 scattered four hits and walked two for his third straight win to become Houston's first 10-game winner.Evan Gattis put Houston up with a two-run single in the fifth. Marisnick padded the lead with his shot to left field with one out in the eighth and Alex Bregman, who tied a career-high with four hits, added a two-run homer with two outs in the inning for his second straight game with a home run.Marisnick's homer came after he dazzled on defense two innings earlier. Teoscar Hernandez singled with two outs in the sixth before Yangervis Solarte drew a walk. Marisnick then robbed Justin Smoak of extra bases when he leaped and bounced off the wall in left-center to grab his fly ball.Toronto's Ryan Borucki (0-1) had a solid start in his major league debut, allowing six hits and two runs while walking four in six innings. Borucki, who was 6-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 13 starts for Triple-A Buffalo this season, struck out three before Preston Guilmet took over for the seventh inning.Chris Devenski struck out one in the eighth and Hector Rondon allowed one hit in the ninth to give Houston its seventh shutout this season.The Blue Jays couldn't do anything against Morton early as he struck out the side in the first before walking Smoak to start the second. But Smoak was caught stealing and Morton struck out the next two batters to allow him to face the minimum through two.The last two batters in the second inning were the first of 10 straight retired by Morton, capped by five strikeouts in a row. Russell Martin gave Toronto its first hit on a single with two outs in the fifth and Randal Grichuk followed with a broken-bat single, but Aledmys Diaz grounded out to end the inning.Bregman, who hit three doubles, doubled with one out in the fifth before Jose Altuve drew a walk. Both players advanced on a wild pitch with two outs before the Astros made it 2-0 on the double to left-center by Gattis.Josh Reddick added three hits for the Astros and George Springer doubled in the eighth inning to snap an 0 for 20 skid.Houston catcher Brian McCann was shaken up when Solarte hit him on the helmet on his backswing in the sixth inning. McCann was checked out by the team trainer before staying in the game.TRAINER'S ROOMBlue Jays: INF Josh Donaldson, who has been on the disabled list since June 1 because of calf tightness, strained his left calf while preparing to play in a rehabilitation game for Class A Dunedin on Tuesday. An MRI revealed the acute strain and the team said he'll be re-evaluated in three weeks. ... LHP Jaime Garcia (sore left shoulder) will see a specialist on Thursday before returning to Florida to continue his rehabilitation.Astros: SS Carlos Correa got a game off on Tuesday as he deals with what manager A. J. Hinch said is ''a little bit of back stiffness.'' Hinch said Correa was OK and the day off was more for rest than anything else. ... RHP Joe Smith (right elbow inflammation) will throw one more bullpen before beginning a rehabilitation assignment this weekend.UP NEXTHouston left-hander Dallas Keuchel (4-8, 3.90 ERA) opposes Marco Estrada (4-7, 4.48) when these teams wrap up the series on Wednesday. Keuchel hasn't allowed an earned run in his last two starts and Estrada allowed just three hits and two runs in seven innings in his last start but took the loss in a 2-1 defeat by the Angels.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
TICKETSTICKETSAstros hoping to turn luck around against Blue Jays 1h ago• 2 min read HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros enjoyed their share of luck and made some of their own during their 12-game winning streak, but on Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays, they tasted regression.Well, at least right fielder George Springer did. Already mired in a miserable slump dating back one month, Springer had a potential game-tying, three-run home run snagged by Toronto right fielder Randal Grichuk with no outs in the ninth inning of the Astros' 6-3 loss. Grichuk shifted from center field to right in the ninth to make way for standout defender Kevin Pillar.Instead of pulling the Astros even at 6-all, Springer finished 0-for-5 with a strikeout and three runners stranded. He entered the series with a .196/.322/.353 slash line since May 26, the first game after he improved his OPS to .894 with a robust .305/.367/.527 line through 50 games."It sucks," Springer said. "There's not really anything else to say about it. It's tough. It is what it is. They win." Despite opening Monday tied with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox for the best record in the majors, the Astros (52-28) have been a bit unlucky in close, low-scoring games. While their pitching staff has performed splendidly in the first half of the season, the Astros are just 8-14 in one-run games and dropped to 7-19 when scoring three or fewer runs. Houston has run roughshod over opponents on the road, but the loss to Toronto dropped the Astros to a modest 23-17 at home."Baseball can be pretty cruel," Astros manager A. J. Hinch said. "That's a tough one. Right off the bat, I thought George got one. It carried and carried and carried and looked like he (Grichuk) had to go pretty deep into the stands to get it. George delivered a great swing. Cruel sport." Right-hander Charlie Morton (9-1, 2.74 ERA) will start on Tuesday for the Astros. Morton is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA over two career starts against the Blue Jays, with both coming last season. He has scuffled in June, going 2-1 with a 4.29 ERA while issuing 15 walks and posting six hit batsmen over 21 innings.Toronto (37-41) will counter with left-hander Ryan Borucki, who will make his major league debut. The Blue Jays' top pitching prospect, Borucki made the climb from Class A Dunedin to Triple-A Buffalo over the past two seasons. He was 6-5 with a 3.27 ERA over 13 starts with the Bison, recording 58 strikeouts in 77 innings. Borucki was scratched from his start on Sunday.Selected by Toronto in the 15th round of the 2012 draft, Borucki missed the 2013 season following Tommy John surgery. He slowly reclaimed his strength, logging 135 2/3 innings in 2016 and a career-high 150 1/3 innings last season. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons coyly refused to confirm published reports that Borucki would make his debut, but the secret is out."We'll have the young kid going (Tuesday) so hopefully he gives us some innings," Gibbons said in response to concerns over his fatigued bullpen. "Nice way to debut." When pressed that he accidentally revealed his hand, Gibbons quipped, "You don't know what young kid. Could be one of three or four of them."
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