Bregman helps Astros sink Yankees again, 2-1

HOUSTON (AP) – Alex Bregman hit a two-run double early and the Houston Astros held on for a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees on Thursday night. Thursday’s game completes a stretch for the Astros of nine straight games against New York teams. Houston went 3-2 against the major league-leading Yankees and swept four games with the Mets, who had baseball’s second best record before being overtaken by the Astros. The Yankees were in town for just one game to make up part of a series that was scrapped because of the lockout. They’ll complete the series with a doubleheader here July 21. Houston starter Luis García (6-5) allowed three hits and one run with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings for his third straight win. Ryan Pressly struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his 17th save. The Astros had a chance to pad the lead, but the third inning ended on an odd play after a malfunction of New York starter Luis Severino’s PitchCom device. Tucker saw Severino was distracted from third base and tried to sneak home, but Severino threw him out. Severino (4-3) yielded three hits and two runs in six innings. Anthony Rizzo hit a solo homer for the Yankees in the sixth inning. PIRATES 8, BREWERS 7 PITTSBURGH (AP) – Backup catcher Michael Perez had three home runs, rookies Oneil Cruz and Jack Suwinski hit back-to-back shots and Pittsburgh beat Milwaukee. It was the first multihomer game of Perez’s five-year career. He hit a two-run blast in the fourth inning off Brent Suter (1-2) to break a 3-3 tie, added another two-run homer in the sixth to make it 6-4 then had a solo shot in the eighth to increase the lead to 8-4. The outburst came one day after the Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds had a three-homer game in a win at Washington. Rookie Yerry De Los Santos relieved closer David Bednar in the ninth with runners on first and third and retired Luis Urias on a pop fly for his second career save, both coming in the last two days. JT Brubaker (2-7) pitched six innings, allowing four runs and seven hits. He struck out six and walked two. GUARDIANS 5, TWINS 3 CLEVELAND (AP) – Andrés Giménez hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Tyler Thornburg (0-2) and Cleveland beat Minnesota for its second straight walk-off win. José Ramírez drew a leadoff walk, the 10th allowed by Minnesota. Josh Naylor’s groundout moved Ramírez to second and Owen Miller flied out. Giménez followed with his game-winner. The Guardians lead the majors with 17 last at-bats wins, including six against the rival Twins. The Twins failed to hold a 6-3 lead in the 10th inning on Wednesday night, when the Guardians scored four times and won the game on Naylor’s two-run homer. Emmanuel Clase (2-2) pitched the ninth for Cleveland. DODGERS 3, PADRES 1 LOS ANGELES (AP) – Justin Turner homered twice, including a go-ahead two-run shot in the seventh inning, and Los Angeles beat San Diego in the opener of a four-game series between the NL West’s top teams. The Dodgers have won 12 of 13 against San Diego dating to Aug. 24, outscoring the Padres 72-29 in that span. They extended their division lead to 2 1/2 games. Evan Phillips (2-3) got the win in 1 1/3 innings of relief. He struck out one. Craig Kimbrel retired the side in the ninth for his 14th save. Joe Musgrove (8-2) gave up both homers to Turner. The right-hander allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out a season-high 10 and walked one. BLUE JAYS 4, RAYS 1 TORONTO (AP) – Teoscar Hernández and Santiago Espinal each hit two-run home runs, Yuseki Kukuchi struck out a season-high eight over six innings to snap a seven-start winless streak and Toronto beat Tampa Bay.