Thursday's MLB roundup

Lance McCullers flirted with a no-hitter and the Houston Astros offense took control in the ninth inning.

McCullers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer in a five-run ninth as the Astros beat the host Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Thursday night.

"I feel like he's got no-hit stuff every time he takes the mound," Astros catcher Brian McCann said of McCullers. "He's that kind of pitcher. He's a dominant pitcher, and he's got dominant stuff."

McCullers and Royals starter Jason Hammel were locked up in a pitchers' duel for seven innings. Lorenzo Cain's one-out triple in the seventh ended McCullers' no-hit bid, and Cain scored on Mike Moustakas' two-out single to tie it at 1-1.

Altuve's ninth home run came off Kelvin Herrera with Josh Reddick, who walked on four pitches to lead off the inning, aboard.

Herrera has yielded seven home runs in 24⅓ innings after giving up only six in 72 innings last season.

"He's given up a lot of home runs this year," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It goes in cycles, like hitter's slumps. Pitchers go into slumps, too."

New York 9, Boston 1: Gary Sanchez homered twice to drive in five runs and the host Yankees pounded David Price again, one night after the Red Sox ace had an angry exchange with a reporter. Michael Pineda rebounded from a rough outing with seven brilliant innings, and New York took two of three from its rival in their first series at Yankee Stadium this season.

Los Angeles 11, Detroit 4: Eric Young Jr. had three hits and scored three runs, helping the Angels rout the Tigers. Young, 32, is hitting .333 since getting called up from Class AAA Salt Lake on May 29 to fill in for in for the injured Mike Trout.

Tampa Bay 7, Chicago 5: Derek Norris homered in consecutive innings and Jake Odorizzi pitched into the seventh inning as the host Rays beat the White Sox, who lost for the seventh time in eight games.

San Francisco 9, Milwaukee 5 (10): Kolby Tomlinson had an infield single, and Hunter Pence followed with an RBI single that opened the scoring in a four-run 10th inning that sent the Giants past the host Brewers. San Francisco closer Mark Melancon blew a two-run lead in the ninth.

Colorado 4, Chicago 1: DJ LeMahieu hit a three-run homer, Tyler Chatwood pitched six innings and the Rockies beat the host Cubs for their fifth victory in a row. The NL West leaders got all their runs in the second inning after Jon Lester struck out the first two batters.

Cincinnati 5, St. Louis 2: Joey Votto had a two-run homer among his four hits, Adam Duvall had three hits and the host Reds completed a four-game sweep of the Cardinals.

Arizona 15, San Diego 3: Chris Iannetta drove in a career-high seven runs with a home run and two doubles, and the host Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep.

Atlanta 3, Philadelphia 1: R.A. Dickey gave up only three hits in seven innings to earn his first victory in five weeks for the host Braves.

Washington 6, Baltimore 1: Joe Ross had a career-high 12 strikeouts in a sparkling performance, and the weary Nationals breezed past the visiting Orioles.

• MLB is looking into a domestic violence accusation against Cubs shortstop Addison Russell.