SEATTLE: Off to one of the worst starts to a season on offense in a decade, the Houston Astros busted out of their slump against one baseball’s best pitchers. Matt Dominguez homered and drove in three runs as the Astros broke a seven-game skid with a 7-2 win over Felix Hernandez and the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.
Houston began the night with a .192 batting average, the lowest for any major league team through 19 games since the 2003 Detroit Tigers (.180), according to STATS. The Tigers went on to lose 119 games. The Astros collected nine hits on Tuesday, five of which went for extra-bases, to raise their average to .196.
Early on, though, it appeared the Astros were headed for another miserable night offensively after Hernandez allowed just a walk to the first 12 batters. Even after Dexter Fowler’s single in the fourth, Hernandez kept the Astros in check.
Third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff went 2-for-4 with a double and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Texas Rangers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Oakland A’s in the opener of a three-game series.
Relievers Jason Frasor, Neal Cotts, Alexi Ogando and Joakin Soria combined to blank the A’s (13-6) in the final three innings. Soria posted his fourth save and Cotts picked up the win for Texas (12-8). Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings and received his third straight no-decision.
Cliff Lee and Jeff Manship combined on a four-hit shutout to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After allowing three hits to the first five batters he faced, Lee (3-2) retired 20 successive Dodgers (12-8).
Catcher Carlos Ruiz drove in four runs with a two-run double and a two-run homer. First baseman Ryan Howard added a two-run homer as the Phillies (9-10) posted their third victory in five games.
Wily Peralta gave Milwaukee six-plus badly needed innings and third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit his third home run of the season as the Brewers beat the San Diego Padres. With the Brewers’ bullpen in dire need of a day off after covering eight innings of Milwaukee’s 14-inning victory on Sunday in Pittsburgh, Peralta struck out a season-high six.
0Ryan Braun added a pair of RBIs and the Brewers improved to a Major League-best 15-5.
The Baltimore Orioles jumped on Boston Red Sox right-hander Clay Buchholz for six runs in the third inning, driving him from the game with just one out in the inning, on their way to a victory.
Wei-Yin Chen allowed three runs over five innings for Baltimore (9-9) and their bullpen held off Boston (9-11) the rest of the way.Agencies
