He did not walk a single batter, and he struck out eight. Lucroy entered the game mired in a 3-for-23 slump, but a series with Philadelphia, the worst team in the majors and one he has hit well over his career, was just what he needed. Suddenly, things began to fall apart for Duffy, starting with a two-run homer by Astros center fielder George Springer after the Gonzalez hit.
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The Astros have taken the first two games of this matchup of teams with the best records in the American League.
A home series sweep of the AL leading Kansas City Royals might provide another reason to believe the Houston Astros can remain a serious playoff contender as they approach the halfway point of the season. His 8.00 K/BB, 2.60 FIP, and 2.94 xFIP would at least start to indicate that Blanton’s 1.73 ERA isn’t entirely the byproduct of good fortune, though much of that production did come in seven relief appearances. Volquez, who spent the previous seven seasons in the National League, faced the A’s for the first time since September 7, 2007, when he pitched six shutout innings for the Texas Rangers in a 5-3 victory.
“I feel good pitching here and I have my whole career, ” he said. Springer raced and made an over-the-shoulder catch for the third out of the seventh inning. However, he ended up being charged with a pair of runs over 6 1/3 innings of a no-decision as the bullpen allowed a three-run homer after his exit.
Lorenzo Cain, who doubled twice and singled Tuesday for the Royals, is batting.
The galloping Gattis now has four triples this season, which leads the team.
Gattis used his wheels one more time, scoring on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead. Jake Lamb led off the decisive frame with a walk and Welington Castillo followed with a double to the wall in center, scoring the go-ahead run without a throw.
The over is 8-3-3 in Kansas City’s last 14 overall and is 8-3-3 in their last 14 on grass while the under is 7-3-3 in the Royals last 13 games as an underdog.
An ordinary game took on a bit of the persona of an earlier series Friday night, when A’s catcher Stephen Vogt was hit on the hand by a pitch in the bottom of the ninth of a 5-2 Royals win. Jason Kipnis, Giovanny Urshela and David Murphy homered for the Indians, driving in all six runs.
Josh Reddick and Ike Davis hit two-run homers in the first inning to back seven scoreless innings from Kendall Graveman, and Oakland snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Colorado. The speedster’s efforts helped the Reds jump out to a 9-1 lead, but the Twins cut into the deficit when they pushed across six runs – three on a Brian Dozier homer – against Mike Leake in the fourth inning.
Buchholz (6-6) allowed five hits, no walks and one run while striking out five to earn his fourth win in a row over six starts. Tommy Layne gave up a two-run home run to Jose Reyes in the seventh, Alexi Ogando got four outs and Koji Uehara finished for his 18th save. He walked Mike Napoli and Alejandro De Aza with the bases loaded in the first.
Karns also started that game for Tampa Bay, which has lost five of seven. Hendricks (3-4) pitched three-hit ball for six innings and combined with three relievers to bail out the Cubs. Even so, the Royals are still one of the top teams in all of baseball and command the high-billing that they’ve been getting.
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CINCINNATI (AP) Billy Hamilton scored three times in the first three innings to help Cincinnati open a huge lead, and the Reds held on for an 11-7 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.
