SPORTS
Saturday, May 16, 2015 — THE MEDICINE HAT NEWS
Astros launch long
balls to beat Jays
JORDAN GODWIN
The Associated Press
Houston Astros starter Dallas
Keuchel thinks his luck might be
running out.
It didn’t affect his winning
ways on Friday night.
Keuchel remained unbeaten
as the Houston Astros backed
him with plenty of home run
support in an 8-4 win over the
Toronto Blue Jays.
“I can’t keep having
self-inflicted wounds,”
Keuchel said. “I can’t
keep putting myself in
those situations and
keep expecting to get out
of them. That’s not the
way this game is meant
to go. I think the law of
averages is catching up to me,
and I’ve got to do a better job of
keeping my foot on the gas.”
Keuchel (5-0), April’s AL
Pitcher of the Month, allowed
four or more runs in consecutive
starts for the first time since last
July.
“His first six starts, he dominated,” Houston manager A.J.
Hinch said. “It’s hard to keep that
pace up. I think it speaks more
about the domination that he
had at the beginning of the sea-
son and less about the struggles
or anything like that.”
Keuchel also received plenty
of run support.
Jose Altuve hit a three-run
homer and George Springer and
Luis Valbuena also connected as
the Astros won their third in a
row.
Keuchel won his seventh
straight decision overall. He gave
up eight hits and struck out five
in six innings.
Altuve and Springer
homered off R.A. Dickey
(1-5) as Houston built a
7-1 lead after four
innings. After recently
losing six of eight, the
Astros have gotten back
to the outpouring of
offence that put them
into the AL West lead.
Toronto has now lost three
straight and five of six.
“They’ve got a good club,”
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons
said. “They outplayed us again
tonight. That’s all it was.”
Josh Donaldson extended his
streak of reaching base safely
against the Astros to 33 straight
games, the longest streak against
one team in the majors.
GIANTS 10, REDS 2
CINCINNATI — Brandon Belt
ROUNDUP
A11
AP PHOTO/
DAVID J.
PHILLIP
Toronto Blue
Jays
first
baseman
C h r i s
Colabello
tries to catch
a foul ball hit
by Houston
Astros' Chris
Carter during the fifth
inning of a
baseball
game Friday
in Houston.
hit a three-run homer, and
Buster Posey added a two-run
shot off Jason Marquis on Friday
night, leading the San Francisco
Giants to a victory over the
Cincinnati Reds in a game
played uninterrupted while an
outfield smokestack burned for
an inning.
One of the two riverboat
smokestacks that shoot off celebratory flames and fireworks
caught fire in the top of the sixth
because of a malfunctioning
propane valve. Flames shot from
the top of the smokestack and
spewed dark smoke until firefighters extended a ladder from
outside the ballpark and sprayed
it.
TIGERS 10, CARDINALS 4
ST. LOUIS — Miguel Cabrera
ended a season-long slump in
night games with a two-run
homer and two singles and
Detroit also got homers from
Yoenis Cespedes and J.D.
Martinez in a victory over St.
Louis.
CUBS 11, PIRATES 10, 12
INNINGS
CHICAGO — Right fielder
Gregory Polanco tripped and fell
while trying to catch an easy fly
and the ball dropped for an RBI
single in the 12th inning that
sent Chicago to a startling win
over Pittsburgh.
ROYALS 12, YANKEES 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lorenzo
Cain had a career-high five RBIs,
Kendrys Morales drove in three
more runs and Kansas City routed New York.
BREWERS 7, METS 0
NEW YORK — Ryan Braun
homered twice and made a marvelous catch, leading Kyle Lohse
and Milwaukee to a victory over
slumping New York.
TWINS 3, RAYS 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Danny
Santana’s triple keyed a late tworun rally, and Phil Hughes
pitched seven strong innings to
lead Minnesota to a victory over
Tampa Bay.
ANGELS 3, ORIOLES 1
BALTIMORE — Jered Weaver
allowed one run and three hits
while pitching into the eighth
inning, leading Los Angeles past
Baltimore.
Albert Pujols hit his sixth
home run for Los Angeles, which
has won seven of its past nine.