McCullers, Rasmus help Astros over Yankees 4-1
HOUSTON (AP) _ Lance McCullers struck out 10 in six solid innings, Colby Rasmus broke out of a slump with a two-run homer and the Houston Astros beat the New York Yankees 4-1 Wednesday night.
Rasmus snapped an 0-for-29 skid when he sent an off-speed pitch from Masahiro Tanaka (7-3) into the seats behind the bullpen in right-center field to make it 4-0 with one out in the third.
McCullers (6-4) allowed five hits and one run and tied a season high by fanning 10 for the second straight game.
Ken Giles and Luke Gregerson pitched a scoreless inning each before Will Harris got his 11th save by striking out two in the ninth.
Davis homers twice, Crisp goes deep as A’s beat Rangers 6-4
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) _ Khris Davis homered twice, Coco Crisp also went deep and the Oakland Athletics beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 6-4 Wednesday night.
The A’s have won four consecutive series for the first time since May 2014.
Crisp’s two-run homer in the eighth, on a 99 mile per hour fastball from Matt Bush (3-2), put the A’s up 4-3. Davis added another two-run shot, his 25th homer of the season, later in the inning to chase the hard-throwing reliever.
Oakland is 9-4 since the All-Star break. The A’s took two of three games in Texas, where they have gone 6-0-1 in their last seven series.
Ryan Dull (5-2) threw 1 1-3 perfect innings in relief of Sean Manaea, who struck out nine without a walk in 6 2-3 innings. Ryan Madson worked the ninth for his 22nd save in 28 chances, two nights after giving up Adrian Beltre’s game-ending homer in the series opener.
Rangers starter Yu Darvish, winless in his last nine starts against Oakland, stuck out six without a walk and departed with a 3-2 lead after six innings.