HOUSTON — Yordan Alvarez homered again and Jack Mayfield hit three doubles as Houston’s rookies delivered in a big way, leading the Astros over the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Saturday.
Alvarez became the fourth player in major league history to hit four home runs in his first five games. The 21-year-old from Cuba sent a solo drive into the upper deck in right field and finished with three hits, making him 8 for 17 in his brief career — he has driven in eight runs, scored eight times and also has drawn six walks.
The 28-year-old Mayfield was 2 for 34 as a big leaguer before breaking loose.
Framber Valdez (3-2), another rookie, struck out eight in six solid innings. The 25-year-old lefty allowed two runs and four hits.
Valdez had his second straight solid start since moving into the rotation. He gave up one run in seven innings in his first on Saturday against the Orioles.
Josh Reddick also homered for the AL West-leading Astros.
Clayton Richard (0-3) yielded five runs and seven hits in five innings. The left-hander struggled for a second straight outing after being tagged for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings in his last start Sunday against the Diamondbacks
Mayfield hit an RBI double in the second and came around to score on an error to give the Astros a 2-0 lead.
Myles Straw hit an RBI double and Alex Bregman followed with an RBI single to increase the lead to 5-0 in the fourth. Straw added an RBI single in the sixth.
Brandon Drury had an RBI single, and Eric Sogard followed with a sacrifice fly in the fifth to cut the lead to 5-2.
ANGELS 5, RAYS 3 Charlie Morton lost for the first time in 22 starts and Los Angeles hit three homers to lead the Angels to a win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The loss was Morton’s first since Aug. 11, when he was pitching for Houston against Seattle. He struck out nine in six innings, giving up four runs on five hits. David Fletcher, Justin Bour and Kevan Smith homered for the Angels. Fletcher’s three-run home run in second inning off Morton (8-1) spotted left-hander Jose Suarez an early lead in his third major league start, and the Angel bullpen preserved it with 3 1/3 shutout innings. Hansel Robles pitched the ninth for his 10th save in 12 opportunities.
RED SOX 7, ORIOLES 2 Chris Sale struck out 10 over six sharp innings, J.D. Martinez homered in a third straight game and the surging Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles. Sale (3-7) gave up two runs, six hits and a walk. Both runs came in the sixth, after the left-hander extended his streak of innings without allowing an earned run to 22. Sale ended his outing by blowing a third strike past Keon Broxton with runners on the corners and Boston nursing a 3-2 lead. The seven-time All-Star has reached double figures in strikeouts nine times this season and 73 times in his 10-year career.
INDIANS 4, TIGERS 2 Shane Bieber pitched impressively into the eighth inning, and Leonys Martin stole home to lift the Cleveland Indians to a victory over the Detroit Tigers. Bieber (6-2) allowed four hits and struck out 12 in 7 2/3 innings. Detroit managed only one baserunner through the first six innings before scoring twice in the seventh. Martin provided the highlight of the game in the eighth, taking off from third while reliever Victor Alcantara was preparing to make a pitch. Alcantara stepped off and threw to the plate, and although the ball arrived at the same time as Martin, the Cleveland runner’s hand knocked the ball away as he reached for home. YANKEES 8, WHITE SOX 4 Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer and the New York Yankees stayed perfect when they use an opener, cooling off the Chicago White Sox with a win. Torres capped New York’s four-run fourth with his 15th homer, a drive to center off Reynaldo López. He also had a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Gary Sánchez added three RBIs as New York leapfrogged Tampa Bay for the AL East lead with just its fourth win in its last 12 games. Cameron Maybin connected for his second homer, and Didi Gregorius had two hits.
TWINS 5, ROYALS 4 C.J. Cron drove in the go-ahead run for Minnesota with a sixth-inning double , making Jake Odorizzi the second 10-game winner in the majors this season and capping a comeback victory by the Twins over the Kansas City Royals. Jorge Soler sent Odorizzi (10-2) and the Twins to an immediate deficit with a towering two-run homer in the first , measured at 462 feet, and Whit Merrifield’s solo shot started a two-run fifth inning that ended with a 4-1 lead for the Royals. The Twins have the most homers in baseball, though, not to mention the lead in several other batting categories.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DIAMONDBACKS 10, NATIONALS 3 Ketel Marte hit two of Arizona’s four solo homers off Stephen Strasburg and the Diamondbacks beat the Washington Nationals. Marte homered on the first pitch of the game and added his 19th homer of the season leading off the fourth inning as Arizona took the first and third games of the four-game set. Strasburg (7-4) allowed four homers in a game for the second time in his career, the first since August 8, 2014, at Atlanta. Strasburg, who had won four straight decisions, gave up a season-high nine hits and tied a season-high by allowing six earned runs. Adam Jones also homered in the first inning, his 13th, to push Arizona’s lead to 2-0.
METS 8, CARDINALS 7 Second baseman Jeff McNeil made a game-saving throw from right field to home plate for the final out, and the New York Mets held off the St. Louis Cardinals after starter Noah Syndergaard exited with a strained right hamstring. Pete Alonso smashed a mammoth three-run homer for the Mets off the facing of the third deck in a five-run first inning against Michael Wacha (4-3). J.D. Davis homered and had four hits, finishing a triple short of the cycle. And this time, New York’s beleaguered bullpen finally held on -- barely -- after blowing late leads in the first two games of the series. Seth Lugo struck out three in the eighth, fanning Matt Carpenter with the bases loaded to end the inning.
GIANTS 8, BREWERS 7 Catcher Steven Vogt hit two triples and left fielder Mike Yastrzemski made a nifty catch for the final out to help the San Francisco Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers. The Giants rallied from a 5-1 deficit for their fourth straight win. Christian Yelich hit his major league-leading 26th homer for the Brewers, who have lost three of four after a four-game winning streak. Yelich connected for a solo drive with two outs in the ninth and Ryan Braun followed with a single for his third hit. Yasmani Grandal then hit a drive to left-center field, but Yastrzemski rushed over and in for a diving grab to end it.
MARLINS 4, PIRATES 3 Pablo Lopez pitched seven strong innings and allowed three runs to help the Miami Marlins beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. Garrett Cooper and Harold Ramirez each had three hits for the Marlins while Starlin Castro knocked in the go-ahead run in the fifth. The Pirates have lost eight of nine. Lopez (5-5) gave up seven hits and one walk. He struck out four. He is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA over his last four starts.
INTERLEAGUE
RANGERS 4, REDS 3 Jeff Mathis had a pair of hits and drove in a run, Mike Minor pitched into the seventh inning for his first win in nearly a month, and the Texas Rangers won their second straight over the Cincinnati Reds. The Rangers took advantage of three Reds errors and finally got some runs for Minor (6-4), who was 0-1 in his last four starts despite allowing a total of six runs. Texas had scored a total of five runs while he was on the mound in those games.