Verlander wins 11th as Astros beat Royals 5-2, take 3 of 4

HOUSTON (AP) – Justin Verlander got his MLB-leading 11th win, Yordan Alvarez hit his 26th homer and the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Thursday. Jose Altuve added a homer and three RBIs for the Astros, who bounced back after a 7-4 loss Wednesday night that snapped an eight-game winning streak. Houston took three of four from Kansas City. Verlander (11-3) grinded through six innings, allowing seven hits and two runs – one earned – with eight strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.00 in his remarkable return from Tommy John surgery. Kris Bubic (1-6) yielded four hits and three runs while tying a career high with six walks in 5 1/3 innings for his second straight loss. METS 10, MARLINS 0 NEW YORK (AP) – J.D. Davis hit his first major league grand slam, James McCann had a three-run homer and New York routed Miami behind a strong start from Trevor Williams. Davis set a career high with five RBIs and Williams (2-5) pitched seven innings of two-hit ball as the NL East leaders won easily in the opener of a four-game series. Starling Marte and Davis each had three of New York’s 12 hits. Davis also scored three times and combined with McCann to give the Mets eight RBIs from the bottom two spots in their batting order. Davis scored on Brandon Nimmo’s double in the third to put New York in front and delivered an RBI single in the fourth. McCann followed with his second home run of the season, connecting off starter Daniel Castano (1-2) to make it 6-0. YANKEES 6, RED SOX 5 BOSTON (AP) – Josh Donaldson hit a grand slam, Aaron Hicks homered on the next pitch and New York held on to beat Boston despite a pair of home runs from Red Sox All-Star candidate Rafael Devers The Yankees staked Gerrit Cole (8-2) to a 5-0 lead in the third. But he gave up Devers’ two-run shot in the bottom half and his three-run shot in the fifth. Cole was charged with five runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven. Clay Holmes pitching the ninth for his 16th save. Red Sox starter Josh Winckowski (3-3) gave up six runs on six hits and five walks in five innings. PHILLIES 5, NATIONALS 3 PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Darick Hall homered, doubled and drove in two runs, and Philadelphia took two of three from last-place Washington. Nick Nelson (3-1) gave up one hit in two scoreless innings in relief of starter Bailey Falter. Seranthony Dominguez worked a perfect ninth for his third save in four chances. The Phillies went ahead with three runs in the third off Joan Adon (1-12). Luis García had a pair of doubles and an RBI before leaving the game in the seventh inning with a possible injury, and Juan Soto had two hits and drove in a run for the Nationals. REDS 5, PIRATES 1, GAME 2 PIRATES 4, REDS 2, GAME 1 CINCINNATI (AP) – Jonathan India hit a go-ahead single, Brandon Drury added a two-run triple in the nightcap and Cincinnati split a doubleheader with Pittsburgh. India snapped a 1-1 tie with his two-out single in the seventh inning off Bryse Wilson, which followed an error by second baseman Josh VanMeter that allowed Nick Senzel to reach. Drury followed against reliever Chris Stratton and hit a line drive that eluded right fielder Ben Gamel’s diving effort and rolled to the wall for a triple. Tommy Pham capped the rally with an RBI single. Wilson (1-5) allowed four runs – just one earned – on seven hits in a season-high 6 2/3 innings. Reiver Sanmartin (1-4), Cincinnati’s fourth pitcher, pitched 2 2/3 innings for the win. Pittsburgh won the opener behind rookie starter Roansy Contreras, who allowed one run in six innings.