chance to overtake last year’s team that set the record with 53.

After not homering in a 9-4 loss to the Cubs on Tuesday that snapped their four-game winning streak, the Dodgers got going early despite not having Matt Kemp in the lineup. The outfielder who is hitting .311 served a one-game suspension after losing his appeal with Major League Baseball involving a scuffle with Texas catcher Robinson Chirinos on June 13.

Alex Wood (4-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings to earn his third straight win. The left-hander struck out six and walked none, retiring the final seven batters he faced.