Houston battered Oakland pitching for 11 runs on 12 hits – six of them home runs – in the first two innings as the Astros hammered the visiting Athletics 15-0 to set a franchise record for home wins on Monday night. Robinson Chirinos went 3-for-4, crushed a pair of home runs and drove in a career-high-tying six runs to help the Astros match their club record with seven homers in a game. Yordan Alvarez belted a pair of solo homers, and Alex Bregman clouted a three-run homer as Houston won for the fifth in a row and for the 17th time in the past 21 games. Jose Altuve went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and two runs, and Michael Brantley had a solo homer and two runs for Houston. Zack Greinke (15-5) tossed six scoreless innings to beat the A's for the second time since being acquired by the Astros at the trade deadline. Mike Fiers (14-4) allowed nine runs on nine hits in one-plus inning for Oakland, which mustered just three hits. Yankees 5, Red Sox 0 Austin Romine and Gio Urshela homered, James Paxton threw 6 2/3 shutout innings and New York blanked host Boston in the finale of a four-game series. Paxton (13-6) won his eighth straight start, giving up four hits and three walks and striking out seven. The victory was the Yankees' 14th in 19 meetings with the Red Sox this season, their most over Boston in a single year in the expansion era (since 1961). New York won for the 12th time in its last 16 games, while Boston lost its third straight. The defeat officially eliminated the Red Sox from American League East division title contention. Mets 3, Diamondbacks 1 Pete Alonso hit two solo shots to as he continues his chase of baseball's single-season rookie home run record, and New York beat visiting Arizona in the opener of a pivotal four-game series. The Mets, who remained four games behind the Chicago Cubs in the race for the second National League wild card, snapped a two-game losing streak. The Diamondbacks, who fell to 2 1/2 games back of the Cubs, lost their second straight and fell for just the third time in 14 games. Alonso gave the Mets a quick lead with a homer in the first and provided their final run in the fifth. The two homers give him a major-league-leading 47, five shy of the rookie record set by the Yankees' Aaron Judge in 2017. Braves 7, Phillies 2 Ronald Acuna Jr. and Josh Donaldson homered to lift visiting Atlanta past Philadelphia in the opener of a four-game series. Acuna also walked twice and scored three runs while Dansby Swanson had a hit, a run and two walks for Atlanta. Freddie Freeman ripped three hits and Ozzie Albies had two hits for the Braves, who have won 10 of 11. Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz (6-5) allowed three hits and one run in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked none. Corey Dickerson and Cesar Hernandez homered for the Phillies, who slipped to three games behind the Cubs in the NL wild-card race. Brewers 8, Marlins 3 Rookie Trent Grisham belted a career-high five hits, and hometown hero Yasmani Grandal smashed a two-run homer to lead Milwaukee over host Miami. The Marlins left the bases loaded four times, going 0-for-5 in those situations as Milwaukee won its fourth straight game. The Brewers are trying to catch the division-rival Cubs, who remained two games ahead of Milwaukee in the chase for the NL's final wild-card spot. Grisham went 5-for-6 with three singles, a double, a triple and two RBIs. Grandal, a former Miami Hurricanes star, went 2-for-5 with two runs, and Lorenzo Cain went 3-for-5 with one RBI to power a 12-hit Brewers attack. Cubs 10, Padres 2 Shortstop Nico Hoerner had three hits and four RBIs in his major league debut, and Nicholas Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber homered in support of Kyle Hendricks as visiting Chicago defeated San Diego. Hoerner, 22, the Cubs' first-round pick (24th overall) in the 2018 draft, was 3-for-5 with a triple and two runs. He was promoted Monday morning as Addison Russell underwent concussion tests after being beaned Sunday in Milwaukee. Castellanos, who also had three hits, gave the Cubs a quick lead with a two-run homer in the first off Padres starter Cal Quantrill. It was Castellanos' 25th homer of the season. Schwarber hit his 35th homer of the season leading off the Cubs' five-run fifth. Indians 6, Angels 2 Yu Chang broke open a close game with a three-run homer in support of Shane Bieber, who threw seven strong innings in Cleveland's win over Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif. Chang's homer off Angels reliever Justin Anderson with two on and two outs in the sixth inning boosted the Indians' lead to 6-1. It was Chang's first career major league long ball, in his 15th game. Bieber (14-7) cruised through a Los Angeles lineup that was missing center fielder Mike Trout, who is out with a nerve issue in his right foot. Trout is day-to-day. The victory allowed Cleveland to move within a half-game of the Oakland A's for the second American League wild card. Pirates 6, Giants 4 Kevin Newman tied the game with a two-run, ninth-inning single, and Bryan Reynolds followed with an RBI single as Pittsburgh took advantage of a depleted San Francisco bullpen to rally in the opener of a four-game series. The four-run uprising came after Giants ace Madison Bumgarner left with a 4-2 lead after seven innings. Bumgarner allowed six hits and two walks while striking out five. Kevin Kramer's single, Josh Bell's walk and Elias Diaz's single loaded the bases for the Pirates with one out in the ninth, setting the stage for Newman's game-tying hit. Reynolds then singled to center field, chasing home Diaz with what proved to be the decisive run. Jose Osuna added a sacrifice fly. — Reuters
