C.J. Cron homered early and Wilson Ramos hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning to lift the visiting Tampa Bay Rays to a 2-1 victory over Houston on Tuesday, ending the Astros' 12-game winning streak.
Blake Snell (9-4) gave up only three hits and one run in seven innings, but had to pitch around a career-high seven walks for his fifth consecutive victory. Sergio Romo pitched for the third straight game, taking over with one out in the ninth and allowing one hit for his third save a night after blowing the save in Houston's 5-4 win.
Matt Duffy doubled to start the eighth and advanced to third on a groundout by Jake Bauers. The Rays took a 2-1 lead when the single by Ramos sailed just over the head of a leaping Yuli Gurriel and into left field to allow Duffy to score.
Cron broke a career-long 0-for-23 slump with a solo homer with one out in the second inning to give Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead. It was the first hit since June 12 for Cron, who struck out 18 times during his hitless streak.
The Astros went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position to come up one victory shy of setting the franchise record for longest winning streak in franchise history.
Justin Verlander yielded six hits and one run while fanning 10 in 6 ⅔ innings. Hector Rondon (1-2) took the loss.
New York 7, Seattle 2: Domingo German pitched two-hit ball over a career-high seven innings and Aaron Hicks homered for the third game in a row for the host Yankees. The Yankees boosted baseball's best record to 48-22, moving a season-best 26 games above .500. German struck out nine and walked none while throwing 67 of 96 pitches for strikes. He has 28 strikeouts in his past three starts, a span of 19 innings.
Texas 4, Kansas City 1: The visiting Rangers extended their winning streak to a season-high four games. The Royals have lost eight in a row. They own a major league-worst 10-28 home record, and their 22-51 overall mark is the worst in franchise history after 73 games.
